Divide and weigh dough into regular pieces
When you prepare dough for cupcakes in a pastry shop or bakery, at some point you're going to have to divide it, i.e. cut it into small pieces, which should all have the same weight.
Sounds simple enough, but is it really that simple?
Sounds simple enough, but is it really that simple?
6,226 5/5 (14 reviews)
Keywords for this post:BakingPastryDoughWeighingDividingTipsRegularityLast modified on: May 30th 2023
Divide and weigh dough into regular pieces
The most natural way to do this is to place the pile of dough in front of you.
Then take enough dough from it to obtain the desired weight.
It's simple, and it works, of course, but without realizing it you're wasting a lot of time, because you'll have to make the right weight from scratch for each dough piece.
To do this, you first need to roll out the dough roughly on your work surface, pressing it down with your hands, and at the same time giving it a vague square or roughly flat rectangle shape, about 1 to 3 cm thick.
Using a pastry cutter, cut out "columns" from the rectangle...
... which you can then cut into pieces.
Weigh each piece to check its weight, adjust if necessary by removing or adding a small piece of dough, then set it aside before moving on to the next.
You'll find that, at first, the pieces you cut won't be the right weight, but as time goes by, your eye will adjust to the desired weight, and you'll need to adjust the weight less and less.
This way of working (in "columns" and "rows") will enable you to divide the dough more quickly and easily.
It's not essential, but once you've got a piece at the right weight, lay it out in rows and columns too (as in the photo), so you'll know how much you've got at a glance.
To sum up: to divide a dough into several small pieces of the same weight, it's much easier and quicker to form it into a rectangle or square, and cut rows and columns from this rectangle.
Then take enough dough from it to obtain the desired weight.
It's simple, and it works, of course, but without realizing it you're wasting a lot of time, because you'll have to make the right weight from scratch for each dough piece.
Can you do better?
Yes, and to do that you have to work like bakers do, i.e. cut the dough into squares.To do this, you first need to roll out the dough roughly on your work surface, pressing it down with your hands, and at the same time giving it a vague square or roughly flat rectangle shape, about 1 to 3 cm thick.
Using a pastry cutter, cut out "columns" from the rectangle...
... which you can then cut into pieces.
Weigh each piece to check its weight, adjust if necessary by removing or adding a small piece of dough, then set it aside before moving on to the next.
You'll find that, at first, the pieces you cut won't be the right weight, but as time goes by, your eye will adjust to the desired weight, and you'll need to adjust the weight less and less.
This way of working (in "columns" and "rows") will enable you to divide the dough more quickly and easily.
It's not essential, but once you've got a piece at the right weight, lay it out in rows and columns too (as in the photo), so you'll know how much you've got at a glance.
To sum up: to divide a dough into several small pieces of the same weight, it's much easier and quicker to form it into a rectangle or square, and cut rows and columns from this rectangle.
Lasts posts
Your oven in "proofer" mode
In the bakery, proofing is a crucial stage in the process of making light, plump breads and pastries. During proofing, the yeast ferments the sugars present in the dough, releasing carbon dioxide which forms bubbles. This process allows the dough to swell and aerate, guaranteeing a soft, light...September 27th 20243,1405
The right size of zucchini
When you buy zucchini at the market, you're often offered a wide variety of sizes, from very small to very large. But which ones to choose? Here are a few tips.September 9th 20243,4815
The (small) miracle of béchamel sauce
Making a béchamel sauce is going to confront you with a little miracle that happens every time: You pour milk over a roux, it's very liquid, you stir over a low heat, and then all of a sudden, miracle, the sauce sets, it thickens, you've got your béchamel. Let's see what happened.August 27th 20243,9394
Pastry doughs
To make a classic tart, you'll need a pastry of course, and if you don't use puff pastry (normally reserved for "fine", in french, tarts), you'll have a choice of shortcrust, shortbread, sweetcrust or "à foncer". Let's take a look at the differences between these four.August 16th 20244,0154.4
A few tips on homemade ice cream
If you make ice cream at home, which is a very, very good idea, you'll find a few tips and tricks in this article that should make your life easier. Combined with the site's ice cream recipes, they'll help you improve your production, to the delight of everyone around you, children first.August 11th 20244,0585
Other pages you may also like
Small, regular pieces
When we cook, bake or pastry, we often have to cut food into small pieces, often cubes, to incorporate them into a recipe or preparation. How do you get regular pieces fairly quickly?November 28th 20205,5144.5
How to zest a fruit?
You will have no doubt noticed that many recipes call for the zest of citrus fruit. The zest is that outer layer of the skin which adds so much flavour to a dish. There are many different ways to peel off the zest and various tools are available. Here is a summary of the “dos and don'ts” of...November 5th 201342 K3.8
In praise of the whetstone
Have you ever seen a butcher or a chef sharpen his knife before using it? Usually he uses a special tool, a long thin cylinder made of very hard metal. And in a smooth and elegant gesture, he very quickly passes the edge of the knife against the rifle, which makes a very characteristic noise,...June 5th 20216,8654.8
85 grams of eggs?
Some time ago, I already spoke to you about the difference between baking and pastry-making, I emphasized, among other things, the precision of pastry-making which requires grams, cm, degrees and minutes. That's why, on the one hand, you have baking and cooking, where a certain tolerance is...November 26th 201848 K4.6
The return of the vegetable grater
If you are of a certain age (say +50) you may have known, when you were a kid, something that your grandmother had in her kitchen set, the vegetable grater. A kind of mill, to be turned by hand, and which with cutting discs of different sizes, allowed to grate a lot of vegetables, carrots first...March 20th 202112 K4.6
Post a comment or question
Follow this page
If you are interested in this page, you can "follow" it, by entering your email address here. You will then receive a notification immediately each time the page is modified or a new comment is added. Please note that you will need to confirm this following.
Note: We'll never share your e-mail address with anyone else.
Alternatively: you can subscribe to the mailing list of cooling-ez.com , you will receive a e-mail for each new recipe published on the site.