Every time I find an interesting recipe on the net the measurements come in cups.
It has been driving me crazy.
I have found this site which tells you a lot more conversions than any other.
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/us_cups_to_weight.htm
I am sure it will be useful to most cooks.
Thought you were talking about Bras for a moment!
yes that annoys me, but then working in metric only annoys me too! why can't they just put both for ease! (although i was taught metric at school i still use imperial, go figure)
Quote from: BarriedaleNick on March 29, 2010, 15:49:37
Thought you were talking about Bras for a moment!
Me too, then remembered this was in recipes ;D
I always worry that they don't use the same 'cup'. Is it one of the standard cup measures, or have they just grabbed a cup from the cupboard? At least when it's a proper measurement you're sure you've got it right. Baking isn't the sort of thing that you can mess about with!
I agree completely. It drives me nuts, particularly as a cup of X doesn't weigh the same as a cup of Y. I blame the Americans (Australians do it too) - they like to think with home baking they're in Little House of the Prairie, and proper scales haven't been invented
Quote from: Bugloss2009 on March 29, 2010, 18:15:26
I agree completely. It drives me nuts, particularly as a cup of X doesn't weigh the same as a cup of Y. I blame the Americans (Australians do it too) - they like to think with home baking they're in Little House of the Prairie, and proper scales haven't been invented
LOL that made me chuckle!
I am a chef and I actually prefer the cup system,its so quick to use as long as you have a set of measuring cups.
I have these ones and I love them.
http://www.procook.co.uk/shop/Bakeware/Measuring-Jugs%2C-Cups-%26-Spoons/Blue-Acrylic-Measuring-Cups/d31/sd254?code=2696 (http://www.procook.co.uk/shop/Bakeware/Measuring-Jugs%2C-Cups-%26-Spoons/Blue-Acrylic-Measuring-Cups/d31/sd254?code=2696)
both systems (cups vs weights) are great, just don't try to mix them!!
I use both cups and weights and volumes, and I have to say that in general, cups tend to be quicker and easier to use. While they may not be quite so accurate, it really does not matter for all practical purposes. So much so that I have started to show both cups and weights and volumes on the recipes on my site. Not all my recipes have been changed yet, but I will get there once I have tried out the recipes using cups.
Here in Ontario we use cups, imperial and metric weights, as long as you don't mix them in the same recipe you should be OK.. but then again I am a dip and scoop baker most times, so some times an 8 ounce measuring cup can
weigh a 4 1/4 ounces and the next cup 4 1/2 ounces.
Also with the cup measurements some sift the flour or whatever first, some smooth off the top of the cup. I don't and I have yet to get any complaints about what I bake or cook.. ;-))) qahtan
Obviously being a cantankerous British person, I hate to admit the North Americans might have a point, but even I agree that the cup system is vey sensible, it seems silly really that people should have weighing scales in every kitchen, taking up loads of space.
And when you're not measuring flour with your measuring cup, you could even drink out of it! :)
Why can't everyone stick to metric. It's SOOOO much simpler. ::) ::) ::) ::) ::) ::)
How any one can manage to measure a cup of solid fat amazes me.and how on earth can you measure a CUP of dried stuff when it settles?
Thank goodness that this site is for people in the UK. Nice as they are as people the 'Americans' dominate the 'web' .
Thank you for showing us the site. It is very welcome and I for one will put it on my favourites.
There is no where in the UK where we can buy 'American Cups' even if we want to and we do not. We want accurate measurements.
This method of measuring must date back to when they arrived in the primitive New World. Did a wonderful job surviving. We in the UK struggled to make a recognised weights and measurement too but I think ours even before metric is miles better.
Thanks again I can now enjoy delving into recipes which before I would have ignored.
I agree metric is simpler . Why is it that only the Americans wont accept it?
I bought my cups and measuring spoons from Lakeland, years ago. I expect they still have them.
