I've always assumed a cup of flour was about 5 ounces. I just found the weight chart for

Be very careful about this. I've started using weight charts and they can vary.

For a single cup of all-purpose flour, I've seen different weight values in several books, such as Cake Bible, Cordon Bleu cooking school, Sur La Table, and KA to name a few. (this is off the top of my head, so I can't give exact examples.)

Depends on if it's sifted, spooned or packed.

Depends on the type of flour (cake versus all-purpose versus pastry, etc).

I really thought this would clarify recipes...and it does, but you still have to be careful going from one recipe source to another.

 
I agree with Marilyn...

I agree with Marilyn - it very much depends on how the author measures their flour.

Going with all-purpose - if you scoop the flour, then you most likely end up with 5 ounces. If you lightly fluff, then spoon into the measuring cup, it ends up being around 4 1/4 ounces.

The problem comes when they don't tell you how they measure!

For example - Martha Stewart's Everyday Food crew uses the "fluff and spoon" method, yet in her Baking Handbook, she calls for scooping. No consistency.

I wish everyone would just use weights in their recipes to clear up any confusion - it is starting to become more common (especially in baking books), but editors don't like it and have been resistant to change.

 
Thanks, I see what the two of you mean. Just checked my W-S, which gives measurements and see they

list 1 cup as 4 ounce weight. The variances sure explains a lot about some of my baking. I'm a recipe follower, but getting better at following instincts.

Problem is, I don't bake enough to have confidence in how stiff or not so stiff batters or doughs should be.

 
I did a test of my own brand (Wegman's unbleached) and

I found that 1 cup of sifted flour was 4 ounces and 1 cup of unsifted was 4 1/2 ounces. My scale has a chart that shows unsifted to be 5 ounces. That can make a big difference with several cups of flour.

 
I think it was Sandi in Hawaii that did a very thorough comparison of weights vs. cups.

I don't know where the link is though.

 
And I just saw a Kenji Lopez-Alt (A CI recipe developer) recipe that calls for 11 oz

(about 2 cups). That would be 5.5 ounces a cup. So according to the KA's measurements for their flour that would be 8.5 ounces, not 11.

Sorry, I guess I've got OCD, but this drives me crazy!

 
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