Why the heck does America still use outdated measurement and date units?

[bousozoku]

My only concern with US measurements is the insistance on doing things by volume (ie X amount of cups of this) but then giving a limit on the number of eggs. If I am making something like shortbread this is fine as I can just increase the vessel size to make more samples but if its a sponge cake and it says "Use 6 cups of flour and 3 eggs" my recipe will end up very different if I change my shot glass to a mug to a pint glass.

My adoptive grandmother was teaching me how to make her egg noodles. She couldn't write the recipe for some reason.

It went something like this:

"Take the yellow measuring cup and fill it about halfway with flour. Oh, no, no. That's too much."
I let some fall.
"Oh, no, no, that's not enough."

 

[bousozoku]

A "cup" is a very specific measurement. Not just whatever you grabbed off the shelf.

I've known a few people who didn't have measuring cups and just grabbed a coffee mug. They didn't have measuring spoons, either, but wonder why the recipe didn't turn out even close to what they expected.

 

[bzgnyc2]

Which is why it’s so dumb. Just list the weight in oz or grams!

It all depends on the material and how it will be used/dispensed. Like tomatoes are usually picked in units and purchased in weight (lbs in the US). Tomato sauce is usually purchased in jars based on volume (quarts or liquid ounces in the US). How much gasoline or diesel dispensed into a car by volume (gallons in the US). In a jet, its tracked by weight/mass (lbs in the US).

Usually easier to deal with volume for things that flow. Otherwise weighing is an extra step. For cooking that would be annoying to do for every item. But since fuel is such a large portion of a plane's weight and their flying characteristics change as they fly, they keep everything in weight.

 

[Herdfan]

My adoptive grandmother was teaching me how to make her egg noodles. She couldn't write the recipe for some reason.

It went something like this:

"Take the yellow measuring cup and fill it about halfway with flour. Oh, no, no. That's too much."
I let some fall.
"Oh, no, no, that's not enough."

Mine was the same way. She never used anything to measure with other than her eyes.

 

[polyphenol]

Where as no kitchen outside of the US does. Our look like this.

View attachment 2347393

I have the same - and a larger one - but they are dreadful for measuring anything. Trying to avoid parallax, see the worn print, etc. I often put my Pyrex jug on a digital scale.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I have the same - and a larger one - but they are dreadful for measuring anything. Trying to avoid parallax, see the worn print, etc. I often put my Pyrex jug on a digital scale.

lol. Mrs AFB does the same. I never measure anything.

 

[bousozoku]

Mine was the same way. She never used anything to measure with other than her eyes.

Her parents came from the part of Hungary called Transylvania, which is now part of Romania. They were well-to-do but left during World War I. She grew up in the coal country of Pennsylvania, and they didn't have a lot of anything, so I'm sure that she had to re-create recipes from whatever her mother (who died when she was 10 years old) had shown her.

Truth be known, when I was making sauces for cooking, I didn't measure by container, but by color, taste, thickness, and any other significant attribute that would help me re-create it.

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Lovely story, [B]bousozoku[/B]

My wife and I have several Anchor Hocking measuring cups that have both cups, ounces, and quarts at one side. Turning the cup to the other side it shows cups and mL (metric). Then some smaller ones that have two rows at each side:

a. One row starts at 30 Tsp, down to 3 Tsp, and the opposite row starts at 5oz, down to .5oz
b. The other side of the cup has two more rows. The left row starts at 150mL down to 15 mL, and the second row starts at 10 Tbs down to 1 Tbs

But at the kitchen my wife and I consider a recipe a general guideline, since our kitchen is not a lab. For example, if I were to prepare one "cup" of rice, it only means that the amount does not have to be equal to 8 ounces, just "a portion". In this case it doesn't matter if I use a measuring cup or not. If I use a small soup-bowl full of rice, then I use one and one-half bowls of water (I don't like sticky rice). I rinse the rice while the water is boiling, pour a little extra virgin olive oil into the boiling water, some of the spices we like, salt to taste, and so on, then the rice into the pot or rice cooker.

 

[cyb3rdud3]

My only concern with US measurements is the insistance on doing things by volume (ie X amount of cups of this) but then giving a limit on the number of eggs. If I am making something like shortbread this is fine as I can just increase the vessel size to make more samples but if its a sponge cake and it says "Use 6 cups of flour and 3 eggs" my recipe will end up very different if I change my shot glass to a mug to a pint glass.

Eggactly. I've got cups of all shapes and sizes. Samething when people put weight in stones, got some big stones, and some small stones. Just a silly system.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Lovely story, [B]bousozoku[/B]

My wife and I have several Anchor Hocking measuring cups that have both cups, ounces, and quarts at one side. Turning the cup to the other side it shows cups and mL (metric). Then some smaller ones that have two rows at each side:

a. One row starts at 30 Tsp, down to 3 Tsp, and the opposite row starts at 5oz, down to .5oz
b. The other side of the cup has two more rows. The left row starts at 150mL down to 15 mL, and the second row starts at 10 Tbs down to 1 Tbs

But at the kitchen my wife and I consider a recipe a general guideline, since our kitchen is not a lab. For example, if I were to prepare one "cup" of rice, it only means that the amount does not have to be equal to 8 ounces, just "a portion". In this case it doesn't matter if I use a measuring cup or not. If I use a small soup-bowl full of rice, then I use one and one-half bowls of water (I don't like sticky rice). I rinse the rice while the water is boiling, pour a little extra virgin olive oil into the boiling water, some of the spices we like, salt to taste, and so on, then the rice into the pot or rice cooker.

