topic Re: Baking game-changers in Kitchen

Baking game-changers

AuntMame — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:26:55 GMT

I was watching some videos from America's Test Kitchen in which they reported how they had measured many brands of dry and liquid measuring cup sets in order to determine how accurate their measurements were. Sadly, many were not accurate at all. Some of the dry measuring cups were as much as 2 tablespoons short in the cup measurement.

For years I suspected that my measuring cups--plastic ones from the grocery store--might not be accurate--but soldiered on in spite of it. I broke down and bought a set of the dry measuring cups recommended by ATK--OXO's.

I also bought a new set of measuring spoons that they recommended as accurate--Cuisipro.

I tossed out all my old lousy inaccurate measuring cups and spoons.

Omigosh, the new measuring cups and spoons make quite a difference! I make lots of bread in a bread machine and often have troubles with too-wet dough, too-much rise, etc. The latest loaf came out perfect.

I made muffins and those came out especially good too. Even DH noticed.

I realize that having accurate measuring cups and spoons is a really basic thing, but for years I was too cheap to buy new ones. If you've been putting off such a purchase I highly recommend that you don't hesitate.

Re: Baking game-changers

Sooner — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:31:31 GMT

@AuntMame I am glad you are happy, but my experience is in most cases accurate measuring is to be taken with a grain of salt in baking. Yes, it is a good place to start for sure. And yes, tools should be accurate.

One issue is flour varies more than you would think. Where was it grown, how it was milled, weather and shipping--how much settling occurred, etc.

The humidity and weather are also a bigger factor sometimes. So my experience is no matter what you do if you don't know how to judge the batter or dough and adjust, you are not going to get the product you want--no matter how accurate your measurements were.

Re: Baking game-changers

Carmie — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:34:31 GMT

I use an electronic kitchen scale. It weighs in pounds, ounces, grams, fluids ounces and mils.

I bake a lot. This type of scale is perfection. I have had it for years and have never changed the battery. It gets used almost every day.

Sometimes I use a liquid measure or dry measurement cups with the scale to see how accurate they are....they are always off, by a lot.

Re: Baking game-changers

AuntMame — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:36:56 GMT

@Sooner You are probably right. I use different flours and I know it makes a difference. But I was just blown away with how well my bread-machine bread turned out this weekend after years of disasters. Figured it must be the measuring cups. I hope I can replicate the success in future loaves.

Re: Baking game-changers

AuntMame — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:38:19 GMT

@Carmie wrote:
I use an electronic kitchen scale. It weighs in pounds, ounces, grams, fluids ounces and mils.

I bake a lot. This type of scale is perfection. I have had it for years and have never changed the battery. It gets used almost every day.

Sometimes I use a liquid measure or dry measurement cups with the scale to see how accurate they are....they are always off, by a lot.

What is the brand of electronic scale that you use? I've been wanting to buy one but have been overwhelmed by all the reviews.

Re: Baking game-changers

jlkz — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:51:47 GMT

@Sooner @Carmie

One of the biggest arguments with DH occurred when we were using the pasta making machine. He wanted to make regular thickness spaghetti. My "job" was to cut the pasta as it came out of the extruder. I kept having problems which annoyed him. So I asked how much water did you use. His answer: what the recipe called for. That was the problem as it was heavily raining !

He's not Italian; I am an grew up making pasta and gnocchi from scratch. I know the weather / humidity can definitely mess with the outcome.

After that wonderful day ( sarcastically said ), the pasta maker was washed and put back in its original box, never to see the light of day if I had my way. And, I have, lol !

Re: Baking game-changers

AuntMame — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 01:23:44 GMT

When I make pie crust I never measure the water. The amount varies greatly depending upon the flour, the humidity, etc.

Re: Baking game-changers

Kachina624 — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 01:26:47 GMT

@AuntMame. Good information. Thanks for posting.

When I was majoring in home ec in college at Drexel University, they emphasized the importance of accurate measurement.

Re: Baking game-changers

Sooner — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 01:40:46 GMT

@jlkz I love that story! What is it about men and the rules for cooking? My husband kept going "by the recipe" until one day I yelled "stop using a recipe! Just cook it!" He did and tonight made the best beef soup I ever had--without a recipe!

Once day a long time ago I took off work to make pasta with my new pasta roller. I was at the center island rolling out more and out of the corner of my eye saw the pasta waving as it was drying on the pole put over two chairs. Didn't think much about it, thought it was the hvac on blowing.

I started toward my improvised drying rack with another batch when to my horror saw that the "waving" pasta was, in fact, caused by our Siamese cat slowly weaving back and forth under the drying rack brushing my beautiful long strips of pasta with his upturned tail.

Re: Baking game-changers

Sooner — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 01:46:14 GMT

@AuntMame wrote:
@Sooner You are probably right. I use different flours and I know it makes a difference. But I was just blown away with how well my bread-machine bread turned out this weekend after years of disasters. Figured it must be the measuring cups. I hope I can replicate the success in future loaves.

@AuntMame I'm sure you will be fine! Although you do need to know what you are doing, I think relaxing and adjusting the dough is not as scary as some would make us believe. That being said, I do love new kitchen stuff and share your excitement and enthusiasm for new measuring equipment.

Coming from someone who has and uses two of those flat little kitchen scales. I weigh almost everything I eat it seems or measure it. One scale tares easier than the other, and hubby uses it for making bread machine packets with everything but water and yeast.