I used to make quite a lot of muffins and the best recipes are Oz and Kiwi and they use cups. I mostly make cakes and chocolate biscuits these days but still use cups now I know how they work. For flour, sugar and liquid volumes I mentally convert ounces and grams to cups for ease and speed. One cup equals 250ml of volume, 4oz or 120g of flour and 8oz or 24g of sugar.
I do have a proper set of brass scales which I love but they're best kept for weighing larger quantities such as dried pasta or Xmas cake ingredients which aren't exactly cup sized.
For info, a tin cup was a practical measuring solution available to everyone during the expansion across the USA or Oz in covered wagons without fully fitted kitchens and a set of calibrated scales to hand.
QuoteThere is no where in the UK where we can buy 'American Cups' even if we want to and we do not. We want accurate measurements.
Zigzig, I'm glad you're happy measuring things in metric, but obviously some people do like measuring using cups, as discussed here on this very thread.
I know what you mean about metric being a good system, but I suppose although the Imperial system is a bit weird and over-complicated, it works for domestic uses, and people who are used to it get on very well with it.
I think whichever system you're used to, you recognise the quantities when you hear them - you sort of just know what a cup and a half of flour is like, or how thick a 1" batten of wood is.
Personally though I do get a bit annoyed with the half-in half-out approach here where you buy 2 inch wide wood by the meter or 45 inch wide fabric by the meter. Make your mind up! ;D
QuoteThere is no where in the UK where we can buy 'American Cups' even if we want to and we do not. We want accurate measurements.
have a look here for measuring cups, even Nigella has got in on the act!!
http://www0.uk.shopping.com/-measuring+cups
AND ....ASDA are selling them today as we type this !! ;D
Duke
I used to get furious about cups too, but bought some of the little devils and still have not used them, it's just another kitchen gadget to add to the many!
Watching some cookery TV the other day I saw The Barefoot Contessa say that she had just put about two tablespoons of butter in a pan...how the hell did she measure that? It was a little block, not melted..
:-\
I know most half decent cooks can rustle up familiar recipes without even bothering to measure at all but every so often we get a totally new type or unfamiliar style and certainly the first time I try to make it, I endevour to be accurate. Cakes can easily turn out too heavy. In which case serve them warm as a pudding.
Wanna try this American one?
BIBLE CAKE
1 c. Judges 5:25
2 c. Jeremiah 6:20
6 of Isaiah 10:14
3 1/2 c. 1 Kings 4:22
1/2 tsp. Leviticus 2:13
2 tsp. 1 Corinthians 5:5
1/4 tsp. each of 3 spices in 1 Kings 10:2
1 c. Genesis 24:2
1 tbsp. Exodus 16:31
2 c. each of 1 Samuel 25:18
1 c. Genesis 43:2
Don't panic, keep scrolling
BIBLE CAKE
1 c. Judges 5:25 (butter)
2 c. Jeremiah 6:20 (sugar)
6 of Isaiah 10:14 (eggs)
3 1/2 c. 1 Kings 4:22 (flour)
1/2 tsp. Leviticus 2:13 (salt)
2 tsp. 1 Corinthians 5:5 (baking powder)
1/4 tsp. each of 3 spices in 1 Kings 10:2 (spices)
1 c. Genesis 24:2 (water)
1 tbsp. Exodus 16:31 (honey)
2 c. each of 1 Samuel 25:18 (raisins and figs)
1 c. Genesis 43:2 (nuts, chopped)
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Sift salt, flour, baking powder, and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice). Mix honey with water and add alternately to first mixture with dry ingredients. Add raisins, figs, and nuts. Pour into greased loaf pan or angel cake pan. Bake at 375 degrees until it tests done with a skewer.
On the subject of weights and measures, are market traders still being forced (by Europe) to use metric measurements?
DTW,
They can use the old or new money as far as weighing of produce.
Like the selling of a pint, it cannot be sold any other way.
