A Clever Idea for Weighing Ingredients
Dec 31, 2005 | From the kitchen of Rose
WOODY COMMENT
Feedback: An Idea for Marking Weights on Mixing Bowls and Measuring Cups
as you know from our correspondence and having experienced first hand that not all eggs weigh the same or even three sticks of butter for that matter, I now always weigh out (in grams)the recipe's ingredients, except for ingredients of a tablespoon or less. I was recently amazed that a package of fresh raspberries labeled 6 ounces/ 170 grams, actually tipped my scale at 150 grams! Maybe someone at the factory was doing a taste quality control.
Although I would like to claim that I instinctively zero out any mixing bowl or measuring cup on my scale before I start adding ingredients, well i need to work on that habit. Should I get upset and start all over, blame the c=scale for not telling me, or take a wild assuming guess? Instead......
I have now written in magic marker the weight and numbered on the side of each mixing bowl, baking pan, and measuring cup in my kitchen. Since I am not planning on any "kitchen open houses" and we do not mind the now non-pristine bowls, they are all labeled. I also have a corresponding sheet with their number and weight noted incase the marked weight wears off.
Now if I find that 2 large eggs weigh 540 grams, I can do the math of subtracting the 440 grams written on my mixing bowl for the actual 100 grams of eggs, and a few less hairs missing from my head.
ROSE REPLY
this commitment to accuracy validates my trust in woody to be my official tester for my upcoming book!
it’s a great idea to mark the bowls. i wish industry would take note and mark both the weight and volume of the bowls and pans right on the side!
i’ve had a long standing fantasy of having kitchen wall paper with the weight of commonly used ingredients on it. one of these days i just might make my own by taking a magic marker and writing it right on the wall!
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Hector in reply to comment from Patrick Colvin
07/12/2010 03:27 AM
I would make zero changes on baking powder! Do meassure the volume of your 1 inch pan and fill it accordingly (1/2 or 2/3). Do report back.
Note that these must be 1" deep pans, nor standard 2" deep pans undefilled.
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Patrick Colvin in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
07/12/2010 01:37 AM
I'm also intrigued by Hector's idea for 1-inch layers. How would that affect the amount of baking powder required?
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Rose in reply to comment from Patrick Colvin
07/12/2010 12:50 AM
The water content is higher and the sugar lower so it would require a lot of tweaking. I like hectors idea of the lower pan. I would fry that and maybe even do rectangular,ar layers.
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Patrick Colvin in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
07/12/2010 12:24 AM
Would it be possible to take the Tropical Wedding Cake from RHC and replace the banana with pumpkin?
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ButterYum (Patrincia)
07/11/2010 07:18 PM
That would be one heavy cake!
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Hector
07/11/2010 03:48 PM
I very much so would like to see the fabulous pumpkin cake from rhc as a layer wedding cake. You will need some creative thinking such as baking on 1 inch deep pans such as sheet pans or special round pans. My experience is that cakes that require center support bake ok on shallow pans.
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Rose in reply to comment from Patrick Colvin
07/11/2010 02:45 PM
excellent!
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Patrick Colvin in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
07/11/2010 02:44 PM
Yellow cake with pumpkin filling!
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Rose in reply to comment from Patrick Colvin
07/11/2010 01:21 PM
yellow cake, orange buttercream=beautiful.
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Patrick Colvin in reply to comment from Rose Levy Beranbaum
07/11/2010 12:59 PM
I'd thought of that, but unfortunately the groom despises chocolate cake (I know, the horror!). Perhaps I'll resign myself to much experimentation...
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Rose in reply to comment from Patrick Colvin
07/11/2010 10:12 AM
i absolutely adore the pumpkin cake but it wouldn't lend itself to those larger layers so why don't you do the chocolate cake from the deep chocolate passion with the pumpkin cake on top?!
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Patrick Colvin
07/11/2010 02:12 AM
Could you recommend a recipe? I'm making a wedding cake for a friend, and she wants pumpkin. Do you know of a pumpkin cake recipe that is sturdy enough for a 3- or 4-tier cake yet is flavorful and delicious, with a fine texture?
I'm planning to make the pumpkin-shaped cake from RHC as the top tier, and the bride thinks its a fabulous idea. I'll use the orange silk meringue bc for the whole cake, plus maybe something else for a filling—a cream cheese filling, say, or something with nuts and dried fruit.
Thanks for all the wonderful advice you've given on this blog!
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Rose in reply to comment from Barbara Hansen
07/10/2010 04:54 PM
barbara, for starters, i have no idea what dark flour is. could it be pumpernickel? also for 8 ounces of any kind of flour 4T of milk would not be enough. i don't think they gave you the real recipe.
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Barbara Hansen
06/30/2010 05:50 PM
got a receipe for delicious bread I had at grant circle cruise lines.in Germany. I have tried the following receipe and it is a disaster. I think somethings missing. Can you help? 0.5 lbs. dark flour, 4 tbs. buttermilk, 1 tbs. yeast, 1 coffee spoon sugar, 4 tbs. sesame, 1 small spoon salt. mix yeast with sugar& milk, take flour and half sesame seed and the salt in bowl. add yeast & milk, stir, let rise and bake a 400 degrees. I know the receipe is kind of missing but can't figure it out. Can you help?
,
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Patrincia
09/15/2007 07:16 AM
Great idea Hector, I have been writing on the bottom of my stainless bowls, but the ink does wash off eventually, so putting those measurements on my scale instead is a great idea!
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Hector
09/14/2007 07:36 PM
I was just browsing thru the blog and encountered this interesting topic. I wrote the weight of my mixer bolws on the scale. I seldom wash the scale as often as the bowls, so it has not worn off yet!
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David Chessler
02/13/2007 03:20 PM
I've been marking bowls for a while. I use mostly stainless, and the magic marker came off, so I put a piece of freezer tape on the side of the bowl and put the weight on that.
This is particularly important when dividing up a liquid or semi-liquid ingredient: you can do it by subtraction because you know the whole amount (less the bowl), and can divide.
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Rose
02/13/2007 03:06 PM
rich, you can get it on line--or call one of the mills i listed in the book. it's worth it--really fabulous stuff!
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Rich
02/13/2007 03:04 PM
Yesterday I asked where to buy duram flour to use in the puliese bread recipe. I noticed in passing that I had a reply from this website, but one of my children deleted the message before I could read it. Could you please repeat your answer?
I've been so pleased w/ your recipes and particularly liked your ciabatta bread--lots of big holes and very chewy!
Thanks again
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Rose
10/26/2006 03:59 PM
ellen i'm SO delighted to hear this. the pan is made of ceramic.
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Ellen Wynn
10/26/2006 12:33 PM
Every time I use your apple pie baking dish I get sensational results following the recipe for pie crust and apple pie on the pan and in the booklet. What is the pan made out of that I have no problem cleaning the dish?
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Rose
12/31/2005 11:35 AM
thanks! i adore the book--never wanted it to end--and every time i open it have to stroke the beautiful pages. a friend said the paper looks like a slice of bread that's been dipped in olive oil!
the errata is located on the Q & A on the www.roselevyberanbaum.com site.
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Barbara Roberts
12/31/2005 11:29 AM
Do you have an errata list for The Bread Bible? I had one once and made the changes in my book, but would like a list to send my Mom and sister (I bought the book for each of them for Christmas...it's awesome!)
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