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Why do Americans measure everything in cups?
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this post was submitted on 11 Apr 2024
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And now you are getting to the reason why American use volume for recipes. If I don't need the precision of mass for recipes as it won't appreciably affect the taste, then why break out the scale?
Because the difference between packing a cup of flour and not packing a cup of flour is as much as 30%
https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2020/01/weight-vs-volume-measurements-in-baking-and-the-best-way-to-measure-flour.html#:~:text=So%20depending%20on%20how%20you,of%20150%20grams%20(!!)
It doesn't really matter for liquids, but dry ingredients are a whole other ballgame when it comes to this mess.
It’s really mainly only flour though, because can be compacted, most of the things that you’re using in the kitchen like baking powder or sugar aren’t going to be compacted to any appreciable level.
For flour, you pour it into your measuring cup and then run the spine of a knife or something over it to get rid of the excess flour and get a level cup
There are many of other things that can be compacted or have different volume to weight ratios.
Corn starch is like flour, you can pack it down.
Salt (Table vs Kosher) Kosher salt has about half the volume to weight as table salt.
Shredded Cheese (this one always bugs me. Is it 3 cups after shredding, or before... how packed in should it be), etc.
Also, the proper amount of shredded cheese is the container.
A lot of volumetric baking recipes tell you to run the grain through a sieve to remove clumps, this generally standardizes the density well enough.
Salt is usually assumed to be table salt unless noted in the recipe. Even then, most recipes have a point to them where they tell you to taste the food and add salt to taste as necessary.
What are you cooking with shredded cheese where the ratio is that important?
Are you measuring cornstarch?
Maybe I just have weird cornstarch but anytime I try to actively scoop out of it, it’s like trying to scoop baking powder.
I use it frequently in coatings for Japanese deep fried foods, usually mixed with flour and salt in particular ratios.
I usually just eyeball stuff like that
In my other responses, I've noted that I don't bake. In other people's responses, they've noted that there are still a lot of baking recipes out there that don't require precision.
Precision in baking is massively overstated. The earliest recipes are in parts if you're lucky. More likely they are mix in these ingredients until it looks right.