FoodBanter.com - View Single Post - Do the experienced ones here still use exact measures?

On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 wrote:

> Do you still use exact measures or do you now just rely on an
> experienced guesstimate of sight and feel?
>
> I feel that since recipes needs adjusting for different types of
> ingredients and breadmakers, I may just abandon exact measures and go
> by feel.

Bread is a different beast. When you are dealing with yeast I have found
that exact measures don't always work. Maybe that is just me.

When it comes to other baking, e.g. cakes, pastries, cookies, gingerbread,
etc., then I like to do everything by weight. I've actually taken to
converting recipes from volume measurements to weight. I'll make the
recipe using the original volume measurements but record the weight of
everything. If it turns out well I'll use the same weights.

If they don't turn out okay then I'll tweak the measurements that might be
off (e.g. 3 cup sifted flour or 4 large eggs). Based on how it turned out,
I'll consult a professional cooking book on why I got the results I did.
That will usually give me a clue as to what I had a little too much or too
little of.

I find that baking by weight is so much easier and quicker (and I never
run out of measuring spoons).

--
Send e-mail to: darrell dot grainger at utoronto dot ca