Weights and measures

[johnstevens77]

Cavebat recently posted the orange mince pie recipe using imperial measurements.

My thoughts on the subject are that as redsturgeon recently pointed out, "life is too short to worry about such things." I use recipes from sources all over the world, cups, spoons, metric and imperial. One only needs a cheap set of cup and spoon measures, electronic metric/imperial scales and a combined measuring jug and you can use whatever recipe you already have or see. No need to worry about the tiny differences between cup and spoon sizes, too small to matter for small quantities. Just remember that an American pint is 16 ozs. and you will be allright.

Pity my food and beverage cost controller in Cyprus Hilton. Our local vegetables were sold by okes and kilos, imported items came in US and imperial gallons, metric and imperial weights and the recipes were costed using metric units.

Ps. I was the last expat executive chef in Cyprus Hilton Nicosia, 1981-86.

john

[Generali]

I just learned what an oka is (pl. okes apparently). You live and learn!

[88V8]

We fought two wars to keep Napoleon and his system of measurements out of this country.

Fortunately, our recipe books are sufficiently aged that we can pretend metrication never happened.

A greater problem is our jimblejumble of old cutlery. Various maker's notions of what constitutes a teaspoon, dessert spoon, table spoon, would probably not withstand forensic examination..

V8

[Generali]

I greatly prefer the metric system, it's nice and simple. 1,000g = 1 litre water = 1kg.

I just can't be bothered to remember that a peck is 3 rods per cubic pole or something although I do remember a claim on the letters page of The Telegraph that cakes taste better if cooked using imperial measures!

[johnstevens77]

[quote="Generali"]I greatly prefer the metric system, it's nice and simple. 1,000g = 1 litre water = 1kg.


Agreed, but I can't be bothered converting existing recipes either.

john

[slartybartfast]

I try to avoid using volume measures if I possibly can as they are inherently inaccurate. The weight of a tablespoon of salt for example can vary tremendously depending on the size of the crystal or grain. Different grades of flour also end up as different weights.
It doesn't matter in some cases but when it does it can make a big difference.

Metric for me as well!

I even weigh my water as I find it easier and more accurate than the scales on jugs.

[Diziet]

Hi John,

I hadn't heard the term 'okes' in years . I also recall 'drami', which was a volume measure?

My grandmother had a couple of measuring jugs in these old measures, but they had recently fallen out of common use in Greece when I was little.

[johnstevens77]

Okes are still in use in Northern Cyprus and in parts of The Lebanon.

john

[Generali]

Okes are still in use in Northern Cyprus and in parts of The Lebanon.

john

Imperial measures are occasionally referenced in France still. A quarter litre, roughly half a pint, of tap beer is un demi (a half) and a half litre, roughly a pint, is une pinte (a pint). There is also a phrase which means 'I don't trust him' which translates as 'I wouldn't give him an inch'.

[voelkels]

In most cooking, unlike some baking, you can substitute, change amounts or leave out ingredients without changing the dish too badly. One of the problems that I have in the U.S.A. is that most recipes call for ingredients by volume not weight. I have a number of old recipes for cakes & cookies that I am trying to convert from volume measurements to weights.
Another problem is identity of some ingredients changes in different areas. An example is a recipe that calls for say a teaspoon of “chili powder”. Does it mean powdered chili pepper, or the spice mixture containing garlic powder, cumin and powdered red chili pepper? (and if it is powdered chili pepper, which of the many verities, huuuggh?)

C.J.V. - presently making Xmas cookies & canhttp://www.lemonfool.co.uk/posting.p ... ply&t=918&

[todthedog]

I do remember an amusing video of students in the USA regretting winning the War of Independence, health care, gun law etc.
Chilli pepper to my understanding means ground 'hot' chillies. Fair point they do come in different strengths.

France most TV's are measured in inches.

Funny old world.

[johnstevens77]

C.J.V.

Good to see you made it across to Lemon Fool.

As to chili, or is it chilli powder? Sympathise with you.

john

[JMN2]

Obviously weights and measures are only needed for pastry as it is chemistry. Cooking excluding pastry is a philosophy not a recipe.

[redsturgeon]

In most cooking, unlike some baking, you can substitute, change amounts or leave out ingredients without changing the dish too badly. One of the problems that I have in the U.S.A. is that most recipes call for ingredients by volume not weight. I have a number of old recipes for cakes & cookies that I am trying to convert from volume measurements to weights.
Another problem is identity of some ingredients changes in different areas. An example is a recipe that calls for say a teaspoon of “chili powder”. Does it mean powdered chili pepper, or the spice mixture containing garlic powder, cumin and powdered red chili pepper? (and if it is powdered chili pepper, which of the many verities, huuuggh?)

