Butter in Tablespoons

[Norman Walsh]

Why do the majority of american recipes quote butter in tablespoons.

A recipe I have just read in EGullet states 6 Tablespoons of cold butter.

Surely its hard to manipulate cold butter onto a tablespoon.

What can be easier than ounces!

By the way what is 6 tablespoons of butter in ounces?

Norman

[tino27]

Well, 6 tbsp of butter is (6 x 14g) = 84g

One ounce is 28.34g/ounce, thus 6 tbsp of butter would be 84g/28.34g = 2.96 ounces

To answer your first question ... almost every stick butter that is sold in the US has markings on the wrapper that allows you to cut off the butter a tablespoon at a time. Personally, I'd rather use grams, but that's just the baker in me. I've gotten to the point where I normally just do the conversion in my head and then scale out the appropriate amount of butter (especially since I tend to buy 1 pound blocks of unsalted butter).

[srhcb]

Why do the majority of american recipes quote butter in tablespoons.

A recipe I have just read in EGullet  states 6 Tablespoons of cold butter.

Surely its hard to manipulate cold butter onto a tablespoon.

What can be easier than ounces!

By the way what is 6 tablespoons of butter in ounces?

Norman

←

Here in the New World, the Yankee Doodle butter manufacturers have cleverly devised a means of marking uniform 1/4 pound sticks of butter in convenient Tablespoon segments!

SB

[Darcie B]

I always use the rule of thumb, 1 tablespoon = 1/2 ounce. I like weighing better, too, when using 1 pound blocks. Sometimes I get those, sometimes the sticks with the markings. I have never used an actual tablespoon measure. If I don't have a scale and am using a block of butter, I will just eyeball it.

[mkayahara]

I always use the rule of thumb, 1 tablespoon = 1/2 ounce. I like weighing better, too, when using 1 pound blocks. Sometimes I get those, sometimes the sticks with the markings. I have never used an actual tablespoon measure. If I don't have a scale and am using a block of butter, I will just eyeball it.

←

But surely that rule of thumb only applies to materials with the same density as water?

I think the answer to the OP's question lies in the fact that fewer home cooks use scales in the US than other parts of the world.

[JanMcBaker]

If the amount of the butter seems rather critical, I'll weigh it. Either .5 ounce, or I go with 14 gms., for a tablespoon of butter. You can't always rely that a single stick from a pound a butter is going to weigh 4 ounces, either. By law, the entire package has to weigh one pound, not necessarily that each stick will weigh four ounces. Hence, the 'not labeled for individual sale' regulations-- you're not always going to get a full four ounces in a 'quarter-pound' stick.

[FlavoursGal]

Knowing that 4 tablespoons equals 1/4 cup (2 ounces), it's fairly simple to figure out that 6 tbsp equals 3 ounces.

This being said, however, these are LIQUID measurements, not weight measurements.

Edited January 26, 2007 by FlavoursGal (log)