Topic: Recipe measurements

[George]

Axe,

Are you sure,

1 tsp = 5ml
1 dsp = 10 ml
1 tbs = 15ml

Your measurements are correct and anyone who says different is wrong!
I just looked through several cookbooks and they all confirm the mesures you've given above.

If Axe or anyone else has books suggesting anything else, who wrote them, and when?
Back to my original point - it throws most/many recipes on this site up into the air, as we really don't have a clue how much to use of each ingredient, to recreate what the originator intended.

[Razor]

Axe,

Just been scouring the net, I think you could be correct.

1 UK tbsp = 17.7ml
1 US tbsp = 14.2ml

Well I never......

Ray

[Malc.]

Ray,

Most measuring spoons seem to show this these days but if you check out the BBC link I put up, i'm not the only one that believes this. It's probably US influences and EU directives that have driven this out.

When ever I have used measuring spoons in the past, I have always levelled off. But I can't honestly remember the last time I used measuring spoons. I'll have to see if I can find them to see what measurements are on them.

[peterandjen]

Ive just checked my measuring spoons, they have the volumes written on them.
0.5tsp=2.5ml
1tsp=5ml
1tbsp=15ml.
ive lost the dessert spoon lol

[George]

Axe,

Just been scouring the net, I think you could be correct.

1 UK tbsp = 17.7ml
1 US tbsp = 14.2ml

Well I never......

Well I never, indeed. I stand to be corrected. Perhaps there's simply no agreement, no convention or anything.

[peterandjen]

I thought id go and find out what the Guru of English cookery thought so went to Delia Smiths site..........
"I'm afraid I can't accept the official version of spoons exemplified by sets of (usually) plastic spoons hanging on a metal ring because, one, they vary and, two, I think they're a bit on the mean side. I much prefer to use real tablespoons, dessertspoons and teaspoons. A point to remember is that two teaspoons equates to one dessertspoon, and two dessertspoons to one tablespoon"
Feckin useless lol
And this
http://www.eclecticcooking.com/metric.htm

[Malc.]

George, two schools of thought:

1. Perhaps the answer is to remove the problem from the equation. My spoon is 18ml your is 15ml, so why not list in the recipe these quantities instead. So if I add 2 tablespoons of spice mix, I would write 36ml whereas you would write 30ml.

2. Does it really matter just so long as I keep the ratio of spices the same. Like when making a spice mix, if the ratio 2,1.5, 1, 1, 1 it doesn't matter what size spoon I use as long as I use the same spoon.

[George]

George, two schools of thought:

1. Perhaps the answer is to remove the problem from the equation. My spoon is 18ml your is 15ml, so why not list in the recipe these quantities instead. So if I add 2 tablespoons of spice mix, I would write 36ml whereas you would write 30ml.

2. Does it really matter just so long as I keep the ratio of spices the same. Like when making a spice mix, if the ratio 2,1.5, 1, 1, 1 it doesn't matter what size spoon I use as long as I use the same spoon.

Yes, perhaps the best approach is to ensure the basis of mesurement is stated in all recipes posted here, like at the front of many/most cook books. I haven't actually measured my old tablespoons. They may well be 18ml. I only use measuring spoons marked "1 tbls, 15ml" these days. Perhaps it was a simplification/rounding when metric measures arrived in the UK many years ago.

[Secret Santa]

I think there is a standard of sorts, irrespective of the variations mentioned previously.

In the UK, as already stated 1tsp=5ml, 2tsp=1dstsp=10ml and 3tsp=1TBSP=15ml.

This is (unless someone proves otherwise) the 'standard' because this is how those measuring spoons you buy are graduated.

So has anyone bought a 14.2, 17.7 or 18 ml measuring spoon recently?

[Secret Santa]

George, two schools of thought:
2. Does it really matter just so long as I keep the ratio of spices the same. Like when making a spice mix, if the ratio 2,1.5, 1, 1, 1 it doesn't matter what size spoon I use as long as I use the same spoon.

That's certainly the way I approach it Axe, doing things by ratio wherever possible. But at some point you're going to have to take a tsp or TBSP of that mix so you're back to the original problem.

This debate has raged continually since the start of this forum and I still believe we should stick with the 'standard' metric measures of 1tsp=5ml, 1DSP=10ml and 1TBSP=15ml.

There really shouldn't be any room for debate after six years of this forum. This should be made an edict in the FAQ!