American cups

[bi0boy]

What is that about? entire recipies done by volume?

I am on a site right now and the recipe seems to have been automatically converted into metric. It asks for 453.59 - 1587.57 ml of chicken, quartered and 473.18 ml of onions, finely chopped.

How do Americans actually cook. Do they have big cup measuring devices that they stuff chicken legs into or what?

 

[butchersapron]

Some sort of weighing device.

 

[bi0boy]

Some sort of weighing device.

How do you weigh out a cup of chicken

 

[Spymaster]

They're standardised measurements.

Apparently used originally by prairie travellers who could more easily carry "cups" on their journeys than weights and scales.

 

[butchersapron]

Nowhere in your OP did you mention the problem that you have about cups.

edit:sorry thought that bioboy again. Same point.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

It's a measuring system which leads to imprecision, and that can't be healthy.

 

[JimW]

It started with cooking on yachts.

 

[twentythreedom]

One cup is more than enough tbf

 

[2hats]

Fill the cup loosely with lumps of chicken meat? Cookery is usually all hand waving anyway; it's in the taste, after all.

You could get a set of these or similar if you often find yourself using US-centric recipes.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

Fill the cup loosely with lumps of chicken meat? Cookery is usually all hand waving anyway; it's in the taste, after all.

You could get a set of these or similar if you often find yourself using US-centric recipes.

Yeah, I've got a set of steel cups in case I need them. Never used them yet though, but always handy to have and saves faffing around with conversions.

 

[danny la rouge]

My granny used to use cups, but not the standard American unit. She just mean one of her teacups.

I remember her writing a recipe out for me once. I told her our cups were a different size from hers. She very reasonably replied that it doesn't matter as long I used the same cup to measure the next thing.

 

[BandWagon]

Don't use American recipes.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

There is nothing wrong with measuring by volume rather than weight. An American cup is about half a pint in Imperial measurements or 250 ml in metric.

 

[spanglechick]

There is nothing wrong with measuring by volume rather than weight. An American cup is about half a pint in Imperial measurements or 250 ml in metric.

It can be inaccurate for things like flour, where the level of compactedness will have an effect on the actual weight of the ingredient if measured by volume.

And measurements in baking need to be precise. Not "hand-waving".

 

[Maurice Picarda]

My granny used to use cups, but not the standard American unit. She just mean one of her teacups.

I remember her writing a recipe out for me once. I told her our cups were a different size from hers. She very reasonably replied that it doesn't matter as long I used the same cup to measure the next thing.

Not if there were eggs involved.

 

[prunus]

My granny used to use cups, but not the standard American unit. She just mean one of her teacups.

I remember her writing a recipe out for me once. I told her our cups were a different size from hers. She very reasonably replied that it doesn't matter as long I used the same cup to measure the next thing.

Not if the cooking time is affected - a cake made with tun-sized 'cups' is likely to need a wee bit longer in the oven than a normal sized cake

E2a and to be fair a pretty generously-sized oven

 

[2hats]

And measurements in baking need to be precise. Not "hand-waving".

I don't do baking.

 

[Epona]

Use a measuring jug.

Although unless you're baking pastry/dough/cakes/batter it doesn't have to be very precise, I don't think I've ever bothered to measure chicken or onions - just chop until it looks like there is enough to satisfy

 

[stuff_it]

What is that about? entire recipies done by volume?

I am on a site right now and the recipe seems to have been automatically converted into metric. It asks for 453.59 - 1587.57 ml of chicken, quartered and 473.18 ml of onions, finely chopped.

How do Americans actually cook. Do they have big cup measuring devices that they stuff chicken legs into or what?

You put water in a big measuring bowl and float the butter or chicken or whatever to displace the correct volume.

Many auld English recipes work well on volume... eg sponge is equal proportions of butter, sugar, eggs and double that volume of self raising flour. You have to remember that US cooking became an offshoot of British cooking at a time when most "common" households might not have the maths and/or the equipment to weigh on scales.

I personally go for around 150ml = 1 cup. It's a little bit generous but bear in mind that US recipes are all about the proportions and ratios within the recepie rather than exact measures like under the metric system. You can just as easily use 100ml to make a slightly smaller version, or a "multiples of the cracked comedy mug at the back of the cupboard" version.

 

[stuff_it]

I don't do baking. [emoji14]

We can tell. Baking is part art and part science. And don't even get me on to people who want to tune instruments with a digital tuner past the first Base note.

 

[Epona]

We can tell. Baking is part art and part science. And don't even get me on to people who want to tune instruments with a digital tuner past the first Base note.

Cooking is art, baking contains a large dollop of science and requires specific proportions (and sometimes temperatures, hence I never bother trying to make pastry in my hothouse of a flat in summer!) of ingredients so that they can do their thing correctly.

I like your tuner analogy.

 

[dilute micro]

What is that about? entire recipies done by volume?

I am on a site right now and the recipe seems to have been automatically converted into metric. It asks for 453.59 - 1587.57 ml of chicken, quartered and 473.18 ml of onions, finely chopped.

How do Americans actually cook. Do they have big cup measuring devices that they stuff chicken legs into or what?

It's not done by volume. What web site are you on?

 

[skyscraper101]

I thought this was going to be about those red plastic cups that you always see people drinking from at parties in the movies which I've never seen done IRL.

 

[farmerbarleymow]

I thought this was going to be about those red plastic cups that you always see people drinking from at parties in the movies which I've never seen done IRL.

Hollywood cups, presumably.

 

[antimata]

i take it as a ratio thing.

my cup is a cup the rest falls into place.

 

[Ax^]

american paper size are more of a nuisance




*shakes fist at sky*