Temperatures, weights & measures in recipes

[MrsDangermouse]

That would be weird...i don't own a kitchen scale.

Whereas I find it really really odd that people don't have scales, even when I was a student living in halls I had a set of cheap scales.

Except that cups don't mean anything to most UK folk!

I think they're becoming more known about over here and you can at least buy them now. I bought my set of cup measures on a holiday to the USA about 15 years ago because I was fed up trying to convert American recipes. I still struggle sometimes because cup measures are pretty inexact depending on what you're measuring, though they're pretty convenient when you just need to get the rough proportions right.

 

[Morning Glory]

I still struggle sometimes because cup measures are pretty inexact depending on what you're measuring, though they're pretty convenient when you just need to get the rough proportions right.

Yes - I have a measure for 'cups' too. In some ways its a great, easy way to measure things and also helps when you read a recipe to visualise how much something is. I mean - I can visualise, say, a cup of raisins but not 150 grams of raisins.

 

[Toffeeapple]

I have two sets of scales, one metric and electronic and the other is Imperial measure and is a balance scale.

I also have several sets of cup measures and lots of measuring spoons.

 

[oddduck]

I have never thought...hmm...i wish i had something more accurate than my set of cups and measuring spoons.

Way back when i had just graduated from high school i got a job with an ice cream store, for training they had you weigh your product as you made them so after you got it straight in your head you would no longer need the scale tho the periodically would come out and ask you to weigh your cone just to make sure you were going by your training...i still know what a 5 oz cone of soft serve looks and feels like but have never felt the need to bring that system home.

Gramma made some great confections and her measurement often went by pinches, glops, smidgen, and splashes.

 

[Morning Glory]

I have never thought...hmm...i wish i had something more accurate than my set of cups and measuring spoons.

Maybe you can pick something up in a thrift shop. But a good electronic scale isn't too expensive. I've got one that can be set to grams or ounces.

Gramma made some great confections and her measurement often went by pinches, glops, smidgen, and splashes

These are very important technical terms!

 

[buckytom]

Oh, yes, I see both sides of the logic and neither.

We can all picture a budgie, but not a cup of budgies, nor 500 grams of budgies...

 

[Morning Glory]

Oh, yes, I see both sides of the logic and neither.

We can all picture a budgie, but not a cup of budgies, nor 500 grams of budgies...

 

[Yorky]

Maybe you can pick something up in a thrift shop. But a good electronic scale isn't too expensive. I've got one that can be set to grams or ounces.

The one that I have was around US$ 4.00.

Which is another thing that I've become used to: specifying to which dollar I am referring.

 

[epicuric]

I don't put too much store by exact measurements. There can be huge variations in taste of many ingredients (think onions, garlic, chillis etc.) so I tend to rely on taste instead and just use measures as a guideline. The exception is when baking, which is probably why I don't bake much. When I do, I use a set of scales similar to @Yorky's - pressing the 'on' button zero's the scales after adding each ingredient, which I find really useful.

 

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I don't put too much store by exact measurements. There can be huge variations in taste of many ingredients (think onions, garlic, chillis etc.) so I tend to rely on taste instead and just use measures as a guideline.

This is exactly how I feel about this: recipes that specify approximate sizes (like a medium garlic clove) invite you to adjust as you see fit (which, in my case, is always to add more garlic, almost regardless of what the recipe is). If precision were important, then the measure would be precise.

The exception is when baking, which is probably why I don't bake much

And, here is also where I have to rely on the exact measurements in the recipe. There are the occasional baking recipes with fruit added where the measure isn't exact (i.e., 3 large apples). I have to assume that the precision also isn't necessary in those cases.