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In Recipe s, quantities of ingredients may be specified by Mass ("weight"), by Volume , or by Count . For most of history, most cookbooks did not specify quantities precisely, instead talking of "a nice leg of spring lamb", a "cupful" of lentils, a piece of butter "the size of a walnut", and "sufficient" salt. In Europe, cookbooks used mass ("weight") rather than volume, though informal measurements such as a "pinch", a "drop", or a "hint" (''soupçon'') continue to be used from time to time. In the U.S.A., Fannie Farmer introduced the more exact specification of quantities by volume in her 1896 '' Boston Cooking-School Cook Book ''. Today, most of the world prefers measurement by weight, though the preference for volume measurements continues in North America. Different ingredients are measured in different ways: Liquid ingredients are generally measured by volume world-wide. Dry bulk ingredients such as sugar and flour are measured by weight in most of the world ("250 g flour"), and by Volume in North America ("1/2 cup flour"). Small quantities of salt and spices are generally measured by volume world-wide, as few households have sufficiently precise balances to measure by weight, though standardized spoon measures are not widely used outside North America. Meats are generally measured by weight or count world-wide: "a 2 kg chicken"; "four lamb chops". Vegetables may be measured by weight or by count, despite the inherent imprecision of counts given the variability in the size of vegetables. Chopped or cut-up meats and vegetables are generally measured by weight, except in North America where they are measured by volume. METRIC MEASURES In most of the world, recipes use the Metric System of Litre s (l) and Millilitre s (ml), Gram s (g) and Kilogram s (kg), and degrees Celsius (°C). The word ''litre'' is often spelt ''liter'' in the USA. The English-speaking world frequently measures weight in pounds ( Avoirdupois ), with volume measures based on cooking utensils and pre-metric measures. The actual values frequently deviate from the utensils on which they were based, and there is little consistency from one country to another. Some common measures in English-speaking countries are: The volumetric measures here are for comparison only. See below for the definition of Gallon for more details. In addition the “cooks cup” above is not the same as a “coffee cup” which can vary anywhere from 100~200 mL fl.oz. (or even smaller for espresso) In Australia - since 1970 - metric utensil units have been standardized by law and Imperial measures no longer have legal status. However - it is wise to measure the actual volume of the utensil measures - particularly the 'Australian tablespoon' - see below - since many are imported from other countries with different values. Dessertspoons are standardized as part of the metric system at 10 mL, though they are not normally used in contemporary recipes. Australia is the only metrified country with a metric tablespoon of 20 mL, unlike the rest of the world, which has a 15 mL metric tablespoon. In Germany, and to a lesser extent in France, recipes frequently refer to ''pounds'' (''Pfund'' in German, ''livre'' in French). In each case, the unit refers to 500 g, about 10% more than an avoirdupois pound (453.59237 g). UNITED STATES MEASURES The U.S. still uses pounds and ounces ( Avoirdupois ) for weight, and U.S. Customary Units for volume. For measures used in cookbooks published in other nations navigate to the apropos regional section in Traditional Measurement Systems . Measures are classified as either Dry Measure s or fluid measures. Some of the fluid and dry measures have similar names, but the actual measured volume is quite different. A recipe will generally specify which measurement is required. U.S. recipes are commonly in terms of fluid measures. In domestic cooking, bulk solids, notably Flour and Sugar , are measured by volume, often cups, though they are sold by weight at retail. Weight measures are used for Meat and Butter ; butter is sold by weight but in packages marked to facilitate common divisions by eye. (As a sub-packaged unit, a ''stick'' of butter, at ¼ lb g , is a ''de facto'' measure in the U.S.) Cookbooks in Canada use the same system, although pints and gallons would be taken as their Imperial quantities unless specified otherwise. Following the popularization of the metric system, recipes in Canada are frequently published with metric conversions. BRITISH (IMPERIAL) MEASURES Note that measurements in this section are in Imperial Units Traditional British measures distinguish between weight and volume.
American cooks using British recipes, and vice versa, need to be careful with pints and fluid ounces. A US pint is 473 ml, while a UK pint is 568 ml, about 20% larger. A US fluid ounce is 1/16 of a US pint (29.6 ml); a UK fluid ounce is 1/20th of a UK pint (28.4 ml). This makes an Imperial pint equivalent to 19.2 US fluid ounces. On a larger scale, perhaps for institutional cookery, it must be noted that an Imperial gallon is eight Imperial pints (160 Imperial fl.oz., 4.546 litres) whereas the US gallon is eight US pints (128 US fl.oz., 3.785 litres). The Metric System Was Officially Adopted in the UK for most purposes, some decades ago, and both taught in schools and used in books. It is now mandatory for the sale of food and almost all new cookery books are in metric only, as well as cookery programmes using metric exclusively. However, it is not uncommon to purchase goods which are measured and labelled in Mertic, but the actual measure is rounded to the equivalent Imperial measure (i.e you buy milk which is labelled correctly as 568ml which also happens to be the equivalent of 1 pint). SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS Some recipes include additional instructions for measuring the correct amount of an ingredient. For example, a recipe might call for “1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed”, or “2 heaping cups flour.” A few of the more common special measuring methods: :Firmly Packed ::With a spatula, a spoon, or by hand, the ingredient is pressed as tightly as possible into the measuring device. :Lightly Packed ::The ingredient is pressed lightly into the measuring device, only tightly enough to ensure no air pockets. :Even / Level ::A precise measure of an ingredient, discarding all of the ingredient that rises above the rim of the measuring device. Sweeping across the top of the measure with the back of a straight knife or the blade of a spatula is a common leveling method. :Rounded ::Allowing a measure of an ingredient to pile up above the rim of the measuring device naturally, into a soft, rounded shape. :Heaping / Heaped ::The maximum amount of an ingredient which will stay on the measuring device. :Sifted ::This instruction may be seen in two different ways, with two different meanings: before the ingredient, as “1 cup sifted flour”, indicates the ingredient should be sifted into the measuring device (and normally leveled), while after the ingredient, as “1 cup flour, sifted”, denotes the sifting should occur after measurement. REFERENCES SEE ALSO
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