Recently my Boss’s wife was out of commission (detached retina). So he had to cook (I believe a first in his life). Anyway he told us he messed up the rice. The 4 people in the meeting all had a different way to measure and cook rice!

 

[J.A.K.]

It all depends on the material and how it will be used/dispensed. Like tomatoes are usually picked in units and purchased in weight (lbs in the US). Tomato sauce is usually purchased in jars based on volume (quarts or liquid ounces in the US). How much gasoline or diesel dispensed into a car by volume (gallons in the US). In a jet, its tracked by weight/mass (lbs in the US).

Usually easier to deal with volume for things that flow. Otherwise weighing is an extra step. For cooking that would be annoying to do for every item. But since fuel is such a large portion of a plane's weight and their flying characteristics change as they fly, they keep everything in weight.

You know what else is great about the metric system?

Mls and grams are basically interchangeable for many liquids, especially those used in cooking which are almost invariably, mostly water.

 

[Herdfan]

Her parents came from the part of Hungary called Transylvania, which is now part of Romania. They were well-to-do but left during World War I. She grew up in the coal country of Pennsylvania, and they didn't have a lot of anything, so I'm sure that she had to re-create recipes from whatever her mother (who died when she was 10 years old) had shown her.

Truth be known, when I was making sauces for cooking, I didn't measure by container, but by color, taste, thickness, and any other significant attribute that would help me re-create it.

Mine grew up in the coal country of southern West Virginia. So similar way of doing things.

 

[bousozoku]

Mine grew up in the coal country of southern West Virginia. So similar way of doing things.

I remember traveling from Indiana to Virginia via West Virginia and seeing the mountains/hills being stripped for the purpose of mining in 1968.

On a later trip back to that town in Pennsylvania, seeing my adoptive mother's cousin's house with outhouse, including a bathtub was interesting.

I heard a story about how my grandfather and his father-in-law found the mine scales unlocked. They found that the mining company had loaded a container for counterweights with rocks, so as to reduce the payment to the miners, as it looked as their loads were much lighter than they were.

Talk about outdated measures, or perhaps, outrageous measures.

 

[splifingate]

In 64 inches?

Of course

 

[splifingate]

Which is why it’s so dumb. Just list the weight in oz or grams!

volume ≠ mass

 

[splifingate]

giving a limit on the number of eggs

eggs ≠ measurement

 

[AlaskaMoose]

Recently my Boss’s wife was out of commission (detached retina). So he had to cook (I believe a first in his life). Anyway he told us he messed up the rice. The 4 people in the meeting all had a different way to measure and cook rice!

Agree. There are numerous ways to cook rice, and numerous styles too. I prefer Spanish style (paella and such), but instead of shrimp and other "sea creatures," I use beef, and pork, or chicken. The only thing that's always the same is the rice to liquid ratio (1 rice / 1 and 1/2 liquid), even is substituting water with seasoned tomato juice. Otherwise one can make oneself to a certain consistency from tomatoes (it takes a long time).

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Agree. There are numerous ways to cook rice, and numerous styles too. I prefer Spanish style (paella and such), but instead of shrimp and other "sea creatures," I use beef, and pork, or chicken. The only thing that's always the same is the rice to liquid ratio (1 rice / 1 and 1/2 liquid), even is substituting water with seasoned tomato juice. Otherwise one can make oneself to a certain consistency from tomatoes (it takes a long time).

Heaven help me if I try to cook rice in a way that is different from what my beloved's mother taught her. It is The One True Way and one shalt not deviate, not one jot nor one tittle.

 

[timber]

Agree. There are numerous ways to cook rice, and numerous styles too. I prefer Spanish style (paella and such), but instead of shrimp and other "sea creatures," I use beef, and pork, or chicken. The only thing that's always the same is the rice to liquid ratio (1 rice / 1 and 1/2 liquid), even is substituting water with seasoned tomato juice. Otherwise one can make oneself to a certain consistency from tomatoes (it takes a long time).

You are closer to the original Paella by using chicken (or rabbit) than with seafood.

 

[Apple fanboy]

12 tablespoons of rice if there are two of us. Add boiling water to a couple of inches above in a bowl. Put it in the microwave for 10 minutes. Rinse with boiling water and serve.

 

[Lee_Bo]

Well, considering some of the people I deal with on a daily basis, I’m surprised they can even walk and breathe at the same time, much less use a uniform system.

 

[JT2002TJ]

There is only one appropriate way to measure rice... It is the knuckle method. Since you are rinsing the rice several times until the water runs clear, there is no way to accurately measure the water via a measuring cup...

You do rinse your rice first, right?

 

[Apple fanboy]

There is only one appropriate way to measure rice... It is the knuckle method. Since you are rinsing the rice several times until the water runs clear, there is no way to accurately measure the water via a measuring cup...

You do rinse your rice first, right?

After.

 

[JT2002TJ]

After.

So it is measured water + water still on the rinsed rice?

 

[Chuckeee]

There is only one appropriate way to measure rice... It is the knuckle method. Since you are rinsing the rice several times until the water runs clear, there is no way to accurately measure the water via a measuring cup...

You do rinse your rice first, right?

I remember my daughter then scolding me for not saving the rice water. Evidently, rice water is a hair care product