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FOODBUZZ
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How to Measure Flour
May 07th, 2008 | Category: Baking 101
When I developed an interest in baking, one of the many things that confused me was how to measure flour. Instead of weighing the flour, most cookbooks I bought were instructing to measure it with a “cup”. I recall asking myself the inevitable question: Which cup? Was there really an internationally accepted standard for a cup? Turns out there is…
Then I learned that even the way you fill your cup with flour makes a big difference. It is usually the thin line between a cakey and moist brownie. I was frustrated.
Needless to say, the most accurate way is to do it with a digital scale. But if you too have limited countertop space and have your eye on sexier kitchen tools, then you are doing it with measuring cups as well.
So without a scale, here are your options:
Whichever option you wish to follow, you should first loosen the flour in the sack or canister as flour tends to settle on sitting. Just stir very lightly with a whisk and you’re done.
Dip & sweep (also called scoop & level): Dip the cup or measuring spoon into the flour can and without shaking or tapping, sweep of the excess with a spatula or knife. With this method, one cup of flour would equal to 5 ounces or 140 grams.
Spoon & sweep: Spoon the flour lightly into your measuring cup until it heaps above the rim and without shaking or tapping, sweep of the excess with a spatula or knife. With this method, one cup of flour would equal to 4.5 ounces or 126 grams.
Eyeballing: So you’re an adventurous person. No matter how you measure flour, you manage to bake wonderful cookies and brownies one after another. Then just grab the first thing that resembles a measuring cup (child’s toy, ashtray, etc.), fill it with flour, shake it, tap it and dump it into your mixing bowl.
If the last option sounds intriguing, than just stop reading and go buy a Rachael Ray book or something. By the way, did you hear that she is struggling with carpal tunnel syndrome from opening too many cans? Get well soon, Rachael. We love you!
So, which one do I follow? I dip & sweep. So did Julia Child. And so does Rose Levy Beranbaum and Dorie Greenspan. If I’m following a recipe from a cookbook, I check to see which method was used and make a note for it on a sticky for future reference.
As seen from the photos, I store my flour in a huge glass container. A wide container would make your life much easier. Make sure it is wider than your largest measuring cup. This way, while you’re leveling the flour, the excess will go right into your canister.
Happy measuring folks!
By the way, I have to ask, which method do YOU use?
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aahhh FINALLY, so a cup is gonna be sthing around 140-126gr? Gees, I always end up avoiding recipes with “cups” bc I never know what the size of their cup is so I always have to look for a recipe with measurements in grams! Plus being in Europe grams-recipes are a lot more common. Now I can pull out all my “cup” recipes then! Yay! Then again ever since I’ve learned that patisserie needs to be ultra-precise, almost like chemistry, and that each and every gram counts, I feel more safe with grams-recipes.
Nonetheless thanks so much for your insightful post! The cup-mystery is now resolved for me!
I love your hot pink digital scale! I learned to measure flour using the ’spoon and sweep’ method but while living in Europe I bought my first kitchen scale and started measuring by weight. Now I find myself using the ‘dip and sweep’ method most often but it just depends on the recipe
I rely on my scale; however, when a recipe calls for cups, I always use 130g of flour per needed cup.
xx fanny
Wow thanks a lot for the infos! I usually dip & sweep as i keep my flour in a big container. But I really didn’t even think there could be any difference from dip the cup or just fill it with the spoon!
Thank you so much
have a nice day
Silvia
i’m more the “ish” gal - i grab the nearest container and get about a cup-ish of flour.
which is why i’m a cooker, not a baker.
I’m a dig and sweep kind of gal, but I think weighing it might be better. I’ll keep it in my mind that 1 cup of flour is around 5 ounces. Thanks for the information.
I’m a dip and sweeper also,but i would like to have a scale for the recipes that you have to weigh out the ingredients for.
I use a spoon to scoop the flour into the measuring cup until the cup is overflowing, then level it with the back of a knife. Sometimes, I just grab one of my Korean stainless steel chopsticks that has 1 side flattened to level the flour off.
Best is using electronic kitchen scale-you will never go wrong with it. Different countries has different measurement system - some countries using Metric and Imperial. So, we have to becareful which measurement the authors/chefs use in books. I prefer Metric still…
What a fantastic post! This is such good information for everyone! I always explain the importance of correct measuring to my students when I teach classes…it makes such a difference!
Thanks, Fernando… I won’t use the “eye-meter” measure anymore when working with “cups”. Indeed it is more difficult to use cups in countries where the standards are given in metric system measures.
When I first started reading American recipes, I too was confused by cups! Now I just convert everything to metric but I could just save myself time and buy measuring cups. It’s never really struck me as a silly thing to do until now..
I really love your blog and this post is so helpful. I work with grams myself so when I was inundated with ‘cups’ measurements in American recipes the frustration was immense. After trawling the internet I found that 1 cup is the same at 224 ml. I have ml graduated measuring cups so I use this ml measure, however about 130-140g on a measuring scales is so much easier! I use the scoop and sweep motion, years of growing up watching my yiayia (gran)leveling off flour with the side of a knife/spatula…and its stuck.
I finally broke down and bought a kitchen scale for flour measuring… and if not for anything else, it has alleviated me feeling like I’m getting the amounts wrong in recipes! Though, I must admit, I still use the eye-ball method every once in a while.
Great post!
i’m a metric. american recipes with no suggestion of gram equivalent really frustrates me & I avoid them.
i always prefer metric measurements due to the cup confusion. This is a really kewl post. A little bit of info really changes everything. love your first action shot , of the leveling up the cup. Awesome !
When I was a kid all the cookbooks we had used cups…so I used either dip/sweep or spoon/sweep. When I discovered that half of the world actually weighed their ingredients it was like someone took the blinders off my eyes! I was liberated…no more washing all those measuring cups for me
Hello weighing scale! Now I prefer to weigh…seems more exact too…
Thanks for the detailed lesson! Much appreciated.
I most often use the dip and sweep too but on the rare occasion I find myself spooning and dipping.
Thanks for this really helpful “how to”! I use the dip/sweep in general.
I usually work without recipes. I have them in my head.
If I chanced upon a new recipe that calls for cups, I usually convert it into grams. For accuracy.
The weight makes a huge difference in small quantities.
And yes, use an electronic scale!
It depends on the recipe. If the recipe specifies (i.e. “spoon flour into measuring cups”), then I’ll follow the writer’s lead. If it’s something quick — like muffins or a quick bread — I’ll dip and sweep. But for cakes, I usually spoon and measure. Clearly what I really need is a digital scale!!