Recipe confusion of a newbie

[ScotiaGirl]

I am having a great time searching the recipes in this form...so many great ideas.

But, I am totally confused about measuring shredded cheese for recipes. Do you measure using the cup measurement on the side of the solid cheese package and then grate it....which gives you a large amount of cheese or do you measure it actually shredded that gives you less? Recipes say 1 cup of shredded cheese. Help me please.
Scotiagirl

[glendarc]

Hi Scotiagirl,

I've always gone by the general rule that if it says
1 cup of cheese, shredded - it means measure before shredding. If it says 1 cup of shredded cheese - it means measure after shredding. I'm only a home cook, so I don't know if that's right, but I'm sure if it's wrong some of the pros around here will correct me!

[KvonM]

for me, it would depend on the recipe and the use of the cheese. but more often than not, they're assuming that you're either using pre-shredded bagged cheese, or that you're shredding it into a measuring cup.

the only difference would be if a recipe asks for a specific weight of cheese... if it says 4oz of shredded cheese, then you can take a 4oz chunk and shred it. when i'm writing up recipes for tracking in My PLAN, i go by the pre-shredded weight.

one other thing... it'll also depend on the use of the cheese. if it's meant as a topping on a casserole-type dish, the measurement is less important than the overall area coverage. if it's being mixed into a sauce, then the measurement is important for consistency.

[ScotiaGirl]

Thanks for the help.
Glenda, I'm a homecook too, I was making a recipe when it dawned on me that maybe I had been doing it wrong all these years.
KVonM, I liked the way you explained it, if it says weight then weigh it, other than that measure it in a cup.
I'm greatful for such helpful responses.
Scotiagirl