TEST KITCHEN: These tools are made to handle the specific properties of liquid or dry ingredients

By DANIELLE CENTONI

Q: What's the difference between liquid measuring cups and dry measuring cups? Do I really need to have a set of each?

A:

Yes, you really do need to have both styles. Technically, liquid and dry measuring cups hold the same volume, but they are specially designed to more accurately measure their respective ingredients.

While you could fill a dry measuring cup with liquid to the very brim, and it might be a pretty accurate measure, you're almost guaranteed to spill some of it before it gets into your recipe. Liquid cups have measuring lines well below the rims, so you have room for the ingredients to slosh a bit without spilling. To take the most accurate measure, set the cup on a flat surface and squat down so the measuring line is at eye level.

Even if you think you could move with such expert precision that you wouldn't spill a drop, you have to admit that using a dry measuring cup for liquid ingredients is just plain inconvenient. Dry measures larger than 1 cup are rare, unlike liquid measuring cups, which are commonly found in sets that measure up to 8 cups. So if your recipe calls for 4 cups of liquid, you'll end up wasting a lot of time filling and refilling (and spilling) with that 1-cup dry measure.

OK, so what about using liquid measuring cups for dry ingredients? Well, now you really might screw up your recipe. Dry measuring cups are meant to be filled to the brim so you can sweep off the excess. If you tried to use a liquid cup, you couldn't sweep off the excess because of that extra "sloshing room" below the rim. So to measure it, you'd have to pat the ingredient down or shake the cup to level it out. This isn't a problem for large, chunky ingredients like chopped carrots, but it's definitely a problem for fine-grained things like flour and sugar. Patting or shaking the cup would cause the flour to settle and compact. You'd end up adding more flour, which could throw off the whole recipe.

By the way, how you get the flour in the cup -- whether you spoon it in or dip the cup -- can result in too little or too much, which can be detrimental to your recipe. Some recipes specify the preferred method, but most don't (when in doubt, go with the "spoon-and-sweep"). That's why a weight measurement is by far the best way to measure dry ingredients. Thankfully, more recipe writers are including weight measurements in their recipes. If you don't have a digital kitchen scale, get one. They're not that expensive and they're the best way to ensure accuracy in baking.

Danielle Centoni

is a Portland-based freelance writer.