It doesn't really matter
I tend to use volume. Yes, it's inaccurate, and weight is more accurate, but that's assuming my scales are accurate, and they aren't. Then again, I tend to make dough with rough amounts and then add extra until it kneads right. When I use a breadmaker as long as you are roughly accurate it doesn't seem to matter

and I'll be buying chandeliers, playing hockey and drinking booze.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:31, 2 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

Oh that's good to know
I didn't want to think that gormless twat was right about anything.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:33, Reply)

You'll probably find your breadmaker came with a measuring jug, just use that.

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:36, Reply)

It did indeed
but Blaireau said that it wasn't accurate enough and made his loaves sloppy. Personally I think it was more because he was permanently sozzled while trying to use it.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:38, Reply)

You need to make sure the water's at the right temperature (probably 20°C)
or the volume reading won't correspond to the correct quantity of water. It's the mass of water which is important, but because it's a liquid it's more convenient to measure it in terms of volume.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:42, Reply)

The volume difference between water at 10 degrees and 20 degrees when you're talking about about 50ml
is totally insignificant. And you know it.
(Bazongaloid, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:45, Reply)

SCIENCE REBEL!

(PenguinOfDeath is Scottish, and most likely angry, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:48, Reply)

Yup!
This is the case.

But a kitchen scale is pretty inaccurate too, usually with a resolution of only 5g. So if you need say 25ml of water, you can easily get an error of 20%. A measuring spoon will beat that hands down.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:49, Reply)

Sorry, but for dough, it's the volume that matters not the mass.
It's effectively a colloid suspension of flour in water, so it's the size not the number of molecules that affect the consistency, which is what affects how the loaf cooks

/feels science dirty.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:51, Reply)

The volume of the flour, maybe
but not the water.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:53, Reply)

Yep, the water. It's the number of particles of flour
in the overall volume that gives you the consistency.

/Edit, strictly it's a effect of the release of starch which generates partial non-newtonian behaviour in the dough under kneading, so strictly it's a relationship between the amount of starch present in volumetric space. Water molecules have limited impact on the whole thing except to contribute "shape" through H-bonding, it's the branched long C-chains of starch "catching" on each other like little bits of velcro that give you the dough.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:55, Reply)

But the volume of water
is a small fraction of the volume of the dough. It's hardly a colloidal suspension in the usual sense.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:57, Reply)

True
but the number of water molecules is irrelevant, only the "space" they create for the dough to occupy. See edit above. This is also getting far too serious ;)
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 13:02, Reply)

Ah, so you're talking surface sites and hydrogen bonding then
Much clearer now!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 13:05, Reply)

no it's not ... ;)

( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 13:57, Reply)

Thanks Grandpa

( TGB checking Off Topic is still shit at, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:54, Reply)

*gives sloppy toothless kiss*

( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 13:00, Reply)

Weighing stuff the most accurate way.
Adding more flour "till it kneads right" sounds horrific.

When you make a cake, do you add more flour till it mixes right?

Hmm.
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:43, Reply)

of course not.
because in a cake you are balancing the ratios of more than two things. Bread is flour, yeast and water, and if you're using live yeast, you have a massive tolerance in the amount in there. Salt, yeah, but that's got a degree of tolerance too.

Adding more flour/water until the texture is OK simply affects the amount of bread you end up with.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 12:48, Reply)

Not really
It affects texture, consistency and how fast it bakes...
(Himjim died a little more inside on, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 13:03, Reply)

Not really, no.
that's affected solely by the ratio of starch to water, how good your yeast is and how big the loaf is. Since flours vary in starch content, by a country mile the best way to get consistent loaves is to make consistent dough texture. weighing ingredients only works if you always use the same batch of the same flour and that's not practical in a domestic kitchen.

If I end up with too much dough then I make more loaves. I don't just bake all the dough as one random loaf, obviously that would fuck things up.
( the mighty badger Aphrodite, on a bar stool, by your side, Fri 10 Sep 2010, 13:55, Reply)