# Are Our American Culinary Measuring Spoons Really Not Metric? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983 "2023-10-24T01:06:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/21 "2023-10-24T15:26:10Z")
I would. At that scale, it really doesn’t matter all that much. I use whatever spoon is at hand (though I have proper measuring spoons for some reason), and it works out fine. Cooking and even baking isn’t nearly as precise as some people make it out to be. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/22 "2023-10-24T15:29:06Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I use whatever spoon is at hand Anyone else use your hand, like I do? I can put some salt/sugar/paprika/whatever into my hand and eyeball pretty accurately a teaspoon/tablespoon/fraction of either. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/23 "2023-10-24T15:32:37Z")
Doing some of my own research here, I am finding that even in France, the home of metric, almost all the cuillères à mesurer are dual-labeled (e.g. 1 tsp 5 ml), with a few exceptions, as here: > **[Schramm® Jeu de cinq cuillères doseuses 5 pièces en 5 couleurs Cuillère doseuse...](https://www.amazon.fr/Schramm%C2%AE-cuill%C3%A8res-doseuses-couleurs-plastique/dp/B074CR19PG)** > > Amazon.fr: Petits prix et livraison gratuite dès 25 euros d'achat sur les produits Schramm. Commandez Schramm® Jeu de cinq cuillères doseuses 5 pièces en 5 couleurs Cuillère doseuse Gobelet doseur en plastique Cuisson Cuisson au four Dosage. But before anyone, by some unlikely mischance, buys the above for €11.90, let me mention that you can get it [on Ebay for US$0.99](https://www.ebay.com/itm/155485600248?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20230811123856%26meid%3Dbdedd6030b53448fa7136d824023d77f%26pid%3D101770%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D155485600248%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2%26brand%3DUnbranded&_trksid=p4375194.c101770.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3A62355d5018b0ab94d36e424dfffffeb4%7Cpageci%3A58315e1c-727e-11ee-a5ad-2a488992e709%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage) 😀 Someone may notice that the above is also dual labeled, just with milliliters and grams, the grams being what that much water weighs. It looks impossible to do more than guess, at the answer to the thread title question, without having an inside source spilling measuring spoon industry secrets. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/24 "2023-10-24T15:34:25Z")
Yep. And for liquids I guess while pouring how much is a teaspoon, how much a tablespoon. Literally did that a few minutes ago for a marinade. It’s not that hard to get in the ballpark. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/25 "2023-10-24T16:20:40Z")
I can’t believe nobody has stated the obvious. Our measuring spoons are not really metric. If they were metric, you’d have baby spoons. Ten baby spoons to a Tablespoon. Instead, we get a teaspoon? Where did that come from? And, three teaspoons to a Tablespoon? Maybe they could have tried to meet metric half-way and decided five teaspoons to a Tablespoon? No, the whole measuring ingredients by volume is flawed to begin with. They should go by weight. For liquids or solids, using a spoon is the most inaccurate way of measuring volume there is. It needs to be narrower at the top than the bottom to get accuracy. If accuracy isn’t that important, well then, it really doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/26 "2023-10-24T17:23:29Z")
Thank you, **Kayaker**! My wife can be making a stir-fry, and when I come out to wash the dishes there are four measuring spoons, a 1/4 C measuring cup, a 1/3 C measuring cup, and a 1 C measuring cup waiting to be washed. For all that’s good and holy, it’s just a stir-fry! And who uses a 1 C and doesn’t re-use it for approximating 1/3 C? But it’s one of the reasons I love her. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/27 "2023-10-24T19:56:40Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > But it’s one of the reasons I love her. I totally understand and agree. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/28 "2023-10-24T20:17:40Z")
> [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](#): > > No, the whole measuring ingredients by volume is flawed to begin with. They should go by weight. No one measures spice, or salt, or baking soda, or vanilla extract by weight for home cooking quantities. Home scales aren’t nearly as accurate as spoons for those quantities. Heck, “by eye” is more accurate. (Ask the woman who used her home cooking scale to taper off tea in preparation for fasting on Yom kippur. Towards the end, it just wasn’t accurate enough, and i eyeballed the amount of loose tea instead.) And spoons are super convenient. I once compared all my measuring volumes against each other. 3 teaspoons to a tablespoon, two tablespoons to an ounce, … I went from the ⅛ teaspoon spoons up to the gallon measuring cup. They were all pretty good except one tablespoon which was too small. I threw that one away. And for kicks, i measured our “eating” spoons. The teaspoon is close enough that i use it for a measuring spoon sometimes. The tablespoon is far less than 3 teaspoons. But it’s a good size to shovel cereal and soup into my mouth. So i kept those. 😉 Do i always measure precisely with those spoons? No. If the recipe calls for a teaspoon of vanilla, i just pour in a little more than a teaspoon. (Unless I’m making whipped cream, where i don’t like too pronounced a vanilla taste.) But i like being able to be precise when i want to reproduce something. Oh, and I’m precise with the baking soda. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/29 "2023-10-24T22:05:35Z")
