500 grammes of all-purpose flour is usually equal to 4 cups, but this depends on the type of flour used. Every cup of flour is about 125 grammes, so you can switch between the two units by dividing the number of grammes by 125. But because grammes measure weight and cups measure volume, different things change from one unit to the other at different rates. Even different types of flour with different weights, like whole wheat or rye, may convert at different rates.
When baking, it’s not always as easy as it seems to measure things, especially flour. With these tips, you’ll know how much flour to use in the kitchen, neither more nor less.
How to Measure Flour with Cups
Even though it might not seem important to have the exact right amount of flour in a recipe, getting it wrong can ruin even the best recipes. Too much flour can make bread and cookies that are heavy and crumbly instead of soft and chewy.
Even though measuring flour is very important, many cooks still get it wrong. That’s because scooping flour to measure it tends to pack it together tightly, giving you more than you need—sometimes up to 50 percent more. Instead, you should either gently pour or, better yet, lightly spoon in the flour. In either case, you should fill the cup past what you need and then use the back of a knife or another tool to make it even. You might have to do it a second time, and you should be careful not to shake or pat the cup because that can pack the flour. After that, you might want to gently stir the flour to get rid of any lumps and make sure there isn’t more flour in the cup than the recipe calls for.
There are also problems with sifting. A cup of flour, sifted means that you should measure the flour and then sift it, but a sifted cup of flour means that you should sift the flour first and then measure it. Since sifting can add more air to the flour, a cup of sifted flour is likely to have more flour in it than a cup of sifted flour.
The Pros of Using Weight to Measure Flour
Even though measuring flour by volume (cups) is more common in the U.S., measuring by weight (grammes or other units) is usually more accurate because it doesn’t matter if the flour is loose or packed. If you don’t have a scale, it might be easier to use measuring cups, but if you have a scale or are willing to buy one, it’s usually better.
Just like a cup of all-purpose flour is 125 grammes (or 4 1/2 ounces), there are also handy approximations for other kinds of flour. One cup is about the same as 115 grammes or 4 ounces of sifted all-purpose flour, 130 grammes or 4 12 ounces of bread flour, 121 grammes or 4 14 ounces of sifted bread flour, 115 grammes or 4 ounces of cake flour, or 100 grammes or 3 12 ounces of sifted cake flour.
Dry vs. Liquid Measurement
You might think that all measuring cups can be used equally well for both dry and liquid ingredients, but that’s not true. The main difference is where the last number is on the cup. A liquid measuring cup leaves a little space between the top of the cup and the last number to help prevent spills, but a dry measuring cup doesn’t. If you use a dry measuring cup for a liquid and fill it up to the final measurement, some of the liquid will probably spill over the side. If you use a liquid measuring cup for something like flour, you won’t be able to pour in a lot of flour and skim off the top with a knife to get a precise measurement. Even though it seems silly, you need one of each so you don’t make a mess or use too much flour.