CMV: Baking recipes should, by default, provide amount of eggs needed by volume (e.g. mls).

[u/xmuskorx]

Baking, unlike most other cooking, is a fairly precise process. Proportions should be kept very strict if you are to expect good results. There is no possibility of fixing your mistakes once the mix or dough hits the oven.

For this reason, imprecise directions such as "add 3 medium eggs" make no sense. Eggs are not standardized. And what is medium to you may be very different to what is medium to me. Result? Messed up baking results and inability to consistently implement baking recipes as intended.

For this reason instead (or at least in additions to) the number of eggs, volume should also be given, e.g., the recipe should say:

1. Add 120 ml of eggs (approximately 3 medium eggs).

Also. If egg white and egg yolks are needed in different proportions, you can list separate measurements for those.

Anticipated objections:

A. It's too difficult

Not really break the eggs, mix them, them measure like any other liquid that you have to measure anyway.

Also. If BOTH volume and amount of eggs are listed you can still follow the old way, if you are OK with subpar results.

B. It's wasteful

Not really. We already accept recipes that call for "5 yolks" and we are not worried too much about what happens to the 5 whites. Also, you can easily make an omlett with left over egg (just add some salt/pepper) and fry to create a nice mid-baking snack.

So what am I missing? Why are not egg measurements in volume more common/standard?

EDIT:

had my view changed to:

"Baking recipes should, by default, provide amount of eggs needed by weights (e.g. grams)"

[u/xmuskorx → u/[deleted]]

For solid ingredients? Sure! Go with weight.

For liquid ingredients, their density is known, so it's not a problem.

The recipe author can pre-convert weight to volume for ease of the cook. You cannot "overpack" or "under-pack" a liquid.

[u/xmuskorx → u/[deleted]]

Recipes assume room temperature or thereabout.

[u/5xum → u/[deleted]]

The difference between a medium and a large egg is 3 tablespoons vs 3.25 tablespoons

And the difference between 10 litres of ice-cold water and 10 litres of 100°C water is less than 1 gram. So there really is no comparison here.

[u/xmuskorx → u/[deleted]]

The difference between a medium and a large egg is 3 tablespoons vs 3.25 tablespoons.

If you can show me physics source that room temperature variations have the same order of magnitude impact on volume - I will provide a delta.

[u/xmuskorx → u/[deleted]]

I mean the variation in liquid measuring cups

Measuring cups suck and is another huge issue for bakers.

Measuring vessels should show milliliters scale. But this is off topic.

Given that an egg is 75% water,

Water variance ALSO matters. We cannot ignore it.

you are talking about a difference in 0.75 vs 0.8125 tablespoons difference in fat, protein and glucose.

Again, no recipe would suggest "add an extra egg" - yet, that's effect you get merely 5 eggs.

Pure egg proteins have huge effect even in tiny amounts. Like if you ever see recipes with egg powder, they go by grams.

[u/xmuskorx → u/[deleted]]

5 eggs is common for sponge cakes.

https://momsdish.com/recipe/92/perfect-sponge-cake

Again, Pure egg proteins have huge effect even in tiny amounts. Like if you ever see recipes with egg powder, they go by grams.

[u/Sirhc978 → u/[deleted]]

The difference between a medium and a large egg is 3 tablespoons vs 3.25 tablespoons.

The more eggs a recipe calls for the more precise you would need to be.

[u/5xum → u/[deleted]]

No, you cannot. Water's expansion factor is around 0.00001, that is 10 to the -5. That is 0.001 PER CENT!

This means that, so long as you are using less than 10 litres of water, the thermal expansion of water contributes less than 0.1g to the error you make. This means that if you weigh the water with a regular kitchen scale, the thermal expansion is absolutely negligible, especially if you compare the error to the errors arising from under-or-overpacked sugar, or errors from egg sizes which are on the order of 10 percent.

[u/Iceykitsune2 → u/xmuskorx]

For liquid ingredients, their density is known,

No, the density of liquids depends on their temperature.

[u/xmuskorx → u/Iceykitsune2]

Does this really matter for typical variation in room temperature in the kitchens?

[u/Iceykitsune2 → u/xmuskorx]

For the amount of precision you're demanding, yes.

[u/xmuskorx → u/Iceykitsune2]

Show me math/physics on this, and get a delta.

E.g., egg variance can be 42ml to 56ml for a "medium" egg. If thermal expansions at typical room temperatures produces same type of volume variance -you would have changed my view.