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From: baynes@ukpsshp1.serigate.philips.nl (Stephen Baynes)
Subject: Re: Tablespoons (was: degrees Celsius)
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Date: Wed, 19 Mar 1997 12:47:19 GMT
Reply-To: Stephen.Baynes@soton.sc.philips.com
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Adrian Mariano (adrian@cam.cornell.edu) wrote:
: rwt@dcs.ed.ac.uk (Rainer Thonnes) writes:

: >In article <5fne7o$5b9@dg-rtp.dg.com>,
: >goudreau@dg-rtp.dg.com (Bob Goudreau) writes:
: >> 
: >> I don't think this turns out to be a real problem in practice, since
: >> American recipes typically specify when flour is to be sifted, and it
: >> is otherwise assumed to be unsifted.

: >Be that as it may, this slight discrepancy is in any case a bit of red
: >herring, I think, since it seems more natural to measure the four before
: >sifting, not afterwards. 

: But it still doesn't seem to be consistent.  I just made a recipe out
: of an American cookbook that clearly stated to measure without
: sifting.

: It didn't come out like the picture in the book.  After some
: experimentation, I found that the flour was responsible.

You may also have run in to the fact that flour is not an internationally
standard commodity. American flour is usually made from a high gluten wheat
that rises well and is suitable for spongey bread making. British flour usually
is made from strains of wheat that grow better in cooler climate but have less
gluten and won't make a spongey bread. You can get American (or equivalent
flour) in the UK, look for bread-making or strong flour.

Apparently a well known US cake cook came over to the UK to promote her book
on cakes and found the recipies did not work with UK flour. The UK publishing
and promotion of the book had to be delayed while she reworked every recipe
and the book was reprinted.

--
Stephen Baynes    MBCS  CEng                Stephen.Baynes@soton.sc.philips.com
Philips Semiconductors Ltd                  
Southampton SO15 0DJ                        +44 (01703) 316431
United Kingdom                              My views are my own.
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