epicuric
Legendary Member
I'm still struggling with coming to terms with that moment in time when somebody discovered the tablespoon, and said "Hey, that's a great thing to measure butter with" or even "Wow, a cup, let's fill it with butter".
Metric system measurements to American measurements
- Thread starter JAS_OH1
- Start date
epicuric
Legendary Member
Unfortunately, there is one glaring omission from your chart Hemulen. The thumb, normally found in the "thumb of ginger", common in eastern dishes. How does the eastern thumb convert to the European thumb, or even the US thumb, let alone to cubic inches or fluid ounces?Hmm. In my opinion solids can very well be quoted in fluid quantities aka volume-wise (by cubic capasity). I think many of us don't own a kitchen scale to convert e.g. 0,5 oz butter into grams or 50 g of butter into ounces (or to pounds). It's much simpler to measure ingredients (approximately) by volume (aka fluid quantities) than to have to search the density (grams per cubic cm) of each ingredient before converting the amount into a familiar weight unit (e.g. by a convertion chart like this). All ingredients are "equal" volume-wise = not dependent of their mass/density/weight.
This chart (approximates) is all that is needed for all ingredients world-wide, if you stick to fluid quantities:
1000 ml = 1 cubic dm = 1 liter (of anything) = 1000 g of water = a different weight of any other substance, e.g. only 580 g of plain flour
1 teaspoon (of anything) = 5 ml (of anything) = 0,17 fluid oz (of anything) = 0,021 US cups (of anything) = 5 grams/0,17 oz of water (or 4,8 grams of butter or 2,6 grams of plain flour)
1 tablespoon (of anything) = 15 ml (of anything) = 0,5 fl-oz (of anything) = 0,063 US cups (of anything) = 15 grams/0,5 oz of water (or 14,38 grams of butter or 7,8 grams of plain flour)
1 US cup (of anything) = 240 ml (of anything) = 8 fl-oz (of anything) = 240 grams/8 oz of water
1 US pint (of anything) = 480 ml (of anything) = 16 fl-oz (of anything) = 480 grams/16 oz of water
1 UK cup (of anything) = 280 ml (of anything) = 9,47 fl-oz (of anything) = 280 grams/9,47 oz of water
1 UK pint (of anything) = 570 ml (of anything) = 19,3 fl-oz (of anything) = 570 grams/19,3 oz of water
1 US gallon (of anything) = 3750 ml (of anything) = 127 fl-oz (of anything) = 3750 grams/127 oz of water
(1 lb/pound of water = 473 ml of water = 473 grams/16 oz of water); pound isn't a cubic volume
"APF/plain (wheat) flour weighs 0.593 gram per cubic centimeter or 593 kilogram per cubic meter, i.e. density of flour, wheat is equal to 593 kg/m³. In Imperial or US customary measurement system, the density is equal to 37 pound per cubic foot [lb/ft³], or 0.343 ounce per cubic inch [oz/inch³]" (Source)
It's an endless task to check the weight of each ingredient per cubic meter. However, grams, ounces or pounds are often used in recipes. In such cases, weights have to be converted with oz <-> lb <-> gram -converters - followed with different ingredient-specific converters, if cubic measures (like teaspoons, fluid ounces or milliliters) are wanted. Often the context, pics or cooking instructions give an idea of the proportion/balance of quantities, so I don't think it's that important to think about conversions in "ordinary" recipes (excluding soufflés or other delicate dishes with precise quantities). Just have fun and cook! Experimenting is learning.
CookieMonster
Über Member
I wish I had saved the bookmark for a flour measuring experiment.
working from memory here - if this sounds familiar and you have the link, please post it.
group of culinary students - 15 in all as I recall -
invited to measure out one cup of flour.
then the experimenters weighed the "one cup" measured amounts.
the results were horrendous. something like 20% range in the weight of "one cup"
so, while technically measuring by volume can work, there's a few glitches.
measuring something like rice - using flat scraped cups - should be consistent.
flour, not so.
confectioners sugar, not so.
stuff like "one cup of diced onions" - totally not so.
I have a cookie recipe, a never-fails one. done it be-dozens of times.
everything - solid and liquid - measured to the gram....
then our market stop carrying Ceresota Unbleached AP - which I had used for decades.
I switched to KA Unbleached AP.
did not go well, eventually reduced the flour - Ceresota 210g to KA=180g - that's like 17% difference.
so, if you're wondering why the cake didn't turn out so well, measuring and flour brand makes a difference.
cookies with Ceresota / first batch with same grams of KA
working from memory here - if this sounds familiar and you have the link, please post it.
group of culinary students - 15 in all as I recall -
invited to measure out one cup of flour.
then the experimenters weighed the "one cup" measured amounts.
the results were horrendous. something like 20% range in the weight of "one cup"
so, while technically measuring by volume can work, there's a few glitches.
measuring something like rice - using flat scraped cups - should be consistent.
flour, not so.
confectioners sugar, not so.
stuff like "one cup of diced onions" - totally not so.
I have a cookie recipe, a never-fails one. done it be-dozens of times.
everything - solid and liquid - measured to the gram....
then our market stop carrying Ceresota Unbleached AP - which I had used for decades.
I switched to KA Unbleached AP.
did not go well, eventually reduced the flour - Ceresota 210g to KA=180g - that's like 17% difference.
so, if you're wondering why the cake didn't turn out so well, measuring and flour brand makes a difference.
cookies with Ceresota / first batch with same grams of KA
mjd
Veteran
I meant to ask you where you found this chart. I saved it and plan to laminate it. Very helpful.
Sorry - I should have credited it: Butter in the US and the Rest of the World
All I did was Google 'butter conversion chart'.
