Questions tagged [measurements]
Determining the quantity of an ingredient needed for a recipe. Particularly useful for understanding obscure terminology, converting between different standards, or interpreting historical recipes.
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When a recipe calls for a cup of chopped nuts, should they be measured before chopping or after chopping?
It seems like it would throw off recipe since you can fit more in once they are chopped?
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Cup measurements: shake or scrape?
When you are measuring out your flour, sugar, etc with the measuring cups, is it better to
scoop and then shake the cup to get a leveled cup, or
scoop and then use a knife to scrape off the excess.
...
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Standard weight conversions for converting cups of flour to grams of flour?
I hate the idea of measuring flour using something as imprecise as measuring scoop.
What numbers do you treat as definitive/authoritative/canonical for doing weight conversions for different types of ...
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Bakers semi sweet chocolate bar
I feel like a real dummy but I need some help. I have a recipe that is calling for 8 oz of semi sweet chocolate finely chopped. I'm thinking that means a semi sweet chocolate bar chopped up. I ...
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How do I convert between the various measurements?
I found a recipe that's using one or more measurements that I don't recognize. How can I convert it to a unit that I use locally?
Alternative question template: (to improve searchability):
How can I ...
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How many ounces is a British "tin" of tomatoes?
If I have a British recipe that lists "1 tin chopped plum tomatoes," how many ounces is that? In British English, does "tin" usually refer to a specific size? In the US, cans generally come in 14 and ...
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How much is a cup of graham cracker crumbs in crackers and weight?
I have a recipe that calls for one cup of graham cracker crumbs. How many crackers am I going to need to crush?
I'm having trouble finding an answer partly because different people consider a "...
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What is the correct flour, sugar, butter ratio for crumble?
Looking through a number of fruit crumble recipes I see that there is a wide range of ratios used for crumble topping. Some use equal amounts of flour (or other dry ingredient), sugar and butter. ...
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How do I get something sticky like honey or Golden Syrup off measuring spoons or measuring cups? Is there a better way?
When I put honey in a spoon or measuring cup, the residue stays and it’s hard to get all of it out. How do I make it all come out? Is there a way to measure honey without leaving honey on a spoon?
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What's the size of the plastic cup that came with my rice cooker?
I have a cheap-o rice cooker that works fine for me. It came with a plastic cup to measure 1, 2 or 3 "plastic cup" units of rice. Water is added to match the '1', '2' or '3' mark in the cooker bowl. ...
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Is a "cup" on a coffee maker always 6 oz? Is this a standard in the US?
Our coffee maker instructions often refer to a "cup" of coffee. These cups are whats marked on the side of the coffee maker showing how much water is in the reservoir. The instructions never define ...
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What is the substitution ratio for mini marshmallows to large marshmallows?
I have a recipe calling for 12 large marshmallows, but I only have minis. How many should I use?
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Exactly how much is "one glass", in Russian recipes?
In many many Russian recipes, measurements call for one glass or this one glass of that.
One glass in Russia, appears to be a similar concept to what one cup is in United States.
But here lies a ...
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How should I pick a flour volume to weight conversion for an arbitrary recipe?
There are a variety of weight-to-volume conversions online for flour, with considerable variation even among reputable sources:
King Arthur Flour says 4.25oz/cup but in their measuring tips article ...
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Convert seed based measurements to pre-ground?
I want to use a recipe that gives ingredient measurements based on the spice seeds. My local grocery store does not have at least half of the ingredients in seed form. But the store does have them pre-...
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For equal volumes water and sugar, what is the ratio of separated volume vs. combined?
I'm making a simple syrup with equal parts sugar and water in a glass measuring cup and want to avoid dirtying two measuring cups.
I want to measure one (say standard table sugar,) then add the ...
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How much juice is in a lemon?
A lot of recipes call for the "juice of a lemon". I keep a bottle of lemon juice in the fridge as this is easier, cheaper and more convenient than buying lemons all the time but my problem is I never ...
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What to look for in a kitchen scale
I'm thinking of buying a modern, probably electronic kitchen scale, to replace my really ancient mechanical one. I'm located in Bombay, India.
I'm wondering what considerations should inform my ...
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How much yeast is in a "package"?
Our Better Homes and Gardens cookbook calls for "1 package active dry yeast" in its pizza recipe, which is less than helpful, since we keep a container of bulk yeast in the freezer. What is the ...
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What job is the fat doing when I prepare bread dough, and what to expect if I use the wrong amount?
I've been baking bread for years and no longer really measure the ingredients. But I'm no expert on the science of what I'm doing. I add fat (lard) because I've always added fat.
What job does the ...
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How can I measure / weigh really small quantities?
Yesterday I was cooking a Focaccia were I required just a gramme of yeast and a gramme of salt.
When I try to use my (electric) scales, it never registers 1 gramme of difference. I also needed to ...
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How much is a bunch of spinach?
I have some recipies for green smoothies, where some of the ingredients are for example "1 bunch of spinach" or "1/2 bunch of spinach".
The spinach I've found in the store are usually fresh leaves ...
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What does "spooned and leveled" mean?
I'm looking at a recipe that lists the following as an ingredient:
1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and
leveled)
What exactly does this mean? Is this literal - i.e. spoon it into the measuring ...
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How much is "1-2 cents worth" of yeast in an old recipe?
I'm looking through an old cookbook, ''The Art of German Cooking and Baking'' by Lina Meier (2nd Ed., 1922, Milwaukee, file on wikipedia). There is a recipe for waffles here which calls for "1-2 cents ...
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How to measure food acidity
I am asking about a method or a trick to measure (or guess) how acidic is food.
Please don't suggest any expensive tool; this will be for home usage only.
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Tripling a baking recipe
I have a cupcake recipe that I've doubled successfully in the past. I'd like to triple it for an upcoming party but I seem to recall reading that some ingredients don't work as well if tripled. Is ...
user5657
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Measuring glucose syrup without wasting it
Glucose syrup is a liquid sweetener used in a lot of candy making. Unfortunately, it is incredibly thick which makes it difficult to measure. Imagine corn syrup except about three times thicker. When ...
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What Kinds of Recipes Should I Sift/Aerate The Flour?
We've talked about methods for sifting flour (How can I make sifting easier?), and the purposes of sifting (What is the purpose of sifting dry ingredients?).
How can I tell whether a recipe specifies ...
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What is the American measurement equivalent of 3см.л in Russian
on a package of seasoning from Russia for Rice Pilaf, it suggests using 3см.л per 900 grams of rice. What would those measurements translate to in American measurements? I've seen translations for ct....
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Are cooking show minutes really minutes?
I've noticed that cooking show inches are not very accurate. I can usually see that the "half inch slices" called for by the chef are no where near that, which is fine, since I can see the thickness ...
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