Brian Mailman wrote:

> Dusty Bleher wrote:
>
>> You can just as well use a small box (a Saki "cup" comes to mind),
>
> You mean the vessel that H.H. Munro drank sake from?

There's a short story there somewhere. ;-)

>> I'm sure there'll be the obligatory 'weenie wagging' of those that
>> have a titanium clad, diamond finish, accurate to 6-digits
>> international scale, that can measure down to a fraction of a gram.
>
> There *are* those who wish to indulge in fantasies that home baking is
> equivalent to commercial endeavors and that one needs such things to
> impress all and sundry. I remember watching my grandfather at work
> simply grabbing balls of dough for tsibblekuchen (onion rolls) out of a
> vat and seeing them identical each time.

There is no substitute for the kind of developed skill that tells you
exactly how things should look and feel. No matter how much I measure,
there are immeasurables in baking that I haven't mastered yet. And a lot of
that stuff can only be passed on in person from an experienced baker. I'll
bet your grandfather could eyeball the dough and know its hydration too.