My measuring spoons aren't accurate !

[Darienne]

Just got the shock of my life...well, perhaps that's a bit of an exaggeration...when for some unknown reason I decided to check one set of spoons against another. They don't match!

What do I do to find out which is accurate? I thought of the pharmacist and DH said no, that won't work. This is Canada so our scientific types don't use Imperial measures. In fact, we are officially on the Metric system. Which I have trouble with still.

Who should I ask? Where should I run? Well, walk. Thanks.

Five minutes later: OK. I called the pharmacist, thinking he might have metric measures as in one teaspoon is also 15 ml. Nope, it's all by weight.

Edited May 2, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[Jenni]

Isn't one teaspoon 5ml, not 15ml?

[Jenni]

1 ml of water weighs 5g, so fill the spoon with water and weigh it. a tablespoon is 15ml so should weigh 15g

[Darienne]

Two excellent points. Thanks.

...that assumes my scales are correct...

Edited May 2, 2011 by Darienne (log)

[andiesenji]

You can check with this conversion chart

The page is set to "cooking" up near the top.

You can enter the teaspoon, tablespoon, cup measurements and when you click on "convert" it will give you the correct metric measurement in weight. It will also show the the equivalent in U.S. measurements.

Example 4 U.S. tablespoons = .25 or 1/4 cup, 59.15 feMA nss 3.943 European tablespoons.

Incidentally, Australian volume measurements are not the same as UK measurements.

In the U.S. and U.K. a tablespoons is 15 ml. In Australia the tablespoon is 20 ml.

(just to make it a bit more confusing).

I have some recipe books from Australia (Australia Womens Weekly) and they helpfully put a conversion chart inside the back cover of every recipe book.

[natasha1270]

Two excellent points. Thanks.

...that assumes my scales are correct...

In another thread, I think it was Andie who suggested that you can verify your scale's accuracy with a US quarter or nickel.

[andiesenji]

Two excellent points. Thanks.

...that assumes my scales are correct...

In another thread, I think it was Andie who suggested that you can verify your scale's accuracy with a US quarter or nickel.

I don't think it was me. I have metric and U.S. certified weights for checking my scales, purchased 40 years ago when I was working with gems and minerals.

[dougal]

Of course measuring spoons aren't accurate!

They are a simple (but distinctly inaccurate) measure for solids, and, because of the different meniscus with oil and water (for example) not terribly good for different liquids either!

And as for "heaped spoons", well, its just to give you a sense of things, rather than an accurate measure!

While a "UK tablespoon" is now defined as the (metric) 15ml, isn't the US tablespoon supposed to be half a fluid ounce and so about 14.8ml ... ?

Regarding 'making friends with metric' the secret is NEVER to convert.

Just use the units as quoted.

If it says "200 grams of flour", set the scale to grams and weigh to 200. Don't even think about how many ounces it might be.

And when you want to half, double or maybe make one-and-a-half times the given quantity (perhaps because you were making for six rather than four), I guarantee that you'll find the maths much simpler using those metric quantities.

[Joe Blowe]

1 ml of water weighs 5g, so fill the spoon with water and weigh it. a tablespoon is 15ml so should weigh 15g

a) One liter of water weighs one kilogram, so one ml of water weighs one gram.

b) If you must use measuring spoons and cups, consider switching to Pourfect.

c) Better yet, toss the spoons and cups and get yourself a scale

[Lisa Shock]

The inaccurately manufactured measuring spoons, cups, etc. are rarely mentioned in conversations regarding use of a kitchen scale. However, they are very commonly found and are still being sold in stores -in all sorts of odd variations. Most consumers don't realize just how inaccurate their equipment is or how much it varies from other people's equipment. We're not that far ahead of the days when recipes called for 'teacupfuls' when using volume measurements.

The kitchen scale is the best measuring device to use, and weight-based recipes are the only accurate way to replicate results consistently. I wish that Recipe Gullet had guidelines requiring amounts be expressed as weight only.

[DanM]

How inaccurate are the measuring spoons? What are you doing that requires such precise measurements? In most cases, being off by 10% in regular cooking does not make a big difference.

[Jenni]

1 ml of water weighs 5g, so fill the spoon with water and weigh it. a tablespoon is 15ml so should weigh 15g

a) One liter of water weighs one kilogram, so one ml of water weighs one gram.

b) If you must use measuring spoons and cups, consider switching to Pourfect.

c) Better yet, toss the spoons and cups and get yourself a scale

As you can see from my writing 15ml should way 15g, that is what I meant! I have corrected this now, thanks for spotting my typo!