If you’re using a spoon to shovel cereal and soup into your mouth, it’s not a tablespoon. Tablespoons are for serving, not for eating. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/30 "2023-10-24T22:14:13Z")
No, those are serving spoons. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/31 "2023-10-24T22:16:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > If you’re using a spoon to shovel cereal and soup into your mouth, it’s not a tablespoon. Tablespoons are for serving, not for eating. That’s interesting, because some in my household growing up ate using tablespoons and others used teaspoons. We had larger spoons for serving food. I wasn’t aware that others reserved them only for serving. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/32 "2023-10-24T22:27:43Z")
We have little bitty spoons that we inherited. I think they were intended to serve salt. I sometimes use them as tools, but never bring them to the table. Then we have teaspoons, which we mostly use for tea, actually. Or serving honey. And tablespoons that we use for soup, cereal, and sometimes stew or whatever. And some funky soup spoons with a very wide shallow bowl (also inherited) that i mostly use for defatting broth, since the angle is good for that. And a variety of serving spoons which came in sets with the serving forks and pie servers. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/33 "2023-10-24T23:04:21Z")
No, what I’m saying is that those larger-than-teaspoons that some folks eat with aren’t tablespoons. I’m not sure what the proper name for them is: My family calls them soup spoons, but that also often refers to a spoon with a circular bowl. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/34 "2023-10-24T23:20:14Z")
Dinner spoons? At any rate, I have 15mL spoons (I measured) that I use to eat cereal and soup with. Teaspoons are way too small. I have some of those intermediary spoons you’re talking about, I think, but I use the 15mL ones. Wikipedia has pictures of various spoons: > **[Tablespoon](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablespoon)** > > A tablespoon (tbsp. , Tbsp. , Tb. , or T.) is a large spoon. In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving; however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating. > By extension, the term is also used as a cooking measure of volume. In this capacity, it is most commonly abbreviated tbsp. or Tbsp. and occasionally referred to as a tablespoonful to distinguish it from the utensil. The unit of measurement varies by region: a United States ... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/35 "2023-10-24T23:26:19Z")
The volume measure tablespoon is a reasonable size to eat with, fwiw. > [@Chronos](#): > > that those larger-than-teaspoons that some folks eat with aren’t tablespoons. I’m not sure what the proper name for them is: If you visit me and eat at my table, the proper name for them is tablespoons. Although Oneida calls them “dinner spoons”. > **[Allay 20 Piece Everyday Flatware Set](https://www.oneida.com/products/20pc-allay-flatware-set-3)** > > Bring the absolute best to the table with Allay, the all-in-one solution to everyday meals and events. Evoke a taste of the classics with flatware that features a simple design while combining both functionality and beauty. Crafted in stunning mirror... ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/36 "2023-10-24T23:27:00Z")
The idea that the larger spoon in a flatware place setting is for serving and not eating is honestly so foreign to me that I’ve been Googling. Tiffany flatware sets include teaspoons and dessert spoons. Oneida flatware sets include teaspoons and dinner spoons. Cambridge Silversmiths flatware sets includes teaspoons and “dinner/soup spoons.” Christofle flatware sets includes teaspoons and tablespoons. Zwilling flatware sets includes teaspoons and soup spoons (though not the bowl type but instead the usual oval). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/37 "2023-10-24T23:35:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The idea that the larger spoon in a flatware place setting is for serving and not eating is honestly so foreign to me that I’ve been Googling. Again, that’s not the spoon I’m referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/38 "2023-10-24T23:39:23Z")
OK, here’s a link to a photo of a flatware place setting. The description says it includes “Dinner Fork; Dinner Knife; Salad Fork; Teaspoon; Dinner Spoon.” Is the larger spoon there what you’re thinking of? [![](https://assets.wfcdn.com/im/04273840/resize-h800-w800%5Ecompr-r85/1592/159231343/Cambridge+Silversmiths+Marlise+Stainless+Steel+Flatware+Set+-+Service+for+4.jpg) ](https://assets.wfcdn.com/im/04273840/resize-h800-w800%5Ecompr-r85/1592/159231343/Cambridge+Silversmiths+Marlise+Stainless+Steel+Flatware+Set+-+Service+for+4.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2023, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/39 "2023-10-24T23:56:45Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > We have little bitty spoons that we inherited. I think they were intended to serve salt. Heh, I have some silver itty bitty coke spoons, and some stainless steel teeny spoons for dabbing. Salt, huh? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2023, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983/40 "2023-10-25T01:06:45Z")
My grandmother actually set her formal table with tiny little salt containers that had tiny little spoons in them. But i suppose you might find other uses for them … Honestly, i mostly use them for fishing marrow out of bones. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-our-american-culinary-measuring-spoons-really-not-metric/991983.md?page=3)