Dave Smith wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> On 2016-11-28 10:42 AM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
> >On Sun, 27 Nov 2016 21:55:36 -0500, Ed Pawlowski >
> wrote:
> >
> > > On 11/27/2016 9:19 PM, Dave Smith wrote:
> > >
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Umm, I'm a baker...
> > > > >
> > > > > But not a professional one, or you'd be weighing
> > > > >
> > > > Do you think bakers weigh when they dump in a 50 lb bag of
> > > > flour?
> > > >
> > >
> > > They probably read the label that says "50 pounds"
> >
> > 'Zactly... and they know how to accurately halve that bag using a
> > dough knife.... slit one side and flip up both halves and slice
> > through the other side... two 25 pounders. Any wee bit drops on the
> > work table becomes bench flour. Can do exactly the same at home
> > with five or ten pound bags. Aboard ship flour arrived in ten
> > pound bags, six to one sixty pound sack... I never needed to weigh
> > anything, there was no scale available other than in the tiny post
> > office and in the medic's office.
>
> This is most curious. We are expected to believe that weighing
> ingredients is the most reliable way to measure them for, but you
> know claim that someone can half a bag of flour accurately without
> weighing.

Remember, you are talking to Sheldon...

>
> Most commercial recipes indicate amounts that match
> > how ingredients are packaged. Canned goods are easy to halve, pour
> > until the level inside the can spans from top rim to bottom upper
> > edge. With cooking and baking ingredient amounts are not very
> > critical because ingredients vary or there'd be no lot numbers.
> > Only with experience comes the ability to assertain a correct
> > mixture by using ones sense of sight, hearing, feel, taste, and
> > intuition.
>
>
> Yep. There are lots of things that can mixed together and eyeballed.
> Nigella measures flour and sugar with a tea cup.

Which is fine because you are making a balance. Like making rice, it's
generally 1 part rice, 2 parts water. Juk/Congee varies with type but
typically is 1 part rice and 3.5 parts water (or dashi or chicken stock
may be used for part or all of the water).

>
> > professional pizza baker knows a dough is correct by the sound it
> > makes slapping the sides of the mixing bowl, and intuition indicates
> > how long to bake the same as dog/cat knows time to within
> > milliseconds... I've yet to see anyone use a timer in a professional
> > kitchen.
>
> So why is it that we need the high decree of accuracy that scales are
> supposed to provide?

I don't think anyone is arguing that weighing isnt more 'accurate',
just that it's not essential. This all started because I said 'it's
too finicky for me'.

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