Recently I was reading a post about measuring shortening. I just bought a large container at Sam's Club and now I can't find the post. It had something that measured the shortening into oz. Can someone help me if you remember?
Our Wilton teacher told us to measure it in a cup with water.
For example:
I have a measuring cup that holds 1 1/2 cups.
If I need a cup of shortening, I fill up the measuring cup with water to 1/2 cup. Then I add the shortening with a spoon pressing down. I keep adding and press down until the water reaches to 1 1/2 cups. So, water occupies 1/2 cup and the rest is shortening.
I bought a cheap set of plastic measuring cups at Walmart for 99 cents and I use the 1 cup for shortening only.
Best way to measure anything is with a good set of scales.
Regards SugarCreations..
One cup of crisco weighs about 6.75 oz. I looked it up on the Crisco website once, and then verified the next time I was at the store by looking at the measurements on the package of Crisco sticks.
One cup of water does weight 8 oz, but it's not safe to assume the same about other things that are more or less dense than water.
Crisco does have air whipped into it, which is why it weighs less than 8 oz.
hth!
Laura.
SugarCreations, I couldn't agree more. I've switched pretty much everything over to the kitchen scale I never thought I would need 
As I understand it, *any* veg shortening has air in it (part of how they get the texture, I believe) so will weigh 6.7oz in contrast to most things which usually run about 8oz/cup. Oh, I have never used hi ratio shortening, so cannot be certain whether the same applies there.
I used to love the water displacement trick, Maria, but what do you do about the water that sticks to the shortening when you take it out? If it weren't for that issue, I'd be happy to do it that way again.
happy baking today!
Bekah
The best way to measure is with a scale. Once you get used to it you will find that you save a lot of time. You don't have to worry about air pockets or clumps in your sugar etc. King Arthurs and I think William Sonoma has some kind of gadget that you can use to measure shortening, Pnut butter and the like.
Pampered Chef (I believe) has what fearlessbaker is talking about, which works kind of like a push-pop. It's a dispenser tube that you can pack however much shortening/butter/etc. that you need into and then push the end and it makes all of what you put in come back out. It just helps cut down on the hassle of getting everything out of the measuring cup once you get it in there.
SugarCreations, I couldn't agree more. I've switched pretty much everything over to the kitchen scale I never thought I would need
As I understand it, *any* veg shortening has air in it (part of how they get the texture, I believe) so will weigh 6.7oz in contrast to most things which usually run about 8oz/cup. Oh, I have never used hi ratio shortening, so cannot be certain whether the same applies there.
I used to love the water displacement trick, Maria, but what do you do about the water that sticks to the shortening when you take it out? If it weren't for that issue, I'd be happy to do it that way again.
happy baking today!
Bekah
I shake it off real good and whatever little water sticks to it, its not enough to affect the consistency of the icing I am going for. I have been doing it this way ever since and its always worked for me... 
for measuring crisco I use a measuring cup that looks like a push pop - it is called "adjust a cup" and all you do is set it to the level and then push it out and there is no scraping or messing around with it - soo much nicer and very easy here is a link http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=13126780&RN=106
I got mine from foodnetwork and it is all plastic.
I recomend this lil gaget to everyone I love it
You all are wonderful for answering my question! It is an awesome thing that I could count on all of CC for a quick answer.
Maria, thank you so much for that suggestion! What a cool idea! I used it yesterday and worked out great. The water really didn't stick to the shortening at all. I just poured it out and used the shortening.
Laura, also thank you for the exact measurements (6.75 oz) of the Crisco. I knew I was somewhat close but I wanted to double check. I usually buy just the sticks for convenience but now that I'm making more cakes, I want to cut down on the cost by buying bulk shortening.
Regarding the "push-up" measuring cup, that is just a personal preference. I got mine from Pampered Chef and I think it is garbage. My little girls play with it now. I guess everyone has their own thing. I will be using the water method from now on. As my husband always says, it would be a pretty boring world if we all liked the same things! lol
Just a quick note to all that think most things weigh 8 oz if measured to a cup.
Everything weighs differently. Think about it, sugar weighs different from brown sugar, nuts weigh differently from chips, etc. Never assume with weights and measures when baking. It can make the difference between the perfect cake and the one people throw out.
Sugarcreations is correct. The most accurate way to bake is by weight, especially with flours and sugars.
Happy baking!
Maria, thank you so much for that suggestion! What a cool idea! I used it yesterday and worked out great. The water really didn't stick to the shortening at all. I just poured it out and used the shortening.
Great!!!!
Just a quick note to all that think most things weigh 8 oz if measured to a cup.
Everything weighs differently. Think about it, sugar weighs different from brown sugar, nuts weigh differently from chips, etc. Never assume with weights and measures when baking. It can make the difference between the perfect cake and the one people throw out.
Sugarcreations is correct. The most accurate way to bake is by weight, especially with flours and sugars.
Happy baking!
1 cup of water is 8 fluid ounces, which is different that something weighing 8 ounces. It can be very confusing. I wish I knew a good web site that explained it because it seems to come up on here quite a bit.
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