"Dee Randall" wrote in message
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"Vox Humana" wrote in message
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"Dee Randall" wrote in message
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(replace invalid with org)"

(replace invalid with org)" wrote in message
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flour I suppose. Does anyone know where I could find a list of
what
various baking/cooking ingredients should weigh?

Don't forget "http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/cgi-bin/nut_search.pl".

I see on one of the url's given under this subject, it lists 1 lb.
flour
as
4 cups equivalent or measurement.

The only thing I've found bothersome about "weighing" flour when it
calls
for a weight measurement of flour in a recipe is that if your
called-for
flour weight, because of many factors, turns out to be way less than
you
normally would want in order to make your recipe correctly, thus
making
your recipe quite short on flour --- and consequently a failure.

Now this would present no problem if you were experienced with your
recipe,
but it does present this problem when working with a new recipe.


I don't find that to be true. I NEVER measure flour using cups, NEVER.
My
baked goods turn out just fine. I weigh the four, using 120 grams for
each
cup specified in the recipe. It works just fine.

So, for you when a recipe calls for 4 cups, you use 480 grams; and when it
calls for a pound, you use 454 grams. And the weight of the flour due to
humidity never enters into the weight of the flour measured?

Thanks,
Dee


That's right. I set the scale for English (pounds/ounces) or metric
(grams/Kg) and weigh the flour just as the recipe specifies. If the recipe
specifies cups of flour I measure out 30 grams for each 1/4 cup of AP flour
or 28 grams for each 1/4 cup of cake flour. One quarter cup is considered a
serving size for flour and those are the respective weights given on the
package label for each type of flour.

Although I might be wrong, it is my conclusion that ambient humidity is an
insignificant factor as it relates to flour in home baking. I keep my flour
tightly closed and generally buy it in 5 pound bags when it is offered at a
deep discount at the store. (I used to buy it in big bags from Costco, but I
find that the small bags are easier to store and cost less per pound when I
can find them on sale.) I doubt the flour could be equilibrated with the
atmosphere. It should have about the same humidity it had when it left the
mill. I doubt that moisture can penetrate very deeply a bag of flour nor is
the surface to volume ratio favorable for rapid dehydration. I think that
the amount of water needed per unit of flour depends almost entirely on the
amount of gluten forming proteins in the flour. These proteins bind with
water. As I mentioned, I don't measure flour when I make bread. I pour out
what I think will be adequate for the amount of bread I am making. I add
the yeast and salt (which I do measure) and then start adding any liquids.
When the dough is just right, I stop. It doesn't matter how much water or
flour I have added. It only matters that the dough is right. For all other
baking, I strictly measure all the ingredients by weight.

I realize that there are probably entire libraries of information on this
subject. If you are running the Wonder Bread bakery using thousands of
pounds of flour in a batch and you have a lab, the exact hydration of your
flour as it comes out of the train car is probably a vital piece of
information. If you are making two, nine inch cake layers, it doesn't seem
to matter. I would suggest that the best way to minimize hydration
variations from batch to batch would be to keep your flour in a tightly
sealed container. However, as I mentioned, I don't think it is much of a
factor. It hasn't been in my experience. Perhaps if you live in the
rainforest or the dessert, keep your flour in a porous container, and don't
use much flour, it may have a more significant fluctuation in humidity.
Maybe Roy can address this. He is the resident expert on ingredients.