Liters vs Grams in Confectionery?

[babaliaris]

I'm an engineering student working part-time in a hotel kitchen. Recently I had a disagreement with the Chef who told me that liters are the same as kilograms and anything I can measure in liters I can measure with a scale.

He put me in charge of making crepe and waffle mixtures and he just gave me a scale (measuring weight) while all of the liquids in the recipes are being measured in lt and not in weight (kg or grams).

Is he correct?

I'm positive that lt is not the same as kg since they measure two different things, volume and weight.

Maybe by approximation, you can actually assume they are the same? Though I make recipes of 30kg in total weight, that should break the approximation since the quantity is quite big and there are gonna be huge calculation errors.

 

[Andy M.]

Most water based liquids weigh one kilogram per liter. (Water, milk, etc. ) Based on that relationship, you can make a lot of recipes with just a scale.

This would not work with all liquids used in baking. e. g. Honey weighs substantially more than water.

 

[dcSaute]

you are right, he is wrong.


a liter of any and all liquids does NOT weigh one kilogram.


use specific gravity to convert - example
specific gravity of milk is 1.028 to 1.032 - it varies....
but if you need one liter of milk, 1030 grams is veddy close.
specific gravity of honey, at USDA stds, = 1.42; one liter of honey ~=1420 grams

 

[babaliaris]

Most water based liquids weigh one kilogram per liter. (Water, milk, etc. ) Based on that relationship, you can make a lot of recipes with just a scale.

This would not work with all liquids used in baking. e. g. Honey weighs substantially more than water.

What about vegetable oil (sunflower oil to be precise) or melted butter?

 

[Andy M.]

No to both. Fat is lighter than water as you can see from the fact that it floats on top of water.

I'd agree the chef is incorrect in making a global statement. However, you can determine the relationship of volume to weight for common liquids and use a scale for all. For example, a liter of cooking oil weighs 800 grams. Once you know that, you can calculate the weight of other volumes of oil.

 

[dragnlaw]

Butter you can weigh BEFORE it is melted. It pretty much should weigh the same.

Oil's I don't know. Although I guess it might be the same as the butter. So once you know the butter you could possibly take a chance on the oil being the same weight. just guessing!

 

[dcSaute]

sunflower oil SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 0.919 - 0.924


_melted_ butter weighs the same solid or melted
_but_ if heated past water boiling point, the % of water will boil off and the melted butter will weigh less.


I'm in the opposite situation - cooking/baking for two. I weigh both solids and liquids because weighing out 130 grams of milk is a _lot_ more accurate than trying to measure 0.57 cups of milk.... and in small batches, small errors can make a big difference.

 

[dragnlaw]

sunflower oil SPECIFIC GRAVITY: 0.919 - 0.924

that is to water which is??? 1?
in other words - very close

Sorry babaliaris, I didn't clue in that you were referring to confectionary. My mind went straight to your post at the pool side cafe and I thought you were talking about the pancakes/crepes.

Now you are making sweet cakes and candy?

 

[dcSaute]

it's very close until you get to 30kg batches

 

[dragnlaw]

it's very close until you get to 30kg batches

Yes, I understand. There's always the point at the end of the line whhere they don't match up, way out of kilter.

 

[babaliaris]

that is to water which is??? 1?
in other words - very close

Sorry babaliaris, I didn't clue in that you were referring to confectionary. My mind went straight to your post at the pool side cafe and I thought you were talking about the pancakes/crepes.

Now you are making sweet cakes and candy?

No. I only make crepe and waffle mixtures. The crepe is ready (everything in a 10kg bag in solid form) and you just add it to the mixer with water.

The waffle mixture is made completely by me following the chef's recipe.

The waffle recipe is the following:
10 eggs
1kg sugar
1/2lt sunflower oil
1/2lt melted butter
2kg all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons baking powder
2 tablespoons salt
3 vanilla capsules
1.5lt cow's milk

Multiply everything by 2,4 or 5 in order to make larger quantities.

These are the instructions from the chef.

 

[Andy M.]

I don’t understand your issue. Looking at the chef’s recipe, all the Units of measure are appropriate.

 

[dcSaute]

I don’t understand your issue. Looking at the chef’s recipe, all the Units of measure are appropriate.

except for the OP original issue:
"the Chef who told me that liters are the same as kilograms and anything I can measure in liters I can measure with a scale."

 

[Andy M.]

except for the OP original issue:
"the Chef who told me that liters are the same as kilograms and anything I can measure in liters I can measure with a scale."

Of course! I blanked on that.

The recipe looked normal to me. Forgot the chef's restrictions.

 

[taxlady]

I doubt that a recipe for crepes is so finicky that it will actually matter that the litres of liquid don't all weigh exactly 1kg. It doesn't even specify what size of eggs or how many grams of eggs.

 

[dcSaute]

I frequently make crepes.

a 9-10-12% difference in liquid ingredients will make a difference.


the difference in how different brands of flour hydrate makes a difference.
the size "name" of eggs between USDA and EU standards is different.


in the absent of reality and experience, failure is guaranteed.

 

[dragnlaw]

Well Crepes and Pancakes do have a list. No matter the size of egg, type of flour, his chef seems to know how much of each and as I said earlier - practice, practice, practice.

Never think of "guaranteed failure" those words should NOT be in your vocabulary.

Just say "oops" as you toss them in the garbage. Besides, as babaliaris said in the beginnig, some was too runny (add more flour) some was too thick (add more liquid)

The best thing about crepes and pancakes is you are not pouring the entire bowl onto the grill. You are ladling out individual cakes and therefore have a chance to correct your mix.
Not perfect but better than chucking the whole lot. And therein lays your practice.

 

[dragnlaw]

I will also say that there is no exact recipe for crepes or pancakes. Just go on the internet and you will find differences in dozens of recipes. All will use mostly the same ingredients but in slightly different quantities.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

What does it say on a cereal box? CONTENTS ARE MEASURED BY WEIGHT, NOT BY VOLUME. SOME SETTLING MAY HAVE OCCURED DURING SHIPPING.

 

[babaliaris]

Well Crepes and Pancakes do have a list. No matter the size of egg, type of flour, his chef seems to know how much of each and as I said earlier - practice, practice, practice.

Never think of "guaranteed failure" those words should NOT be in your vocabulary.

Just say "oops" as you toss them in the garbage. Besides, as babaliaris said in the beginnig, some was too runny (add more flour) some was too thick (add more liquid)

The best thing about crepes and pancakes is you are not pouring the entire bowl onto the grill. You are ladling out individual cakes and therefore have a chance to correct your mix.
Not perfect but better than chucking the whole lot. And therein lays your practice.

I managed to figure it out. The recipe for the crepes says to use 11kg of water for 10kg of crepe (solid form that includes milk). The mixture was too watery that was making a mess when trying to cook it.

It seems that the recipe has in mind letting the mixture rest in the fridge for about a day in order to tighten up. Since once I make it I need it in less than 2hours, I decided to use 2kg less water and the mixture now is perfect.

Though sous chef got mad with me for changing the recipe, but I believe I'm right and he is wrong. The exact recipe would be perfect if you could leave the mixture to rest in the fridge for a day, but I don't have the time and that is not my fault.