French cooking measurements

[Matthew Grant]

I'm following a French recipe, I can get by with the instructions but the measurements are confusing me. The recipe calls for 2dl of Creme Fraiche. DL I have been advised is a demi-litre. Wouldn't a demi-litre be half a litre? Subsequently 2dl be one litre? Well that made some sense to me then I realised that there were some similar measurements in the Michel Bras book and then I got really confused. According to the recipe "stuffed sweet-banana peppers with fresh sardines, jus au pain and tomato juice" 1 cup (2 dl) of water is added. Now to me that means approx 250ml (I think)

However, in "slowly cooked pork shoulder in salt, potato bouquets and parsley" 1/3 cup grape seed oil is equal to 1dl which would make 2dl 2/3 cup or in my book, approx 160ml

Can somebody please tell me what a dl translates as!!!!!!!

[SuzySushi]

Can somebody please tell me what a dl translates as!!!!!!!

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dl = deciliter = 1/10 liter

1 dl also = 100 ml (milliliters)

1 dl = approximately 1/3 American cup

2.5 dl (250 ml) = about 1 American cup

If you have a 2-cup Pyrex measuring cup, the other side is marked in ml.

[Matthew Grant]

Thank you! Decilitre makes more sense! The Demi Litre suggestion got me all confused!

Edited May 13, 2005 by Matthew Grant (log)

[Grub]

DL ain't demi-litre. It means deciliter, as in decimal -- one tenth.

1 dl is 0.42268 cups.

2dl = 0.85 cup, or a little more than 3/4 of a cup, like 6/7th.

1/3 cup = 0.79 dl

Ain't youse all gone metric and stuff yet?

Doh, I spent half an hour calculating stuff & trying to be clever, instead of providing a sensible answer. Oh well. I'm sure we'll all go metric one day -- inch by inch.

Edited May 13, 2005 by Grub (log)

[bleudauvergne]

Guess we won't even talk about ounces and grams.

[Taboni]

Always remember from 7th grade science

King Henry Da Dumb Cruel Man

(Kilo, Hecto, Deca, Deci, Cent, Mil)

Edited May 13, 2005 by Taboni (log)

[Matthew Grant]

Sounds like a great school.

[Smithy]

.... Oh well. I'm sure we'll all go metric one day --  inch by inch.

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[scd98]

Google has a calculator function that can convert many common units of measure. In this example it would work like this:

Type in the search bar: 2 deciliters in cups

The conversion is given instead of traditional search results. I've found that it recognizes most abbreviations (tsp., tbl., etc...) but dL is not one of them. You have to type out the entire word.

Full instructions from Google here.

Edited May 13, 2005 by scd98 (log)

[Peter B Wolf]

I have in my house a couple of pocked calculators Texas Instrument TI-1895II, $ 7.95, it's a converter: punch in the number/zipher, punch either to or from 'metric' and the appropriate key for (now look at this); works faster for me than the computer

in/cm

imp ton/kg

yard/m

acre/square m

ft/m

mile/km

acre/ha

KJ/KC

square in/square cm

square ft/ square m

square mile/square km

USfl.oz/mL

Temp F/TempC

cubic in/cubic cm

cubic ft /cubic m

US gal/L

imp fl.oz/mL

oz/gr

lb/kg

imp Gal/L

Edited May 14, 2005 by Peter B Wolf (log)

[chefzadi]

French cooking measurements are confusing?

online conversion

[LindaK]

French cooking measurements are confusing? 

online conversion

My electronic scale lets me measure weights in both oz/lbs or metric weights--just touch a button to go from one to the other. And for liquids I buy measuring cups with both systems marked on them. Both make it very easy.

[andiesenji]

The conversion of any measurements can be confusing, even with calculators.

However there are several online sources for equivalents.

This site conversion of measurements, answers to questions and etc. has been most helpful to me.

The fact that the site includes a lot of practical information that is not available at other sources, is the reason I use it more than any other.

You can also find a lot of other information about food on this site, also not generally available elsewhere.

[SuzySushi]

This site conversion of measurements, answers to questions and etc. has been most helpful to me.

The fact that the site includes a lot of practical information that is not available at other sources, is the reason I use it more than any other. 

You can also find a lot of other information about food on this site, also not generally available elsewhere.

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Thanks, Andie. I've bookmarked it in two folders!