Metric system measurements to American measurements

As a retired researcher in the biological / immunological fields - I got a feel for the low end of the metric system. I am pretty accurate in gauging the weight of something by picking it up, if it around or under 250 grams. Of course 10 grams is very hard to gauge, even though we used that number and less a lot when measuring reagents, but hey. I got used to length measurements on the smaller end of the scale as well in metric.

(Um, you might not want to know what we usually were weighing in the range of 200-250 grams. Lab rats. Yep.)
 
well since we're up and closer to the topic....
eggs - the EU and USDA defs don't agree.

Code: 
            USDA                                     EU Sizes     grams per egg
           oz/doz   oz per egg   grams per egg
peewee       15     1.25         35.4
small        18     1.50         42.5                small        <53
med          21     1.75         49.6                medium       53-63
large        24     2.00         56.7
extra large  27     2.25         63.8                large        >63-73
jumbo        30     2.50         70.9                very large   >73
 
CookieMonster said:
well since we're up and closer to the topic....
eggs - the EU and USDA defs don't agree.

Code: 
            USDA                                     EU Sizes     grams per egg
           oz/doz   oz per egg   grams per egg
peewee       15     1.25         35.4
small        18     1.50         42.5                small        <53
med          21     1.75         49.6                medium       53-63
large        24     2.00         56.7
extra large  27     2.25         63.8                large        >63-73
jumbo        30     2.50         70.9                very large   >73
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Seems like we don't get very small eggs in the EU/UK.
 
TastyReuben said:
Butter - I buy imported Kerrygold butter (Irish) that comes in sticks. Probably packaged just for us difficult Americans. Are British packaged of butter labeled in knobs? :)

I have liquid cup measures (Pyrex) and dry cup measures (Calphalon, I just checked). Flour, cornmeal, sugar...I don't measure those in the Pyrex. Actually, I usually weigh the dry stuff, as I pretty much have it committed to memory how much a cup of this or that weighs, and I can usually do the math in either direction to get to whatever amount I'm after.

I started working in a retail operation at 9yo, cash or check only, and worked there for 10 years. I can make change in my head nearly as fast as the register. :)
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Butter either isn't marked or is marked in multiples of grams.

50864
 
I only buy USDA large eggs. They are very common, and I am used to them. I don't worry about the ounces or grams. If a recipe says one egg, it is going to be a USDA large egg in my kitchen.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I only buy USDA large eggs. They are very common, and I am used to them. I don't worry about the ounces or grams. If a recipe says one egg, it is going to be a USDA large egg in my kitchen.

CD
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What's interesting about that is, pretty much every American cookbook I have has a little preface that talks about assumptions and standards, and they all say, "All egg amounts assume USDA large grade eggs."

However, I have a couple of U.K. books/mags, and they say their standard is medium eggs. Interesting.
 
caseydog said:
I tried Kerrygold. Meh. I found a Land-O-Lakes butter with an even higher butterfat content than Kerrygold. Works great for me. and it comes in sticks marked in 1 tablespoon increments.

I could count out change back when cash registers made you figure it out. I doubt I could do it, now.

CD
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I think the point with Kerry Gold is that it's grass fed butter, which has a different flavor (in addition to being higher in beta carotene and other nutrients). Land-O-Lakes does not offer a grass fed butter AFAIK.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Yeah, for us it was taught in general math in the 3rd grade. In the 3rd grade, we had one teacher for all subjects. The first time I had a science teacher was 5th grade, I think, and in science we only used metric measurements. I remember at one point in my childhood it was discussed that Americans switch to the metric system. They started putting metric measurements on Coke bottles along with the quart measurements, and eventually changed Coke bottles to plastic 1 liter and 2 liter bottles. That's how I know that a 1 liter is 33.6 ounces, LOL. And when it comes to weights, I remember learning in the late 70s that a kilo of pot is 2.2 pounds, an ounce of pot is roughly 28 grams, and of course the 1/4 ounce bag is 7 grams, not including baggie weight... :laugh:

Edited for a typo...not enough coffee before posting.
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Funny how the important things stick in our minds. :roflmao::roflmao:
mjd said:
That's impressive. I was in WalMart one time when the register ran out of paper. The cashier became flustered, handed me my cash back AND the item I wanted to purchase with an apology stating that she was not good at math. I told her that she could use addition instead of subtraction and you would have thought I suggested she fly to the moon that instant. I absolutely refused to steal the item and helped her count back my change. The kicker? There were no coins involved. I gave her a $10 and the cost was $6. I'm stunned at the number of people that are allowed to handle cash that can't count. It was a REQUIREMENT when I got my first cashiering job in high school. It was on paper, no calculators allowed.

