3 ms·

I’m sure it matters for baking (which I’ve never tried). But for normal cooking, don’t people just throw in random amounts of everything that are vaguely close

I’m sure it matters for baking (which I’ve never tried). But for normal cooking, don’t people just throw in random amounts of everything that are vaguely close to the quantity stated in the recipe? That’s what I do at least and it’s never caused me to ruin a meal. The tolerances really are not that tight. Also, most recipes I see include stuff like “one large onion” that is even less precise than a volumetric measurement. It’s hard for me to imagine getting out a scale just to be sure I really put in 100g instead of 120g of something. Do Europeans (outside of baking) really do this?

Ekaros 3y ago
No. But there are some cases where 20% could affect consistency of product. One thing that comes to mind is hollandaise sauce and similar sauces. Where ratio of fat to other stuff could change consistency. But then we don't exactly measure eggs so it is bit moot...
23B1 3y ago
It really depends on a lot of variables; experience, location, ingredients, season, taste. Starting out it's good to learn measurements then you can advance to cooking with proportions and tasting your ingredients to see what works. As you mentioned this is more important in baking, confectionary, things that require specific temperatures etc. Try tempering chocolate w/out a thermometer or baking a croissant 'on instinct' and it'll be a bad time :)
vanviegen 3y ago
> Do Europeans (outside of baking) really do this? Do you take out a scale when you need to add an ounce of something? Same for 100g, when you're accustomed to it. For me it depends on which ingredient I'm working with.
- School-Cotton 3y ago
  > Do you take out a scale when you need to add an ounce of something? I have never needed to add an ounce of something. American recipes never really tell you to do this. The only thing they use weight for is large amounts of bulk items (e.g. a pound of chicken thighs).
yourusername 3y ago
>It’s hard for me to imagine getting out a scale just to be sure I really put in 100g instead of 120g of something. Do Europeans (outside of baking) really do this? If i'm making a new recipe everything gets weighed. If it's something where i know how it's supposed to look/taste it is mostly by feel. I would love a site that lists recipes that include only weight measurements. I don't know how big a onion is, there's easily a 5x range there. A cup of broccoli really depends on how you cut your broccoli doesn't it? 150 grams of broccoli is clear and i know what that looks like.

Ekaros 3y ago

No. But there are some cases where 20% could affect consistency of product. One thing that comes to mind is hollandaise sauce and similar sauces. Where ratio of fat to other stuff could change consistency. But then we don't exactly measure eggs so it is bit moot...

23B1 3y ago

It really depends on a lot of variables; experience, location, ingredients, season, taste. Starting out it's good to learn measurements then you can advance to cooking with proportions and tasting your ingredients to see what works. As you mentioned this is more important in baking, confectionary, things that require specific temperatures etc. Try tempering chocolate w/out a thermometer or baking a croissant 'on instinct' and it'll be a bad time :)

vanviegen 3y ago

> Do Europeans (outside of baking) really do this? Do you take out a scale when you need to add an ounce of something? Same for 100g, when you're accustomed to it. For me it depends on which ingredient I'm working with.

School-Cotton 3y ago
> Do you take out a scale when you need to add an ounce of something? I have never needed to add an ounce of something. American recipes never really tell you to do this. The only thing they use weight for is large amounts of bulk items (e.g. a pound of chicken thighs).

yourusername 3y ago

>It’s hard for me to imagine getting out a scale just to be sure I really put in 100g instead of 120g of something. Do Europeans (outside of baking) really do this? If i'm making a new recipe everything gets weighed. If it's something where i know how it's supposed to look/taste it is mostly by feel. I would love a site that lists recipes that include only weight measurements. I don't know how big a onion is, there's easily a 5x range there. A cup of broccoli really depends on how you cut your broccoli doesn't it? 150 grams of broccoli is clear and i know what that looks like.