One might think that measuring ingredients is quite a simple thing for a recipe.   Well, it is except that you can benefit from a basic understanding. So what's the big deal?  If an ingredient is measured incorrectly, it can bomb your entire recipe!

The Science of It All
Recipes, in baking and other culinary fields, are also known as formulas.  The American Heritage Dictionary (Fourth Edition) describes a formula as "A symbolic representation of the composition or of the composition and structure of a compound."  In plain English, this means a formula is made of very specific pieces that when combined under specific conditions will give you the same product each time.  This is important for two reasons:

(1) Your primary goal when preparing a recipe is consistency.  If a recipe cannot be expected to turn out the same every time, it will not produce a reliable product.  

(2) If the ingredients for a recipe are not measured accurately, you will not produce a consistent product.  

Is all of this starting to sound a little redundant?  It should!  That is how important the printed recipe is and how closely it should be followed.  But fear not, there is room for creativity, but we will get to that later.

Now, if you will allow me to confuse you a little more, most recipes that are written for the home will give you the measurements in cups and teaspoons.  However, other recipes - like those used commercially - will contain amounts in weights.  Remember this and keep reading...

Understanding Units
Pop quiz - what is the difference in measuring ounces?  Hmmm...trick question.  First we have to figure out what it is that we are measuring - mainly if it is liquid or if it is dry.  You will use different methods for each.  Why, you may ask.  Even though we have two basic measurement methods, they mostly are concerned with weight.

Liquid measures are easy - your basic measuring cup - you know, the one with the handle on it and all the little marks going up and down the sides.  This is a cup that hundreds of scientists and engineers collaborated to bring into being.  They had the tough job of deciding that the smallest little mark is going to be a quarter cup, the next one up is a third cup....and so on.  You will also notice (most likely on the opposite side) that there are little marks denoting ounces (and in some cases milliliters).  These marks are actually denoting weight as well - for the most part. But if you were to actually weigh the water in the measuring cup, you should come up with a relatively close measurement in weight as well. However, there will be a tiny variance that will gradually increase as the amount measured in the cup increases. But don't worry about it unless you are cooking in extremely large amounts that call for gallons instead of cups.

What does this mean? If you have a liquid, measure it out in a measuring cup.

Dry measures can be only slightly tricky.  If you remember a little earlier, I said that recipes written for the home give you cup measurements.  Well, these "cups" - when dealing with dry ingredients - are measured in a series of dry scoops.  This would be the series of stackable cups where one may be a quarter cup and the next a half cup and so on... When you are using these types of cups, it is important to follow these guidelines:

(1) Spoon the dry ingredient into the appropriate size cup.

(2) Using a straight edge (like a knife or a spatula), level the ingredient in the cup by dragging the edge over the top of the cup.

This should render you a properly measured amount. The only exception would be when the recipe calls for another procedure to be done when measuring the recipe - i.e., "firmly packed brown sugar".  In this case, you would press down on the sugar after you have spooned it into the cup.

Now, for those annoying recipes that call for dry ingredients to be measured in ounces or pounds.  This would require a scale.  One old-fashioned yet effective scale is the balance scale.  These are used often in the bake shop, but in the home kitchen, they just take up space.  Another type of scale is just a simple kitchen scale - also known in the past as a diet scale.  The low tech version represents some type of dial that moves when an item is placed on the scale.  The high tech version features a digital readout when an item is weighed.  (Either one of these scales is available at your local Target, department or kitchen store.)

When using a scale, there is a very important rule to keep in mind: Zero it out first.  Here's how:

(1) Place the container that you are going to put the ingredient in onto the scale.

(2) Using the dial or digital button, set the scale to zero.

(3) Put the ingredient into the container until you reach the desired weight.

Summary
There is one more way of measuring and it is called count.  Pretty much self explanatory, it is just your basic one-potato, two-potato...you get the idea.  Okay.  Now that you are totally confused, I've included a little chart to help you figure out what type of tool to use when measuring different things.  Let's call it the Ingredient v. Tool Chart.   I have also included a little Conversion Chart to help you figure out how many of this is in that.  If that isn't enough, Chef2Chef has a handy Online Measurement Conversion Calendar. But as always, if you have any questions, just email me!