On Sat, 1 May 2010 13:43:07 -0600, "graham" > wrote:

>
>"sf" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:08:42 -0600, "graham" > wrote:
>>
>>>But with scales, one never has these problems.
>>
>> We're not scientists and we don't need scales.
>>
>
>As Emeril, on Emeril Live, often used to say: "Baking is science! Get
>yourself some scales!"
>
>No serious baker uses cups. In fact arguably the best non-professional
>baking book published in the USA* recommends weighing as do the
>Williams-Sonoma books. Both give "bi-lingual" recipes for those stuck in the
>age of the covered wagon. All the serious bread-books for the home baker
>also push the weighing of ingredients.
>A cup of flour can weigh anywhere from ~100g to ~150g. If you are making a
>spongecake, that's the difference between a light, fluffy cake and a
>doorstop!
>

We're not "serious" bakers, we're home bakers and we don't pretend to
be professional. We don't bake in vast quantities for restaurants or
bakeries and we don't need no steenking scales. I can make a perfect
sponge cake without the use of one. Sheesh. You people don't cook,
you experiment. The secret of a good sponge cake is not in the flour,
it's in beating the egg.

--
I love cooking with wine.
Sometimes I even put it in the food.