[Mjx]

Get a graduated 25 ml pipette, and use that to measure the volumes into your spoons.

[Darienne]

Two excellent points. Thanks.

...that assumes my scales are correct...

In another thread, I think it was Andie who suggested that you can verify your scale's accuracy with a US quarter or nickel.

I'll google that point. Thanks.

[Darienne]

How inaccurate are the measuring spoons? What are you doing that requires such precise measurements? In most cases, being off by 10% in regular cooking does not make a big difference.

Vitamin C crystals. And the one spoon was off by about 1/4 I would say.

[Darienne]

Get a graduated 25 ml pipette, and use that to measure the volumes into your spoons.

An idea although I'm not sure where to get one where I live. It might be something which I'll get around to...or not. Thanks.

[natasha1270]

I don't think it was me. I have metric and U.S. certified weights for checking my scales, purchased 40 years ago when I was working with gems and minerals.

Oops! I thought it might have been in a thread about measuring cups but no such luck. Maybe it was from this thread that must have come up in a recent search that I remembered seeing or I don't know where but it made a lot of sense to me:

Incidentally, if anyone wants to check the accuracy of their scales, they can do so using coins -- according to the US mint, new pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters weigh 2.500g, 5.000g, 2.268g and 5.670 g, respectively. So, for instance, 20 nickels should weigh out to 100g.

I recently purchased a new scale supposedly accurate to 1g and tried it out with a nickel and it did register correctly.

[Darienne]

Thanks, natasha1270. Fortunately I have a cache of US coins.

[Mjx]

Get a graduated 25 ml pipette, and use that to measure the volumes into your spoons.

An idea although I'm not sure where to get one where I live. It might be something which I'll get around to...or not. Thanks.

The folks at Indigo Instruments should be able to set you up (they appear to be located at the NY/Ontario border).

[paulraphael]

Yeah, I thought to measure mine a few years ago and was pretty surprised. I started a thread about it and people recommended brands that were much more accurate. I got a set of better ones. It doesn't come up much anymore ... I use the scale for just about everything now. When I use the measuring spoons it's generally just as scoops, so the accuracy doesn't matter.

[Darienne]

Yeah, I thought to measure mine a few years ago and was pretty surprised. I started a thread about it and people recommended brands that were much more accurate. I got a set of better ones. It doesn't come up much anymore ... I use the scale for just about everything now. When I use the measuring spoons it's generally just as scoops, so the accuracy doesn't matter.

And your better ones are....

[Anna N]

I think we had this discussion before and one thing we should remember is that the recipes we are using were most likely developed and tested using equally inaccurate measuring spoons.

[patrickamory]

Incidentally, Australian volume measurements are not the same as UK measurements.

In the U.S. and U.K. a tablespoons is 15 ml. In Australia the tablespoon is 20 ml.

(just to make it a bit more confusing).

As someone who frequently cooks from David Thompson, I've always wondered whether the recipes had been converted to US tablespoons for the US editions.

On the other hand, if the proportions remain roughly the same (3 tsp = 1 tbs), then I suppose it doesn't make much difference.

It should all be to taste anyway!

[ChrisZ]

The inaccurately manufactured measuring spoons, cups, etc. are rarely mentioned in conversations regarding use of a kitchen scale. However, they are very commonly found and are still being sold in stores -in all sorts of odd variations. Most consumers don't realize just how inaccurate their equipment is or how much it varies from other people's equipment. We're not that far ahead of the days when recipes called for 'teacupfuls' when using volume measurements.

The kitchen scale is the best measuring device to use, and weight-based recipes are the only accurate way to replicate results consistently. I wish that Recipe Gullet had guidelines requiring amounts be expressed as weight only.

Yes, I recently discovered in a fairly embarrassing way that all 3 sets of "metric" measuring cups I have are inaccurate.

A plastic set from the supermarket that are all clearly embossed with their supposed quantities is just plain wrong- it clearly says "1 cup 250ml"but only holds 220ml. A "quality" set of stainless steel measuring cups - again etched with "250ml"- only holds 215ml. Ironically, a novelty set of matryoshka doll measuring cups is the most accurate of the three, with the "one cup" holding 230mls. But they're all innaccurate.

If they didn't have their supposed quantities etched/embossed then I would have assumed they were US measurements or a different arbitrary size. But the manufacturer has gone to the trouble making a mould/ etching the cups with exact sizes in mls- they're just wrong!

[paulraphael]

And your better ones are....

Sorry, had to go look. They're Cuisipro. Got on the recommendation of other people here a few years back.