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Cups to pounds

rgcasey@ix.netcom.com
Fri, 5 Feb 1999 13:28:09 -0600 (CST)
v099.n010.16
I respond to the following posting:

	>From: "Chris Moewes" <cmoewes@pobox.com>
	>Subject: Cups to Lbs
	>Date: Sun, 24 Jan 1999 13:34:26 -0600

Bernard Clayton, in an Appendix to his "New Complete Book of 
Breads" gives the equivalence for flour (unsifted),

	3 1/2 cups = 1 pound

However, he also, in the same appendix, gives

		1 cup = 4 3/4 ounces, 

which would yield 3 1/2 cups = 1 pound + a bit more than half 
an ounce.  

For fun, I weighed the flours in my cupboard without sifting 
using a good metric balance scale.  One cup varied from 144 
to 156 grams depending on the flour. This is about half an 
ounce higher than Clayton's equivalence (1 ounce = 28.5 
grams).  When I sifted, the weights dropped by about 7% on 
average.

I conclude that these equivalences are not exact, 
and bread bakers seem to go largely by feel of the dough 
anyway.  You probably should use them as a first try.  Maybe  
a precise standard is not possible given the differences that 
exist among flours. On the other hand, weighing probably does 
give more consistent results.  

By the way, if I am giving more detail than you like, blame 
breadmaker/author Peter Reinhart.  His classes and books 
stress both precision and feel.  For example, he tests bread 
for doneness by measuring internal temperature with a probe 
thermometer.  What a simple idea, yet how well it works!  I 
for one have never been able to rap on a loaf with my 
knuckles and decide whether a hollow sound is produced, the 
usual test for doneness.

Richard Casey