GadgetGuy
(Formerly Shermie)
I don't. It's too confusing!! I find that it's much easier to measure ingredients the regular way. 
Who Measures Ingredients by Metric?
- Thread starter GadgetGuy
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Barriehie
Forum GOD!
When baking I use metric, grams. Way more precise than ounces and with volumes you can be off by prodigious amounts.
Its whatever you are used to doing I think. In Europe we use metric and its not confusing to us.
I have a scale which easily converts to either.
I have a scale which easily converts to either.
Barriehie
Forum GOD!
Mine does too. I only use ounces when measuring serving portions but I'm getting pretty good at eyeballing those.
Mine does too. I only use ounces when measuring serving portions but I'm getting pretty good at eyeballing those.
I'm old enough to remember ounces and pounds as the norm in the UK and I do have many cookery books which predate metric. Some recipes are commited to my memory in ounces. For example: rough puff pastry is 8oz flour and 4oz fat.
But grams are certainly more precise.
Just depends on what I’m making and what recipe I’m following.
Gone Hiking
Über Member
I use Freedom Units.
Measures? 
GadgetGuy
(Formerly Shermie)
I was about to say, Just eyeball it, like Rachel Ray would say.
GadgetGuy
(Formerly Shermie)
Actually, I only measure when I bake. Not when I cook.
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I always use metric. Any recipe in cups, spoons, pinches, smidgeons, teaspoons, bunches, etc. gets meticulously converted to metric. Why?
Very simple. I need to ensure that every single one of my recipes turns out the same (or at least, as close as possible to the same) every single time. If someone tries my Chicken Mangalore and says "Wow! That was fantastic!" then I want the same answer the next time, and the next time, and the next time.
Secondly, cups, spoons and pinches, etc. are inaccurate measures. A cup of wheat flour is not the same weight as a cup of rice, chickpea or coconut flour. A cup of balsamic vinegar is different from a cup of rice wine vinegar. A cup of brown sugar is not the same as a cup of white sugar, or raw cane sugar. I need to ensure that the combination of flavours is perfect (once I've polished a recipe); a vague "cup"of raw cane sugar is going to add far more sweetness than refined sugar. Ask yourself this question: when you "measure"a cup, do you meticulously fill it to the top, tamp down the contents and then draw a knife over the top to ensure it's the same measurement, or do you just dip the cup into the ingredient and take it for granted? Definitely different weights.
I know; it probably makes on difference for home cooking, but if you ever decide to sell your recipe, then it absolutely does. I actually weighed teaspoons of spices recently. 1 tsp of coriander seeds weighs 1.5 gms; cumin seeds, 2 gms; fenugreek seeds, 4 gms; black peppercorns, 3 gms.
Finally, cost is (or at least, should be) an important factor when making a recipe, especially (as is my case) if you're going to sell it to the public. Rather than making a sauce which contains 10 onions, 2 heads of garlic, a cup of sugar and 1½ cups of vinegar, I need to know that it's always 1 kg of onions, 90 gms of garlic, 200 gms of sugar and 300 mls of vinegar. If the price changes, then the cost changes; but the ingredients don't.
I might add that only 3 countries (out of 197) in the world do not use the metric system.
Very simple. I need to ensure that every single one of my recipes turns out the same (or at least, as close as possible to the same) every single time. If someone tries my Chicken Mangalore and says "Wow! That was fantastic!" then I want the same answer the next time, and the next time, and the next time.
Secondly, cups, spoons and pinches, etc. are inaccurate measures. A cup of wheat flour is not the same weight as a cup of rice, chickpea or coconut flour. A cup of balsamic vinegar is different from a cup of rice wine vinegar. A cup of brown sugar is not the same as a cup of white sugar, or raw cane sugar. I need to ensure that the combination of flavours is perfect (once I've polished a recipe); a vague "cup"of raw cane sugar is going to add far more sweetness than refined sugar. Ask yourself this question: when you "measure"a cup, do you meticulously fill it to the top, tamp down the contents and then draw a knife over the top to ensure it's the same measurement, or do you just dip the cup into the ingredient and take it for granted? Definitely different weights.
I know; it probably makes on difference for home cooking, but if you ever decide to sell your recipe, then it absolutely does. I actually weighed teaspoons of spices recently. 1 tsp of coriander seeds weighs 1.5 gms; cumin seeds, 2 gms; fenugreek seeds, 4 gms; black peppercorns, 3 gms.
Finally, cost is (or at least, should be) an important factor when making a recipe, especially (as is my case) if you're going to sell it to the public. Rather than making a sauce which contains 10 onions, 2 heads of garlic, a cup of sugar and 1½ cups of vinegar, I need to know that it's always 1 kg of onions, 90 gms of garlic, 200 gms of sugar and 300 mls of vinegar. If the price changes, then the cost changes; but the ingredients don't.
I might add that only 3 countries (out of 197) in the world do not use the metric system.