Dear Americans, I'm fed up with your stupid cup measurements!

Merlin5 · 19 Dec 2018 at 19:38

I agree with this sentiment. Many recipes on youtube that I want to use say 1 cup of this, 3/4 cup of that, I mean, I have no idea how much that is. Especially as there are UK and USA cup measurements. Do any of you go by cup quantities?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/equipment/dear-americans-fed-stupid-cup-measurements/

Raymond Lin · 19 Dec 2018 at 19:50

Merlin5 said:
I agree with this sentiment. Many recipes on youtube that I want to use say 1 cup of this, 3/4 cup of that, I mean, I have no idea how much that is. Especially as there are UK and USA cup measurements. Do any of you go by cup quantities?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/equipment/dear-americans-fed-stupid-cup-measurements/

Either buy a cup or treat them as ratios in volume.

1 cup can be 1 mug or 1 pint. It doesn’t really matter.

Tony Edwards · 19 Dec 2018 at 20:16

Raymond Lin said:
Either buy a cup or treat them as ratios in volume.

1 cup can be 1 mug or 1 pint. It doesn’t really matter.

Until you add an egg and a quart of milk.

tnx · 19 Dec 2018 at 20:21

My woman watches a lot of US YouTubers baking and the like. She bought herself a set of "cups" always works out fine.

I believe a "quart of milk " is a quarter of 1 pint.

Merlin5 · 19 Dec 2018 at 20:23

Raymond Lin said:
Either buy a cup or treat them as ratios in volume.

1 cup can be 1 mug or 1 pint. It doesn’t really matter.

It's not that black and white. A cup in an American recipe is a specific amount, but different from the amount of a UK cup. It's also not always that clear if a recipe using cups are American or not.

tamzzy · 19 Dec 2018 at 20:42

Because 'murica

Raymond Lin · 19 Dec 2018 at 20:58

Tony Edwards said:
Until you add an egg and a quart of milk.

Good point on the egg...

d_brennen · 19 Dec 2018 at 21:02

I just use 250ml or however much of the ingredients fits in that volume. More if I like that thing. Recipies should be inspiration, not gospel imo

Ahleckz · 19 Dec 2018 at 21:27

How tightly packed are the cups as well? Using volume as a measurement for solids is completely retarded.

cheesyboy · 19 Dec 2018 at 21:41

tnx said:
I believe a "quart of milk " is a quarter of 1 pint.

Quarter gallon isn't it?

bsoltan · 19 Dec 2018 at 23:45

Yes I do, I own a set of measuring cups. Two in fact.

PlacidCasual · 20 Dec 2018 at 09:06

A quart is just over a litre I thought, ie quarter of a gallon. Unhelpful cup sizes being different though.

ttaskmaster · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:43

Bubo · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:50

This got me thinking whether the US have also managed to bugger up teaspoon/tablespoon measurements. A quick google later and the answer appears to be not really, very slightly under a UK tablespoon. Seems to be the Australians you have to watch out for as regards spoons.

Shadowness · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:50

Cups are fine for liquid measurements, but when a recipe says "add 1/2 cup of chopped carrots" or something similar it gets silly. Can't you just quote grams instead?!

dr_volki · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:53

anything not metric is a sin

Bubo · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:53

Quantities of rice always throw me, is it cooked or uncooked for gods sake, they never say.

Avenged7Fold · 20 Dec 2018 at 10:58

Bubo said:
Quantities of rice always throw me, is it cooked or uncooked for gods sake, they never say.

What recipes would call for cooked rice?

Surely if the recipe requires cooked rice over uncooked rice, it would become very obvious when you look at the other ingredients or cooking method like pasta?

Lupis · 20 Dec 2018 at 11:10

tnx said:
My woman watches a lot of US YouTubers baking and the like. She bought herself a set of "cups" always works out fine.

I believe a "quart of milk " is a quarter of 1 pint.

It's actually around 1 litre as it's a quarter gallon. Just to confuse things more it varies depending if it is UK or US quart as, of course, the UK and US have different values for the gallon as well.

Merlin5 · 20 Dec 2018 at 11:10

ttaskmaster said:
Yep - Anything less than a C-cup and I usually won't bang her....

I found this article quite amusing in my childish way,

"Nigella's own cups..."

https://www.nigella.com/ask/cup-sizes