How A lot Is a Cup of Flour in Grams?

If you wish to use weights when baking and the creator of a recipe doesn’t offer you a weight for his or her flour, my testing reveals that it is best to use 128 grams for a cup of all-purpose flour. That’s the typical throughout 4 manufacturers of flour that I weighed utilizing strategies that I describe right here with a view to work out how a lot a cup of flour weighs in grams.

Why Use Weights for Measuring Flour

Working with weights is necessary if you need to have the ability to convert American recipes over to the metric system (changing flour from cups to grams). It’s additionally necessary if you wish to break down a recipe to see the ratios of various substances – it is best to all the time try this by weight. Lastly, utilizing weights allow you to scale recipes up or down extra simply and precisely.

Testing Methodology

When you do a Google search, you could end up on the Instructables web page that claims {that a} cup of all-purpose flour weighs 120 grams. Allrecipes says one cup of flour is 128 grams. Joy of Baking weighs in, calling one cup of flour 130 grams. Why is there a discrepancy, what quantity do you have to be utilizing, and does it matter in any respect? I weighed 192 cups of flour to determine how a lot a single cup of flour weighs!

I made a decision to take a look at three various factors that might trigger weight variation: the strategy of getting the flour into the measuring cup, the model of flour, and the kind of measuring cup.

This can be a lengthy publish, so seize a drink and prepare. First, I share my findings. Then, I deal with the necessary problem of whether or not the distinction in weight issues. On the finish, I summarize all of my conclusions (skip to that part in case you are brief on time).

The way to Fill a Measuring Cup

There are two important ways in which individuals fill their measuring cups.

I’m calling the primary methodology “The Dip”. That is the place you dip your measuring cup proper into the bag or jar of flour.

The second methodology is “The Scoop”. On this methodology, you employ a scoop to pour flour from the bag or jar into your measuring cup.

In each strategies, it’s necessary to degree off the highest of the measuring cup after it’s full.

I ran 72 checks on every methodology utilizing totally different manufacturers of flours and measuring cups. Listed below are the averaged outcomes:

Maybe extra telling is the distinction in customary deviation between The Dip and The Scoop. As a fast math refresher, the usual deviation is a measure that’s used to quantify the quantity of variation in set of information values. A normal deviation of 0 would imply that I acquired the very same reply once I did issues the identical means. What I discovered was that the usual deviation for The Dip was 2.43 grams and the usual deviation for The Scoop was 1.93 grams. Utilizing The Scoop yields extra constant outcomes.

Variations in Flour Manufacturers

For this venture, I checked out 4 totally different manufacturers of flour: King Arthur Flour, 365 On a regular basis Worth Natural (Entire Meals’ home model), Gold Medal, and Pillsbury.

When calculating the model outcomes, I used a mean of measures taken utilizing The Dip and the Scoop Methodology with a wide range of measuring cups for every flour model. The outcomes are as follows:

That’s a 7.3% distinction between Pillsbury and King Arthur Flour!

Variations in Measuring Cups

Will you get the identical outcome utilizing any measuring cup? It appears like the reply is “no”.

The distinction in customary deviation can be putting right here. The yellow cup’s customary deviation was 2.80 grams, the blue cup’s was 2.05 grams, and the pink striped cup’s was 1.68 grams. I attribute this to the spherical form of the striped cup and the truth that it has much less of a rim. This makes it simpler to degree the cup.

Utilizing a Liquid Measuring Cup

I do know that a few of you employ a liquid measuring cup to measure dry substances. I attempted this and located the usual deviation was 8.76 grams! As a result of you possibly can’t degree a liquid measure, it’s almost unimaginable to get an correct outcome utilizing one. Don’t do it.

Warning:
By no means use a liquid measuring cup to measure dry substances!

Do Small Weight Variations Matter?

In brief, a distinction in weight can matter tremendously; it relies upon upon your recipe.

The very best weight that I measured for a cup of all-purpose flour was 144 grams (King Arthur Flour utilizing The Dip) and the bottom weight was 124 grams (Pillsbury flour utilizing The Scoop). That’s a 20 gram distinction. It appears like lots, however does it actually matter? I needed to know, so I baked two loaves of bread.

I used a scale to measure all the substances. I used 124 grams of flour in a single loaf and 144 grams within the different. I stored all the pieces else precisely the identical.

Because the loaves had been going by means of their second rise, I already had my reply.

The loaf on the left used the upper measurement and the loaf on the fitting used the decrease measurement. Every thing else was the identical. Wow!

Right here’s how the 2 loaves sorted the bake. (For extra on this, King Arthur Flour has a wonderful publish about how small variations in substances can considerably have an effect on bread baking.)

In bread baking, flour is the primary ingredient and interacts with the yeast and the liquid. I puzzled if the distinction could be as outstanding in cupcakes the place flour is only one of many substances.

The chocolate cupcake on the left used the upper weight quantity and the one on the fitting used the decrease weight quantity. When you see a distinction, let me know. To me, they’re mainly equivalent and so they had been additionally equivalent in style.

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