BPA 102: Cups, Spoons, and Pounds

Measuring Ingredients and Units of Measurement

Equipment- Dry ingredients such as flour and sugar are measured in plastic or metal measuring cups
-dry measuring cups allow the cook to fill the cup to over flowing then level with a straight edged utensil
Measuring ingredients by volume:
-liquids measured in transparent glass or translucent plastic liquid measuring cups- have spout for pouring and space between top measure and rim so liquids don’t spill while being transferred to bowl
Equipment:
-small amounts measured using plastic or metal measuring spoons
-dry and liquid ingredients and fats may be measured using measuring spoons
-equipment may provide metric measures, imperial measures, or both

Measuring Flour
-flour may settle and pack during shipping and storage, stir flour in its container before measuring
-if recipe calls for sifted flour, spoon stirred flour into the sifter, sift the flour, then measure it
-spoon flour into dry measuring cup, filling to over flow
-level flour off by dragging a straight edged utensil across top- knife or off set spatula

Granulated Sugar
-granulated sugar does not pack, no stirring required
-use same method as flour

Small Amounts
-when measuring small amounts of dry ingredients, such as flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices- measuring spoons are used
-overfill spoon and level off with straight edge

Liquid Ingredients
-measuring cups for liquids must be placed on level surface
-avoid lifting cup to read measure, will tilt causing you to read inaccurate amount
-read level at bottom of the meniscus

Small amounts
-may be measure with measuring spoons

Fats by Volume
Oil
-measured in method for measuring liquids
Solid fats
-include butter, margarine, lard, and shortening
-several methods may be used, depending on what kind of fat measuring and how much fat needed
Soft Solid Fats
-soft fats- spreadable margarine or softened butter can be pressed into dry measure – avoid air bubbles- and leveled off
Firm solid fats
-lard, shortening, cold butter and baking margarine can be cut from block if package provides measurements
- some firm fats are pre-portioned
-some squares of baking margarine are wrapped in 125 ml or cup portions
-may also be measured by water displacement

Problem with Volume Measurements
-because specific density varies from item to item, volume measurement presents a great opportunity for inconsistency

Measuring by Weight
-If a formula is written by volume, measure the ingredient by volume and weigh each measurement noting the outcome. Will make recipe easier to scale and convert in future
-Remember 1 cp flour will not weight 8 oz
Only 3 common ingredients in bake shop are true by weight and volume- milk, eggs, water
-Balance scales are favored for large quantities of dry ingredients and for scaling doughs
-left plate is hopper or scoop
-right is tare- has same weight as hopper
-weights in lbs or Kilos
-brass piece- slide- with quarter oz settings up to one lb or gram settings
-digital scales are more compact, affordable
-tare button to zero the weight, mode change setting from grams to oz

Imperial Units Measure
1 cp= 8 oz
2 cp= 16 oz= 1 pt= ½ quart
4 cps= 32 oz=2 pts= 1quart
16 cps= 128 oz= 8 pts= 4 quarts= 1 gallon
1 T= ½ oz
3 t= 1 T

Units of Measure-Volume
U.S. System
1 t= 1/6 oz
1 T= 3 t= ½ oz
1 cp= 8 oz

Metric System
Liter (L)
1 deciliter (dl) = 1/10 L
1 centileter (cl) = 1/100 L
1 milliliter (ml) 1/1000 L

Weight
U.S. System
-ounce, pound (lb) = 16 oz

Metric
1 kilogram (kg)= 1000 grams (g)

Liquid Volume/ weight correlation
-liquids with the same density as water can be measure equally by weight or volume

U.S. System
-ounce volume= ounce weight
1 pt= 1 lb

Metric
1 L= 1 kilo
1 ml= 1 g

U.S. Metric equivalents
1 kilo= 33.8 oz= 2.2 lbs
1 oz= 28.35 g
750 ml= 25.4 oz
1 L(33.8 fl oz)= 1 pt (32 fl oz)
1 gallon= 4 L
1 lb= 1 kilo

Standard Recipes
-blueprint for consistent finished products and consistent food cost. Format should include:
-name of product
-yield- by volume, weight, and/or # of portions
-standard portion sizze
-ingredients- listed in order of use and a description that corresponds to purchasing specifications:
-name
-market form (fresh, frozen, canned, etc)
-size, weight, or count
-brand name (if applicable)
Quantity of each ingredient measured by weight whenever possible
-method of preparation- in clear, concise, professional terminology
-cooking times and temps
- presentation, garnish, holding procedures