How to Measure Ground Ingredients by Volume

Steps

1. 1

   Reach for a scale first

   A digital kitchen scale is the more accurate way to measure ground ingredients, so use it whenever you have one and the recipe lists grams or ounces. Measure by volume only when no scale is available, or when the amount is a teaspoon or tablespoon and too small for the scale to read.

2. 2

   Pick the right measuring cup

   When you do measure by volume, use flat-rimmed dry measuring cups for ground and dry ingredients, and spouted liquid measuring cups for liquids. The two are not interchangeable. You cannot level a dry ingredient in a liquid cup, and a liquid will spill from a dry cup filled to the brim.

3. Two cups that look interchangeable: dry cups and liquid cups hold the same volume, but they are built for opposite jobs. A dry cup is filled right to the flat rim so the excess can be swept off. A liquid cup has a spout and extra space above the top line, which is why liquid stays in it and why a ground ingredient has nothing to level against.
4. 3

   Spoon it in and level the top

   With a dry measuring cup in hand, use the spoon and level method. Fluff the ingredient first, then spoon it lightly into the cup without packing it down or tapping it. Level the top with a straight edge, such as the back of a knife.

5. 4

   Never scoop from the container

   Do not dip the measuring cup straight into the flour container. Scooping presses the flour together, so the same cup holds substantially more than it should. The extra flour makes baked goods dry or tough.

6. Where the extra flour comes from: a cup is not a fixed amount of flour, only a fixed amount of space. Fluffed and spooned in, that space holds far less flour than it does when the cup has been pushed into the bag and packed. This is the main reason a scale gives a more reliable result than a cup.