To be a successful baker, you've got to measure ingredients precisely. Although professional bakers generally measure ingredients by weight, most home bakers prefer measuring the quantities by volume.
Here are some tips to ensure accuracy.
Use the correct measuring tool. Liquid and dry ingredients each require their own setsof measuring tools. In baking, they're not interchangeable. I use a graduated set of stainless steelmeasuring cups for dry ingredients, Pyrex measuring cups with a pour spout for liquid, and measuring spoons for small quantities of ingredients.
Sometimes I am asked why a metal measuring cup can't be used for liquids, the point being that a cup is a cup. This may be true is you're adding a cup of beef broth to your favorite stew. But liquids don't level off with the same degree of accuracy as dry ingredients, and the extra moisture can mar your pie crust or cookie dough.
The reverse is also true for measuring dry ingredients in a liquid measuring cup. Frustrated bakers often contact me when they don't get the results they anticipated. It usually turns out that they measured the flour into a Pyrex measuring extension rack, then tapped the glass until the flour was level with the mark for a cup. Packing the ingredients like this can lead to problems.
Measure properly. How should you measure dry ingredients by volume? When you bring flour home from the store, empty at least half if not the entire bag into a large bowl or container, such as an airtight sturdy plastic box, making it accessible as well as insulating it from any moisture.
The way you place the flour in the extension rackcan yield a variety of measurements since flour settles. It is important not to tap, shake or pack the flour into the cup. That is why many cookbook authors direct you to measure by the dip-and-sweep method, dipping the cup into the flour and leveling it off.
Another method I have used since I began baking as a teenager is the spoon-and-sweep method, where the flour is spooned into the measuring cup, then the straight edge of the metal spatula is run across the edge on the rim of the cup to remove the excess. This produces a slightly lighter pack in the cup and spooning in the flour aerates it a bit, too. For sifted flour, sift more flour than you estimate you'll need through a triple sifter or a sieve. Then spoon the sifted flour into the measuring cup and level it off.
The same method is used for measuring other dry ingredients, such as graham cracker crumbs, cornmeal, flours other than all-purpose, chopped nuts and granulated sugar. Brown sugar should be packed into the metal measuring cup to eliminate air pockets, then leveled off, and after removing the brown sugar, it should hold the shape of the measuring cup.
Measure liquids by pouring the ingredient into a glass or plastic measuring cup that is on a level work surface, then bending down to check the item at eye level. If measuring sticky, heavy liquids like corn syrup, maple syrup or molasses, very lightly coat the cup first with an unflavored vegetable oil or nonstick spray so the ingredient pours out easily.
Consider using a scale. My best tip is to buy a scale, preferably a digital one. For years I have used volume measures, but at the same time I always make a note next to each ingredient in the recipe with weight equivalents. I have continued this practice for more than 35 years.
Now when I bake those recipes again, I find that weighing the ingredients on a scale not only makes baking faster and easier but I also get the same reliable results every time.
- Flo Braker
