Call me a drug dealer, nerd, European, or whatever, but I love measuring in grams, and I HATE our system of cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces, etc. All you need is grams. The rest of the world uses the metric system and its so much easier to bake with. All you need is a scale, which you can get anywhere for $15. Get a digital one that zeros out after each measurement. Put in 1,000 grams of this, hit zero, put in 700 grams of that, hit zero, etc. Once you get used to it, you’ll never go back to using US units again. Here are 5 reasons why I like using a scale with grams:
1. Its way faster to add ingredients.
2. I only need one measuring device, so I don’t have to clean all other tools to measure cups and teaspoons.
3. It’s way more precise and predictable (a cup of flour can vary by 25 grams; compound that by 5 cups)
4. This might be nerdy, but you can calculate percentages and alter to your liking. You simply break each ingredient down to a percentage compared to flour. After baking for a while you’ll be able to remember what the difference is between a 65% hydrated dough compared to a 75%. Now you can look at a recipe and know exactly what its gonna feel and taste like BEFORE you make it based on the ratio between water to flour, salt to flour, etc.
5. Since you can now do percentages, it’s easier to change the quantity. (Ex: most bread doughs have 2% salt, 70% water, etc) 70% of 1,000 g of flour is …. you got this.
I’m slowly converting all my recipes to grams, and I’ll include grams in all the recipes from now on for you die hard gram fans.