They stopped this stupid law a while back when we asked a trader on the market where we live. ;)
Back to the question in hand, (Are cup measurements instead of weight driving you mad?)
The answer is no. I have no scales to weigh ingredients with as it is all done by eye and feel. My OH and the kids hate this way of cooking. I on the other hand love it as you never know how it will turn out. ;D ;D ;D
ZIGZIG..if you want a cup of solid fat,take a 2 cup measure fill it to the 1 cup mark with cold water, then scoop your solid fat in till you reach the two cup mark,pour off the water and you have your one cup of solid fat.
Cups drove me nuts when I first went to Canada, but eventually I got used to it..now I so much prefer it , it is quick, easy, and no scales to mess with.
At first it messes with your head,simply it is a measure of volume..not weight, so you have to switch your thinking.
It really does work, and it is so very simple.
I even convert the weight measure recipes now.
When I taught baking to Mums in my school I used the cup system and they found it much easier.
XX Jeannine
QuoteBIBLE CAKE
I like this I will send it to my daughter who is a God squaddie.
I use battery-powered add-and-weigh scales, which can be set to measure in grams/kilos, ounces/pounds and also liquid measures, which is extremely convenient and saves washing-up. ;D
I'm a member of the Guild of Food Writers, happy to write recipes in metric, but equally happy to have the freedom to buy food in imperial measures. I rarely use cups because I write for British readers and I think finding American recipes on the internet is often a source of frustration for British cooks - not least because our ovens are calibrated in degrees celsius.
The logic for writing recipes in metric is given on the Guild of Food Writers' website (see link below). Often, the most frustrating recipes to use are those in which the metric measures are a fiddly conversion of the imperial (eg 340 g for 12 oz), rather than a proper re-writing into metric.
http://www.gfw.co.uk/campaign-details.cfm?ArticleID=126#Metric-Imperial_weight_conversion
PS If you visit the website and know any talented young cooks, why not check out our CookIt! and WriteIt! competitions?
I prefer the cup method, its easy to do and it doesnt matter which cup you use as long as you use the same one throughout the recipe.
To be honest I was not expecting so many responses to this. I was pleased to find the site for myself and thought that I would share.
When I saw that spudbush had mentioned writing recipes. I thought that I would add another frustration I have had with recipes.
The writer frequently omits the tin size and/or shape.
Loads of detail then for some reason. That, sometimes vital bit of information is missing.
Many of us on here have been cooking for longer than some others have been alive and instinctively know but for a total novice trying to bake for the first time, they often have no idea what container to use.
PurpleHeather, I agree - it's a bit arrogant to write a recipe and not to let people in on the secret of which size tin will make the recipe succeed!
In times past, recipes could get away with being vague, but given that large numbers of us haven't had the opportunity to learn cookery skills systematically, my tendency is to err on the size of pedantic, when writing recipes for baked dishes, in particular. Other types - soups, stews and so on - can be more flexible.
Well, as an American living in the UK I had to get used to going metric. I did buy a set of cups and bring them over. I think Delia also has imperial and cup measurement conversion charts in one of her books. It's also helpful to know that 375 degrees F is basically 170 degrees Celsius, or close enough. Another tip was from Nigella, with 180g being equal to a 3/4 cup. Or close enough. So far I haven't poisoned anyone, but weighing is more accurate, methinks. I usually pick a type of measuring and stick with it for the whole recipe.
That was quick spudbash. Thanks
When you said about not necessary with soup type things reminded me of when my daughter was about 12 or 13. (Her kids are older than that now, so it was some time ago)
She had often helped but wanted to make a spag bol meal by herself. We stayed out of the kitchen, at her request and promised to do the washing up after she had made the meal for us all.
She had a recipe she had come across.
Fry the chopped onions until brown
That took my smallest saucepan.
fry the meat.
That did not fit in my smallest saucepan with the onions, she later explained, so she put the onions into a dish whilst she found the next size saucepan.
When it came to adding the tomatoes they would not fit and so it went on.
