On 5/2/2010 3:02 AM, sf wrote:
> On Sat, 1 May 2010 13:43:07 -0600, > wrote:
>
>>
>> > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> On Thu, 29 Apr 2010 14:08:42 -0600, > 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.

Try a scale. You'll like it.