So, good job remembering what you learned in 3rd grade! I'm terrified of being in a nursing home depending on the next generation of people that cannot function without their Smartphones and fancy apps. Yikes!
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My parents owned 3 Dairy Queen restaurants. In the '90s I worked for them as general manager for the 3 stores and in house manager for the flagship store. When I hired a new employee the first thing I did was teach them how to count back change. The cashiers were not allowed to hand customers a handful of bills and coins without counting it back. Even if you never work as a cashier it is good knowledge to have to make sure that you receive the correct change. Another thing I insisted on - especially at the drive thru - was that the customer's payment was placed across the top of the cash drawer and left there until the change had been counted back. It was not uncommon for a customer to hand you a ten and claim to have given you a twenty. The 10 is still sitting on top of the cash drawer. Another trick was to hand over a 20, for an order less than $10 and drop the 10 between the seat and car door as soon as it is received, then claim to have only received change for 10 instead of 20. Counting back the change eliminated those tricks. What boggled my mind was the trouble I had getting the cashiers to put those techniques into practice. Bottom line - our education system leaves a lot to be desired. There is too much dependence on electronics instead of brain power.

I do use apps to convert cooking measurements. In the dark ages we were not taught the metric system. I do have a kitchen scale with a built in conversion. I have noticed that some recipes, especially baking recipes, use weight instead of volume. I do have separate measures for liquids and dry products. I have 1 and 4 cup glass liquid measures. I have 1 cup, 1/2 cup, 1/3 cup and 1/4 cup dry measures. My measuring spoon range from TBSP to a Smidgeon.
I do not worry too much about precision in savory dishes. I rarely weigh or measure for savory dishes unless it is a recipe I want to post. Baking is another issue. I am not comfortable with baking so I follow recipes and weigh or measure - most of the time. I sometimes add extra ingredients like Cayenne to brownies or extra warm spices to pumpkin bread or carrot cake. I add small amounts at a time and taste. I do measure and make a note on my recipe for future reference.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I've never seen pee wee eggs before, and I usually buy medium or large.
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Not so much peewee eggs but here from my own coop:


fairy-egg.jpg
fairy-egg-1.jpg
The bottom whole egg is a regular large chicken egg, and above it are left to right, a "fairy" egg and a quail egg. Fairy eggs aren't really sell-able - they usually have no yolk involved, or simply a dot of a yolk. See the central egg in the lower photo, surrounded by frying quail eggs. They're usually a "mistake" and can be laid by very young hens, or be a sign of bad nutrition (if this happens on a regular basis). This is my first and presumably only fairy egg.

I assume a true peewee egg is larger than the fairy egg shown above, and they may well be laid by certain breeds of bantam (small) hens.
 
Mountain Cat said:
Not so much peewee eggs but here from my own coop:


View attachment 50934
View attachment 50935
The bottom whole egg is a regular large chicken egg, and above it are left to right, a "fairy" egg and a quail egg. Fairy eggs aren't really sell-able - they usually have no yolk involved, or simply a dot of a yolk. See the central egg in the lower photo, surrounded by frying quail eggs. They're usually a "mistake" and can be laid by very young hens, or be a sign of bad nutrition (if this happens on a regular basis). This is my first and presumably only fairy egg.

I assume a true peewee egg is larger than the fairy egg shown above, and they may well be laid by certain breeds of bantam (small) hens.
Click to expand...
Can quail be domesticated? I didn't know. I had seen quail eggs at the sushi restaurant but I have never eaten one.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Can quail be domesticated? I didn't know. I had seen quail eggs at the sushi restaurant but I have never eaten one.
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Sure, even in Finland. They lay approximately an egg per day. There are quails on e.g. a direct sales farm next to our summer place, living caged like chicken on a yard next to a summer store parking lot. They don't sell the eggs (as there aren't that many) but they collect them for their own use.

Regarding quantities and measurements... IMHO most of CookingBites members have enough experience in cooking to have an instinct for measuring ingredients by free hand or instinctively - without the need to check whether the amount of some specific ingredient is even, slightly brimful or totally heaped; small(ish), medium or large. Often a slight fluctuation in measures doesn't make a significant difference regarding the taste or outcome of a dish. The main thing is the overall ratio between different ingredients - and that's quite easy to spot in a recipe regardless of units.

Somebody's even spoonful might equal to somebody else's heaped spoonful. Salt and pepper are mostly dosed to taste. It's the same with most ingredients. Yeast, baking powder, saffron and other specific and/or expensive ingredients can be checked with more precision. As Morning Glory stated earlier in this thread, there are quite a lot of easy online converters available so there's no need to make things harder than they are. But by all means, if somebody needs to check/weigh each ingredient precisely on a scale or measuring cup or mark every ingredient in four or five different units in their recipes, that's fine - and definitely more accurate. I've started to mark the quantities in both volumes and weights (approximate milliliters and grams). If you find it challenging to convert units, just type the name of the specific ingredient and x (weight or volume used) to y (weight or volume wanted) in the Google bar and voilà, you probably have the answer in a nanosecond - without even the need to look for specific converters.
 
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