How to Measure Grams: 3 Tips for Converting Ingredients

A gram is a basic unit you use to measure liquid or dry ingredients for recipes in cooking and baking. You can use a measuring cup or measuring spoon to estimate amounts, but for the most accurate way to measure ingredients, you should use a digital kitchen scale (or food scale). This kind of scale often provides a conversion table function that allows you to switch between the metric and imperial systems of measurement.

Volume measures how much space an object takes up, while mass refers to the weight of the object's matter. There is a debate in the cooking community on the pros and cons of measuring different ingredient weights by volume or mass.

The form of the ingredient you are measuring matters. For bakers or confectioners dealing with a cup of flour or cocoa powder, minute variations of mass can dramatically affect the finished product. Meanwhile, a chef chopping vegetables for a soup will rely more on volume to meet the amount for which the recipe calls. The level of precision necessary to complete your recipe and the consistency of the ingredient will dictate whether you choose mass or volume.

If your mechanical scale provides measurements in imperial units but your recipe calls for grams of sugar or all-purpose flour, you can use a metric system conversion chart and a scale. Here are tips you can use to deduce an accurate measurement of dry or liquid ingredients:

1. 1. Zero out the scale. Since the aim is to measure the weight of the ingredients and not the weight of the bowl that holds them, place the empty container on the scale and press the tare button. The tare function will calculate the weight of the container and subtract it from the overall measurement.
2. 2. Consult a conversion chart. Different ingredients can produce various measurement conversions based on mass and volume. For example, one cup of brown sugar will measure 220 grams, while one cup of chocolate chips measures 170 grams. For this reason, you should consult an online conversion table and take notes of common ingredients for future reference.
   
3. 3. Use the “convert grams” function. Liquid measurements in recipes should be precise, especially if the ingredient has a strong flavor or aroma. If your digital scale does not have a “convert grams'' function, you can simply multiply the volume measurement of fluid ounces by 28.34952. The product will give you a precise gram measurement which you can then adjust to the nearest decimal point. If you are measuring a somewhat neutral ingredient like olive oil, you should not need a scale and a liquid measuring cup will suffice.

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