How to Measure Dry Ingredients Accurately!

The month of fasting is over and we are back to the kitchens. It is time to taste all the cravings we have been holding so far. 

Good tastes require good hands and good hands are complemented by accuracy. Cooking is an art and there are two major factors that are responsible for a memorable taste. 

• First is the timing of adding the ingredients and second, the quantity of them. Timing comes with experience. The more you cook the more you’ll get to know when to add what. 
• The second factor however requires some instruments with accurate measuring abilities. There are different ways of measuring different ingredients and measuring them requires expertise.  

It is relatively easier to measure the ingredients in larger quantities but when it comes to measuring in the quantities we use at home, it becomes a bit challenging. 

Since the ingredients used at home are usually dry, it becomes important for us to know how to measure them accurately. 

In this blog, I will try to enlighten you on “how to measure dry ingredients properly”.

It turns out that there are two ways to measure dry ingredients. They are:

1. Measuring by volume.
2. Measuring by weight.

1. Measuring By Volume

One of the most used procedures in measuring dry ingredients is measuring by volume. This means measuring it using a measuring utensil. 

One may use a measuring cup (commonly used for measuring baking ingredients) or a measuring spoon. These are easily available in the market and you can get them at a very affordable price. 

They come with a scale imprinted on them. You can fill them up to the mark with the desired ingredient and go for your delicacy. 

However, there are a few steps that can help you measure the dry ingredients accurately. We’ll briefly go through all of them in this blog.

To measure any ingredient, you’d need a container. So, before you start measuring any ingredient make sure that you have the tools handy. 

This helps you utilize the time without having to pause the cooking hence saving your time and accelerating the rhythm.

Make sure that you use these ingredient measuring tools (cups and spoons) as they are supposed to be used. 

In the case of measuring baking dry ingredients don’t forget to fill and level. This is the simplest and the easiest way of expecting accurate measurements.

Measuring Flour

If you are measuring flour, place it into your measuring cup and fill it to the top. Once it is done, go ahead with levelling it off. Make sure that you don’t pack the flour in as it changes the measurement.

Measuring Sugar

 For sugar, you don’t have to do a lot of hard work. Just scoop and level and that should be fine. Remember that levelling any ingredient is extremely important as it helps you be sure of the quantity. 

In case of uneven surfaces, you can’t be very sure of the quantity hence your meal and the hard work can be at stake.

Also, when you are measuring the ingredients using a measuring spoon make sure that you scoop so that the chances of error are minimized.

Measuring Brown Sugar

Here is a trick, if you are measuring brown sugar you have to go off the rules for the measurement. As they say “Exceptions are Everywhere” here it is. Brown sugar is the only dry ingredient that is supposed to be measured in packed form. Hence whenever you are packing brown sugar make sure that you measure it tightly packed in the measuring cup.  

2. Measuring By Weight

Another way of measuring is measuring by weight. 

You can weigh the ingredients using a good weighing scale which can be purchased from any good store. 

Remember that ingredients are better measured by weighing compared to when it is done by volume measurement. 

However, there are a few tips one should know to get better results. Here are a few of them :

• Zeroing out the scale is very important when it comes to getting accurate results. It is done by placing your container on the scale and then bringing the weight to zero. By doing this, the scale shows the weight of the ingredient only and not the container.
• Using the correct unit while measuring the units is very important. Make sure that you don’t get confused with the unit. If the recipe has ingredients written in grams make sure that you select the gram unit on the scale failing which can spoil the taste of your good and the efforts too.
• Always buy a good quality weighing scale to be able to measure the dry ingredients accurately for a better cooking experience.

These were some of the tips for accurately measuring dry ingredients. Have a look at some of the best-weighing machines in the market to help you increase your productivity and stay on top of your goals.”