I find the base-2 feature of imperial measurements very handy when I cook. I never have to remember a large number, it’s always something simple, like 1.5 cups. It’s not a huge deal. As I said above, both systems work completely fine on their own, it’s just the transition between them that’s awkward. And even so, in practice, I usually cook these days using Imperial measures of volume and weigh stuff in grams.
Speaking of which, what do you do in Metric for measuring spices? Surely no one is measuring mg of salt?
If you are cooking with a scale, yes; the scale is by grams.
If you are not cooking by weight, then you use whatever you like. “Handful”, “pinch”, “tablespoon”, “1/2/3 parts a, 3/2/1 parts b”, … whatever is handy
Right, my kitchen scale does grams accurately, but you need mg to appropriately measure spices, and my scale doesn’t do that. It goes from 1g to about 2 kg.
A scale that only has a precision to the gram ( .000kg) is still fine. Just weigh 1 gram and portion out what you need. 1/2 of 1g is .5g… Surely you can carry this task out within your required need of precision.
Edit: That said, if we are talking about drugs/medication and not spices/cooking just go out and buy a more precise scale. A stray 10mg more or less is quite a big deal.
I mean, you can’t seriously weigh a gram of cardamom, and then divide that, and then weigh a gram of cinnamon, and then divide that, and … It would take me all evening to make a pot of lentils. I assume that people who cook in metric have some kind of measuring spoons for spices? Or never cook with many spices? One or the other. I was curious what people do in practice.
and then you have 1/2, 1/4 etc. although I don’t think I’ve ever seen a recipe call for 1/8th of a teaspoon. Probably worth noting that this is pretty much the only area where dry ingredients are measured by volume rather than weight.
But also, with spices all measurements are guidelines anyhow so (for me, anyhow) there’s only so much precision you need.
Yes, I am demanding some way to measure things that I use very small quantities of. “Buy a special scale for spices” is an option, although it seems less convenient than measuring spoons, which are extremely easy to use. As I said above, I currently cook in a hodgepodge of metric and imperial. I always use measuring spoons for small quantities, and I’m happy with that. I’m not looking for a solution for me. I’m curious what people who routinely cook in metric actually do. “They have a second scale that they use for spices” is one possible answer. “they just eyeball it” (which really means they measure roughly by volume) is also a possible answer. “They use a scale suitable for 2kg of flour, and it’s accurate for spices” seems implausible, as does “they painstakingly divide up a pile of spice to approximate a third of a gram”.
Thanks – that’s an answer that makes sense. I do have some recipes that call for an 8th of a teaspoon (often for salt or clove) and I use that spoon, but using the 1/4 teaspoon measure and filling it half way is certainly good enough.
And yes, spice measurements are always suggestions. But honestly, so are most other measurements. I often fiddle with recipes for one reason or another.
A teaspoon of cardamon is something like 2-3 grams. An 1/8 of a teaspoon is still not much under half a gram. Still not to the level where milligram precision is really needed.
I have spoons that contain 1/8, 1/4, 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1 teaspoon, and 1 Tablespoon. I have several sets of those spoons, as I use them all the time. I don’t portion out fractions of spoons unless I am out of clean spoons. And then I eyeball to fill the spoon halfway, I don’t measure out a spoon and cut the amount in half.
I cook, but not nearly with the precision demands that you require. If you want to cook by volume… of course that is fine, but we are no longer demanding the precision of mg’s.
The spice-like food that I weigh most often is tea, which I guess is on the light side. A gram of tea is more volume than I would typically want for thyme or rosemary or other light-weight spices, though.
I guess if I cooked all the time in grams I could learn how many grams of the heavier spices I want in my dish. Tare a small cup, weigh the spices into it, and then dump them all in the pot, I guess.
It’s not that I need mg precision, but I expect a scale that accurately measures 1/4 of a gram probably gives weights nominally in mg, because no one ever talks about the weight between grams and mg.
Even in metric, you can use a teaspoon. But it will correspond to 4 or 5 mL. So that 1/8 teaspoon works just fine in metric.
But it’s not a measure of weight. A teaspoon of water has the same volume as a teaspoon of salt but different weights. So, that just strikes me as odd. For spices or similar ingredients where I don’t use a lot, I’ll usually dole out a teaspoon (or 1/4 of a teaspoon or whatever) but not 1/16th of an ounce. Just like I wouldn’t dole out 200 mg but rather X mL.
Yeah, “metric cooks use volume for small measurements, like spices” makes sense to me. mL is a fine size for that. If mL spoons are common, I’m sure they come in sizes that would work fine for my cooking.
Well if you want the precision of mg’s then I have already given my advice to buy a precise scale or use the scale you have to get a gram (and portion out the rest). If you are happy to use the less precise cooking by volume then of course break out the spoons (or cook by taste).
It all depends on YOUR personal demands. Scale or by fancy.
I wasn’t looking for advice, I wanted to know what all-metric cooks actually do. And the answer seems to be “they have measuring spoons that are similar in size to the imperial measuring spoons, and use volume, not weight, for very small amounts”.
For small measures, we ourselves already use volume instead of weight anyway. And the metric versions are basically the same.
As above, there’s a metric teaspoon at exactly 5mL, which is a bit larger than our standard teaspoon (I think 4 and a quarter or somewhere around there). There’s no real issue making a 1/8 version of that, though it will be a bit larger than our 1/8 teaspoon. I’m too lazy to check, but I bet you could find such metric spoons on Amazon or any other retailer, especially ones with an international presence.
I do have some recipes that call for an 8th of a teaspoon (often for salt or clove) and I use that spoon, but using the 1/4 teaspoon measure and filling it half way is certainly good enough.