If you’ve ever followed a recipe to the letter and still ended up with dense cookies or crumbly muffins, the problem might not be your ingredients—it could be how you’re measuring them.
Here’s why switching from measuring by cups to using a kitchen scale could instantly improve your cooking and baking results.
⚖️ Volume vs. Weight: What’s the Difference?
- Volume measures how much space something takes up (like cups, tablespoons, or milliliters).
- Weight measures how heavy something is (like ounces, pounds, or grams).
Volume assumes consistency in how you scoop or pack ingredients. Weight gives you an exact measurement, no matter how you fill the cup.
🧲 Why Volume Can Be So Inaccurate
Take flour as an example:
- Scooping flour directly from the bag can compact it, giving you more than intended.
- Sifting it first makes it fluffier and lighter.
- The difference? As much as 30% more or less by weight—even though you’re still using “1 cup.”
That’s a huge margin of error when you’re trying to follow a recipe precisely.
🍺 Common Ingredients with Wildly Variable Volume
| Ingredient | 1 Cup (by Volume) | 1 Cup (by Weight) |
|---|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 120–150g | 120g (standardized) |
| Brown sugar (packed vs. loose) | 180g vs. 120g | 180g (packed) |
| Shredded cheese | 100g to 120g | 113g (4 oz) |
| Butter | Depends on temp & cut | 227g (1 stick = 1/2 cup) |
🍽 Why Baking in Grams Is the Gold Standard
Professional chefs and bakers use grams because:
- It’s far more precise
- It avoids temperature or packing inconsistencies
- It makes scaling recipes easier
Example:
“250g of flour” is always 250g. But “2 cups of flour” could be 240g or 300g depending on how you scoop.
✅ When You Can Get Away with Volume
- Cooking dishes (soups, stews, sauces)
- Non-baked items where exact ratios don’t matter
You don’t need to weigh every tablespoon of olive oil. But for anything that rises, firms, or depends on texture: use a scale.
☑ Recommended Kitchen Scales
- Digital scale with grams/oz toggle
- Tare function (to subtract bowl weight)
- Compact and easy to store
Top-Rated Kitchen Scale on Amazon (affiliate link)
Final Thoughts
If your baked goods aren’t turning out consistently, the solution might not be changing the recipe—it might be how you’re measuring. Switching to a kitchen scale is an easy upgrade that delivers instant, reliable results.
Also read:
- How to Measure 1/4, 1/2, 2/3 Cup Without a Measuring Cup (Quick Guide)
- How to Measure 1/3 Cups Without a Measuring Cup
- Kitchen Measurement Conversion Chart (Printable)
Anne James—lovingly known as Jelly Grandma—is a professional canner, seasoned home cook, and lifelong preserver of traditional Southern skills. With over 55 years of hands-on experience in canning, gardening, cooking, and quilting, Anne brings generations of wisdom to every guide she writes.
Featured in both local media and by national brands like Hershey, Anne now shares her knowledge through PreservingSweetness.com and her YouTube channel, helping others rediscover the “old ways” of living well and making things from scratch.