And no, it is all mixed up and not salt only on top and yes it works fine! We do whole wheat loaves with 1/4 cup or less bread flour. We just dip a little white flour in the cup and then put the rest whole wheat. Makes a difference!

Re: Baking game-changers

Icegoddess — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 01:56:46 GMT

I Weigh flour for bread making even though I do use a machine for the mixing and kneading. However, I always peek in during the first part to make sure the dough is the right consistency. I use the dough-only cycle and remove it and do a final knead, shape, and rise before cooking in my own oven. I don't like the shape of the bread machine bread and mine won't make a nice brown loaf no matter the setting.

Re: Baking game-changers

Desertdi — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 02:24:15 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
@AuntMame. Good information. Thanks for posting.

When I was majoring in home ec in college at Drexel University, they emphasized the importance of accurate measurement.

@Kachina624

EEE GADS...that must be "a lotta fun" at your elevation(!!!) di

Re: Baking game-changers

Kachina624 — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 02:33:13 GMT

@Desertdi wrote:
@Kachina624 wrote:
@AuntMame. Good information. Thanks for posting.

When I was majoring in home ec in college at Drexel University, they emphasized the importance of accurate measurement.
@Kachina624

EEE GADS...that must be "a lotta fun" at your elevation(!!!) di

@Desertdi. I've never made a single alteration to a recipe and I've never had a failure. I'm at about 6,000ft, and i think that's not high enough to make much difference.

Re: Baking game-changers

Desertdi — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 02:52:02 GMT

@Kachina624

You must have a "cooking angel" looking after you! Even the "no humidity" has gotten me stupified!!!!

Re: Baking game-changers

OneHappyHiker — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 02:56:26 GMT

@Sooner wrote:
@jlkz I love that story! What is it about men and the rules for cooking? My husband kept going "by the recipe" until one day I yelled "stop using a recipe! Just cook it!" He did and tonight made the best beef soup I ever had--without a recipe!

Once day a long time ago I took off work to make pasta with my new pasta roller. I was at the center island rolling out more and out of the corner of my eye saw the pasta waving as it was drying on the pole put over two chairs. Didn't think much about it, thought it was the hvac on blowing.

I started toward my improvised drying rack with another batch when to my horror saw that the "waving" pasta was, in fact, caused by our Siamese cat slowly weaving back and forth under the drying rack brushing my beautiful long strips of pasta with his upturned tail.

@Sooner NOOOOOOOO hahaha OMG That's so funny! I can't even imagine how much hair was stuck on that pasta

Re: Baking game-changers

Sooner — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 04:18:12 GMT

@OneHappyHiker wrote:
@Sooner wrote:
@jlkz I love that story! What is it about men and the rules for cooking? My husband kept going "by the recipe" until one day I yelled "stop using a recipe! Just cook it!" He did and tonight made the best beef soup I ever had--without a recipe!

Once day a long time ago I took off work to make pasta with my new pasta roller. I was at the center island rolling out more and out of the corner of my eye saw the pasta waving as it was drying on the pole put over two chairs. Didn't think much about it, thought it was the hvac on blowing.

I started toward my improvised drying rack with another batch when to my horror saw that the "waving" pasta was, in fact, caused by our Siamese cat slowly weaving back and forth under the drying rack brushing my beautiful long strips of pasta with his upturned tail.

@Sooner NOOOOOOOO hahaha OMG That's so funny! I can't even imagine how much hair was stuck on that pasta

@OneHappyHiker I just cut it off above tail height. Those first batches were just a LOT shorter and the cat was banned from the kitchen. Good thing those were the tall high backed chairs the rod was on!

Re: Baking game-changers

Sakuya — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 05:57:47 GMT

@AuntMame - what recipe do you use for bread machine? I was gifted a machine several years ago but when I finally went to buy a bread machine mix at store realized they don't make them anymore.

Re: Baking game-changers

millieshops — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 12:35:25 GMT

@AuntMame Interesting post. Thank you. I've known for years since I took a bread baking course that I should measure solids and liquids with different measuring devices, but I never considered my devices could be inaccurate.

Re: Baking game-changers

gardenman — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 13:53:40 GMT

@AuntMame wrote:
@Carmie wrote:
I use an electronic kitchen scale. It weighs in pounds, ounces, grams, fluids ounces and mils.

I bake a lot. This type of scale is perfection. I have had it for years and have never changed the battery. It gets used almost every day.

Sometimes I use a liquid measure or dry measurement cups with the scale to see how accurate they are....they are always off, by a lot.

What is the brand of electronic scale that you use? I've been wanting to buy one but have been overwhelmed by all the reviews.

I don't think you can too far wrong with any that gets good reviews. Mine is a Kuluner that measures to a tenth of a gram. It's astonishingly reliable and was cheap when I bought it. (Like $12?) Most TV cooks like the Oxo digital scale (around $35-$55) with the extendable display. They can use wider bowls/dishes and still read the display that way. And Oxo stuff is almost always very good.

Re: Baking game-changers

wagirl — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 14:32:14 GMT

I have heard for many years now, how scooping out dry ingredients in a measuring cup is all wrong--that dry things should be weighed. And also that many of the measuring cups are more for liquids not dry ingredients. And most of the TV bakers/cooks also scoop. Interesting!! also--I have a bread machine and have had one since they were the newest shiny object on the market and never--in those 30+ years have I ever had bread be affected by rainy weather--until this past year---it was your textbook case of humidity and bread--tried 2x to make that bread--and both were disasters.