C.J.V. - presently making Xmas cookies & canhttp://www.lemonfool.co.uk/posting.p ... ply&t=918&

With chilli my rule of thumb is to take what the recipe says and double it!

John

[voelkels]

“Good to see you made it across to Lemon Fool.”

Thanks John, things on this side of the pond the last couple of months and I did have a bit of a problem crossing to Lemon Fool. The last two weeks I have been baking & rolling out Xmas cookies & candy. We are planning to visit #3 daughter and the grandsons in Ohio for Christmas and a quick (I hope) trip to Indiana for a wedding. Problem is that DW’s old van died so she is leasing a small Subaru. With all the cookies, frozen shrimp, presents and her stuff, I doubts that it’ll all fit. I may have to let her drive the Subaru and I’ll take my truck with all the extra stuff.

C.J.V.

[voelkels]

“With chilli my rule of thumb is to take what the recipe says and double it!”

The problem is that one doesn’t know the “heat” of the chili unless you grow and dry them yourself (I do), buy and grind the store-bought peppers or you live in places like New Mexico where one can get fresh ground dried chilis that are labeled “mild”, “medium” or “hot”.

I still remember the experience of Eddie, an old collage friend living in Anchorage Alaska in 1972. He was cooking chili with beans from a recipe that he got from a cookbook. He browned the meat, added the tomato sauce, garlic, onions, “chili powder”, etc., etc. and tasted it. It was too bland for his taste so he went back to the recipe and, at the bottom, it said “For a more spicy taste, add one or two whole cloves.” Now Eddie had never seen a whole clove but had a jar of ground cloves in the spice collection that he bought. He said to himself “A clove of garlic is about a half a teaspoon so two cloves of the ground cloves should be equal to around a teaspoon or maybe a bit more. Since I likes it spicy, I’ll add two teaspoons of ground cloves.” When I stopped in the next day, he asked me to taste it and asked me how to fix it. I told him that he could add more meat, onions, tomatoes, etc. to water it down but, with the amount of clove he added, he’d have to cook it in a 55-gallon drum to get it to taste “normal”. He decided to bin it and start from scratch with my “recipe”, him

C.J.V.

[sg31]

That brings back memories from many years ago. I'd bought my first house, living alone and working hard to pay the mortgage. I decided to have a cooking session to prepare some food that I could freeze and thus save time compared to cooking each day. I like curry so I decided to bulk cook 2 different recipes, for convenience or maybe just coincidence they were on opposite pages when the book was open. Not a problem for a man like me. Multi-tasking is easy.

All started well, onions browned, meat browned, this is going well but being in a hot kitchen makes it thirsty work so I opened a bottle of wine. Glug, glug, that went down well. Bulk cooking remember so I had to multiply the quantity of spices. It ended up that one recipe required table spoons of this and the other needed teaspoons of that. Glug, glug. I'm great at mental arithmetic but I was getting a bit confused and miscalculated or transposed or something. Anyway long story short. I mixed up ingredients and quantities from one page to the other.

It wasn't the chilli that did it, it was black pepper, tablespoons of the stuff. Big pans full of curry, empty bottle(s) of wine, tablespoons of black pepper, skint at the end of the month. I had to eat it. Days of it.

[johnstevens77]

I find that if making only half or 2/3 of a recipe I have to be very carefull or I start off ok with the reduced quantities, forget What I am doing and start adding full recipe quantities. Only way out is to write out the re-calculated quantities by hand first.
Most tart recipes it seems are for 10" tarts but I usualy make 8" tarts, so divide by 3 and multiply by 2. There you are, I am using inches, go figure!

john

[Rhyd6]

OH got so fed up of me moaning when recipes were in new money that he bought me a set of scales which at the touch of a button can measure in both metric and imperial but when it comes to making a sponge cake I always use a set of balance scales because I use the old - the weight of an egg in butter, sugar and flour method and as our hens refuse to lay eggs that are uniform in size and weight and I can't be bothered trying to work out widges of an ounce or metric thingummies.

R6

[Changeable]

I just learned what an oka is (pl. okes apparently). You live and learn!

o·ka
ˈōkə/
noun
plural noun: okes

1.
an Egyptian and former Turkish unit of weight, variable but now usually equal to approximately 1.3 kg (2 3/4 lb).
2.
an Egyptian and former Turkish unit of capacity equal to approximately 0.2 liter ( 1/3 pint).