If I have a mission as a cooking teacher, it is to spread the gospel of the weighing scale. It will guarantee better results, save you time and most importantly in my book, save you washing up.
Volume is a very inaccurate way to measure most ingredients used in cooking, especially in baking. A recipe calls for 1 cup of brown sugar. Should it be packed? Scooped with the cup or piled in with a spoon? Should you use the metal cups or the glass jug? Exactly how accurate are those beautifully decorated china measuring cups? How does one get all of that sticky honey out of the measuring cup? Should the ingredient be measured and then chopped or chopped and then measured? What do you do with all the leftover chopped nuts you didn’t need? A recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of cold butter. How on earth do you measure that?
The answer is “Use a scale”.
Modern scales make it easy: they have a ‘tare’ or ‘zero out’ button. They will also weigh both ounces or grams at the touch of a button.
Place the bowl or even a saucepan on the scale. Then press the ‘tare’ button and it will go back to zero. Then add the first ingredient. When you have the right amount, press the tart button and it will take it back to zero again. Add the second ingredient and when you have measured it correctly, press the tare button. I usually put the ingredients side by side so that if I make a mistake with the second or third ingredient you can remove the extra without taking some of the ingredient you measured before.
When a recipe calls for a cup of grated cheese (1 cup = 4oz) or carrots (1cup = 3½ oz), convert it to weight and then weigh it, no more pile of cheese grated and then not needed.
If recipes are in cups, they can be easily converted into weight. King Arthur Flour has a great chart for most ingredients. Bookmark it in your phone for easy access http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipe/master-weight-chart.html