The measurements used in cooking and baking are probably more confusing than they should be, most likely because they have not grown out of one coherent system. You can avoid the inaccuracy of recipes for dishes such as soups and stews, but baking is a more precise science. It is best to be as accurate as possible when making dough, bread or pastries. You can learn the nuances and details of the conversion of dry measurements or you can see the cooking conversion table, which does most of the work for you. How many ounces in a cup dry?
Mug, uneven mug
Liquid rulers indicate that 1 cup = 8 ounces. But they really mean 1 cup fluid = 8 fluid ounces. In the case of dry measurements, the bases change. Because dry ingredients differ significantly in weight, you cannot rely on the same conversion. For example, 1 cup of universal flour weighs 4.5 ounces, not 8 ounces. On the other hand, 1 cup of chocolate chips weighs just over 6 ounces.
The cups are strictly volume measurements. When converting cups to dry ounces, it’s best to read the dry measurement conversion table, because different dry substances weigh different amounts depending on their volume. A glass of salt weighs to a larger ounce than a glass of oats.
Here are a few cups for ounces of dry measurements of popular baking ingredients:
Flour (regular or self-growing): 1 cup = 4.41 oz
Oats: 1 cup = 3.6 oz
Granulated sugar: 1 cup = 7.09 oz
Differences between measures
There are two main types of scoops – dry scoops and liquid scoops – and the one you use matters. Dry scoops are used to measure dry ingredients such as flour, nuts and berries, while liquid scoops are designed to measure liquids such as water, cooking oil and yogurt. Liquid scoops are usually glass or plastic with a handle. They allow you to pour liquid into a cup and take it even with a measuring line without spilling. On the other hand, dry scoops store the exact amount of ingredient and should be leveled with a flat edge. Using the right scoop can determine the result of the recipe you create. When baking, making incorrect measurements can completely shed the recipe. For example, when measuring out flour, a dry measuring cup lets you portion exactly the amount you need. Even if you measure a liquid by volume rather than by weight, the measurement of the liquid component obtained with the liquid scoop is probably more accurate than the measurement of the dry component obtained with the dry scoop. Unlike dry ingredients, liquids don’t settle, so what you see is what you need.
Unfortunately, the answer is not very simple, unless you are a math genius who can calculate everything in your mind in a matter of seconds. Although all dry, wet and spoon calculations are correlated, there is a different formula for each. While dry measurements take weight into account, liquid measurements take fluid volume into account. In this post I have included ready formulas for the cup to oz converter, so it will become very useful.