Photo source
Really; butter is pretty much the same in volume and weight, so I don't understand this tongue-in-cheek picking about measuring butter with a tablespoon (or even a cup) that seems to go on and on. A tablespoon (usually not relevant whether even or heaped) is just as good for measuring butter than a knife "somewhere near" the (possible) weight measurement marking line. Or do you really take a piece of fridge cold butter, put in on top of e.g. parchment paper on a kitchen scale and slice 2 or 3 millimeters more or less with a knife to get precisely the weight that is indicated in/on the recipe?
Photo source
Last edited:
MrsDangermouse
Guru
If I'm baking (rather than cooking) then yes I do....I weigh everything to the gram.
Though I use a small dish rather than a piece of parchment.
Even if I'm cooking something where I don't need to be super-accurate then I'll still usually weigh everything, and if you're weighing anyway then you might as well be accurate.
epicuric
Legendary Member
To be honest I seldom weigh or measure anything because I seldom bake - probably four times this year (and one of those was a recipe of yours!). When I do, I use digital scales similar to those in your picture but with a reset button. A mixing bowl can be sat on top and the scales reset to zero after each ingredient is added. No picking intended, but I cannot get my head around trying to fit a piece of cold hard butter into a tablespoon, but I guess it depends on what you are used to.
That's probably why we have markings here on the paper/foil the butter is in.
I never, ever, ever weigh or measure butter beyond that. A stick is 1/2 cup, and four sticks are a pound, and there are tablespoon markings on the side, as well as a little guidance like, "1/3rd cup = 5-1/3rd TB" - I want to meet the person who works out that stray 1/3rd tablespoon.
I'll also say, much like my mentor Jacques Pepin (and Julia Child before him, and every other good cook), I'm sure I'm erring on the heavy side with my measurements. Every time I see Pepin melt some butter in a pan, he always says (in that gentle, lilting voice of his), "Add, oh, a tablespoon of butter to the pan..." - and in goes a quarter cup!
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
I was just talking to my sister. She was at the grocery store earlier. She was walking past the frozen turkey bin and 3 women were talking about what a great deal the turkeys were at 0.69 cents a pound, and one woman held up a turkey and said, "This turkey is only $10 (plus change), what a great deal!" My sister chimed in and said, "It's a better deal at xxx store, you can get a 15-pound bird for about $6." The woman looked at her and said, "How much per pound are theirs?" My sister said, "0.39 cents per pound." The woman looked at her oddly and said, "How do you know how much a 15-pound bird costs?" My sister told her she rounded up to 0.40 cents and did the math in her head. She said that they all looked confused and were quiet, so just she walked away.
I am not sure if it's the decimals that confused them or if they didn't know how to multiply 4 x 15. WOW.
CookieMonster
Über Member
"I am not sure if it's the decimals that confused them or if they didn't know how to multiply 4 x 15. WOW."
neither. today's young people don't have any concept of 'doing math in their head'- it's not taught.
they can't manage much more than 1+2=3 without a calculator.
funny video once linked . . . two male teenagers asked to make a phone call . . . they handed them a phone with a dial - and neither of them had any inkling on what to do with it....
or the cartoon of two young kids who were given a book - asking 'how do you turn it on?'
I wouldn't even do the actual math in my head for that turkey. I'd just round up to .50¢, cut the size of the turkey in half, and drop a little off that.
I think I mentioned this before: I bought FIAT 500 in 2011, and be millennial-aged nephew was super-pumped over seeing and driving it once I got it.
First time he saw it, he was all giggly over it, loved the styling, and I gave him the keys and said, "Let's go for a drive."
He excitedly hopped in the driver's seat, grinning like an idiot, looked around to get his bearings, then asked, "What's the handle with the numbers for?"
I want to be clear. It wasn't that he couldn't drive a stick, that's not uncommon here at all. He didn't know what a stick/manual shift car was!
I think I mentioned this before: I bought FIAT 500 in 2011, and be millennial-aged nephew was super-pumped over seeing and driving it once I got it.
First time he saw it, he was all giggly over it, loved the styling, and I gave him the keys and said, "Let's go for a drive."
He excitedly hopped in the driver's seat, grinning like an idiot, looked around to get his bearings, then asked, "What's the handle with the numbers for?"
I want to be clear. It wasn't that he couldn't drive a stick, that's not uncommon here at all. He didn't know what a stick/manual shift car was!
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
Ah, but I am guessing these women were not young people. Most young people I know don't do much price comparison or even know whether or not .39 cents a pound for a turkey is a value. Nor do they care. I have 3 stepdaughters who are now adults. I haven't ever seen one of them read the grocery ads to make grocery lists, they just go to the store and buy what they need (or want).
And some people don't have to be taught how to do math in their heads, though I realize that isn't the norm. My youngest excelled in math at an early age, said she could just "see" the numbers in her head. She started college courses at 16 through a program at school that allowed her to get college credits in conjunction with her high school credits due to her excellent grades. She graduated with a business degree at 20. She is 26 and is making 6 figures now.
JAS_OH1
Forum GOD!
There are more steps doing that than multiplying 4 x 15, LOL.
Not to me. It's the old six of one, half dozen of the other. I can do either one. I'd just at that turkey and think, "Around six bucks."
I'll freely admit to not really paying attention to ads or prices, for that matter. I can guess the prices of most things just from buying them so often, but I usually don't shop on price.
It was beaten into me as a kid that everything we bought had to be cheap, cheap, cheap because we were so cash-poor and I swore I'd never be that miserly when I got my own money, if I didn't have to be. MrsT is exactly the opposite - she grew up in an affluent, comfortably well-off family, and she's so tight-fisted, she could (as her dad liked to say) "squeeze the sh!t out of a buffalo nickel."