What is the best measuring cup to use for each flour and milk?
confused over measuring cups - flour (steel measuring cup) i use same measuring cup for milk & flour (glass measuring cup) should i have one for dry ingredients and one for wet ingredients . wet== pyrex measuring cup----dry measuring cup== steel measuring cup. what is the difference- a cup is a cup?
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use either one but measure flour first and then measure milk
Generally for dry ingredients, it is recommended to measure flat. Using a measuring cup in the shape of the first picture below, irregardless of whether it is made from metal or plastic, will facilitate smoothing off the top of the dry ingredient, with a knife or chopstick, so that the cup is flat full.
It is generally easier to measure liquid ingredients in a transparent cup that is higher than the horizontal markings. It is not that a 'dry ingredient' measuring cup can not be used for liquid measuring, it is just that it is easy to spill the liquid when using a this style.
measuring dry ingredients
measuring liquid ingredients
Here are some more scientific explanations.
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/how_tos/5450-dry-versus-liquid-measuring-cups
https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/is-there-really-a-difference-between-liquid-and-dry-measurements/
Since I cook and bake every day in some form, I use a scale when measuring ingredients especially for baking and when using international recipes as it is far more accurate, but not absolutely necessary.
It also matters how you dig into your flour bin too, one should use a scoop rather than the measuring vessel itself which could compact the flour. Yes it can get real technical and scientific if one wants too, but for everyday baking doesn't need to be so fancy if you don't want to. I learned how to cook and bake by sight, feel and taste as much as by measuring. Just depends what you are comfortable with and how much formal training you wish to incorporate into your every day life.