I had never seen so much washing up after a meal which should have needed no more than one pan for the sauce and one for the pasta. one wooden spoon and a colander.
It is funnier now than it was then.
I would quite happily dump imperial and metric. Using cup measurements are easier to use and you don't need scales.
Just be aware that cups differ. American, Australian and English cups all vary. I love using cups and now convert my English recipes to cups now too.
The difference between US, UK and OZ cups is sooo teeny minimal..just overlook it..however the difference in tablespoons is important, the OZ tablespoon is a different size to the others and can make a big difference.. a UK and UK tablespoonholds three 5ml teaspoons an OZ one holds 4.
The difference in the cups if measuring liquids are..OZ and UK are 250ml.. the US one comes out very slightly less, it makes no difference when measuring flour etc.
XX Jeannine
Stall holders I belive can show both weights and measures ifvthat answers your question the won a court case to allow them about 2-3 years back.
As for cooking I don't mind which honestly :)
I posted this on 30 march, thinking it would help you Brits, but no one seemed to take any notice, why did I waste my time as you seem to enjoy moaning about the way we on this side of the pond do things,,,,,
qahtan
1 pound Butter = 4 sticks
1 stick Butter = 1/4 pound = 1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons = 4 oz = 115 g
8 oz Butter = 225 g = 1 cup
1 (450 g) pound Butter = 2 cups
1 oz Butter = 30 g = 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon of butter = 1/2 oz = 15 g
A thingy of Butter is, at best, an inaccurate measurement that really means a "dollop". While certainly, some people maintain that a "thingy" is around 2 tablespoons, there are as many folks that maintain that the closest measurement to a "thingy" is about 2 tsps.
Another definition for "thingy" of butter is the amount of butter you get when you slice the corner of a block of butter to form an isosceles of Butter that needed to be preserved for a longer time. Salting the Butter well was a way of doing this. Even though the milk surplus days are over, the Welsh still retain a taste for salty Butter.
The first commercial creamery in America to make Butter started business in Iowa in 1871.
The American Congress decreed in 1923 that American Butter must have a minimum 80% butterfat in it; that law remains unchanged today.
Hi, it seemed to me that it was more like cooks shaking their heads in puzzlement as we do regarding many culinary problems wether it be cup measurements or making brioche..
I am in the middle of the " other side of the pond" thing geographically and I have to say that when I first met cups in the 70s I thought this side of the pond was completely behind the times, of course it took me only a little practise to realise it was not a worse or better way of measuring, it was simply different. I think the moaners as you call them are where I was back in the 70s. I am glad my friends who I moaned at kept here patience with me till I fully understood.
Your info is very useful, not new to me, but I thank you for posting it anyway.
Please be patient with Brits and baking the US way... I didn't get it for some time and was very frustrated and I am sure some of my friends could have rattled me as I moaned.
When I returned to the UK for 9 years I thought weighing was behind the times for a while and had to remind myself of the lesson I learned in the 70s..it is just different. Now I am home again and used to both, but I prefer cups, however no-one could have convinced me of that no matter how hard they tried in the beginning!!
Quote from: PurpleHeather on March 29, 2010, 15:47:52
Every time I find an interesting recipe on the net the measurements come in cups.
It has been driving me crazy.
I have found this site which tells you a lot more conversions than any other.
http://www.recipes4us.co.uk/us_cups_to_weight.htm
I am sure it will be useful to most cooks.
That's a nice list, and very convneient.
But if anyone is really stuck for a conversion, you can get almost anything on here: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/
It's the nutrient database maintained by the US Department of Agriculture, but if you type in the food that you're after, it'll offer you various options for analysis by weight. At least one will show the conversion from volume to weight. You don't need to proceed all the way through to get the nutrient analysis.
Good Morning All
Well the great Cup debate goes on but here's another take. My mother taught me to bake using only a tablespoon for a measure as her Mum had taught her (no money for scales, literally!) . A rounded tablespoon of flour or sugar = an ounce (all Imperial terms of course), a level tablespoon was a half ounce Butter or fat was measured by marking half a block then quarters to get ounces again. Liquids were all measured mostly by the tablespoon, but often, as in the case of pastry, by intuitive 'feel'. My mother went on to become an Officer's Mess cook during WWII. She was, and still is,a fabulous pastry cook.
Even much later when I did Domestic Science at school, the measurements were all done with a tablespoon. So much for the science of weighing.
Whilst on the subject I often notice that recipes get their tablespoons and teaspoon measures mixed up when abbreviating them. I.e. Tbsp (or Tbs) = tablespoon,tsp = teaspoons, I think that's right.
Surely it can't matter all all as long as your main measure, i.e. cup, tablespoon, remains consistent throughout. Happy cooking.
Regards, Caro
But where is your recipe coming from???
UK tablespoons are larger than American...... qahtan
Re tablespoon size..
Yonks years ago, when I was a nipper, tablespoons came out of cutlery sets, they were big clonking things. We also used them as measures in baking at school, thing was they were pretty much a standard size.
Modern day cutlery sets that actually have tablespoons can be any size as it is the decorative value that is priority.
Tablespoons used in baking, comes in sets down to 1/8 of a teaspoon are measuring spoons and are pretty standard..teaspoon 5ml. tablespoon 15ml . 4 tablespoons will fill a 1/4 cup measure.
Baking tablespoons in OZ hold 4 5ml teaspoons.
Carasanto is right, we did used to measure like that..with honking big metal "tablespoons" . I still have a couple jusy fir nostalgia.
UK and UK baking tablespoons are the same.
XX Jeannine
Since writing this I have just been in the kitchen
I have a set of UK spoon measures and a US set, they are identical !!
This is UK tablespoon on the left and Canadian table spoon on the right.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y58/qahtan/november%2009/102_0180.jpg
I still use both depending on the recipe I am using.
My UK tablespoons were my mums,as are the salt spoons, mustard spoons, coffee spoons and soup spoons, all things I have yet to see here.
goodness knows how old these items are are, they were brought to Canada with us 45 years ago from UK after surviving like my mum and I
being bombed out in 1943.
PS American cup is 8 ozs, qahtan
Yes you are right, the tablespoon on the left is one from an old cutlery set, the one on the right is a measuring spoon.. you are comparing apples to oranges. If you use an VERY OLD English recipe that calls for a tablespoon,used by folks who didn't have scales and before measuring spoons were available in the UK you would be right to use that one, but if you tried to use it in a modern recipe it would be as useless as your other one would be perfect. The recipe you would be using would clearly indicate which you were to use by the way it was written, you can pick out the very old English ones easlily and know you need to use the old serving spoon.
If you compare a UK measuring spoon to a US measuring spoon you would find they are identical. The teaspoons are also identical with the OZ set too.
Bear in mind that the old UK tablespoon that you have was originally used on the table as a serving spoon.
Yes, US cup is 8 fluid ounces. which is 237 mls , UK and OZ are metric and are 250mls, very little difference. I have all three sets of cups and three sets of spoons, simply bcause the OZ set was a gift from my brother in OZ ,came with a book,the UK set I bought before my furniture and baggage arrived from Canada when I was there and I needed a cup and spoon set. I still usually use the orange Tupperware set I bought in the 70s here in Canada.
I taught classes in the UK using baking cups and spoons we used the UK ones but my recipes were from all over the world, mostly American and Australian..
XX Jeannine
I must admit I didn't know that there were measuring spoon sets in UK, and yes the UK table spoons do get used as serving spoons.
though the serving spoons that came with my Canadian canteen of cutlery are the same size as UK ones, only posher.;-))))) qahtan
Yep, they have them in all the supermarkets now, folks are starting to use them. the ones I taught swear by them, they couldn't afford scales and found it really easy. XX Jeannine