# Most unusual measurement you've seen in a recipe **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046 "2018-08-22T12:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sloe\_Moe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Sloe\_Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sloe_Moe)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/41 "2018-08-23T08:20:24Z")
There’s the fairly standard “enough dry spaghetti to fit in a circle formed by one’s thumb and forefinger” for a meal for two. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/42 "2018-08-23T08:41:10Z")
> [@Sloe\_Moe](#): > > There’s the fairly standard “enough dry spaghetti to fit in a circle formed by one’s thumb and forefinger” for a meal for two. Which I had heard before; but seeing it written down made me think - that’s a self regulating measure. Because if you assume - and I think it’s reasonable - that a big person (I mean big in frame) needs to eat more than a smaller person, this adjusts the amount of pasta accordingly. In it’s own small way, that’s quite brilliant. j ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/43 "2018-08-23T11:43:13Z")
I’ve had people ask for the recipe after a meal. I write it down, they look at it, laugh, then ask for more details. So, I get out my recipe book and show them; “sauté some onions and celery, chop and add some zucchini”. No specifics, season to taste. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/44 "2018-08-23T14:51:25Z")
A community cookbook fundraiser included layering ingredients until “the bowel is full”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/45 "2018-08-23T15:00:22Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That’d be tough. Units of length don’t show up in recipes very often. When they do it’s usually something like “grease a 9” x 13" cake pan". A smoot x smoot-and-a-half would make for one big cake… Fit for a graduating class at MIT! ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/46 "2018-08-23T15:01:56Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I saw one that called for 3/4 of a medium onion. Why not one small onion, or half of a large onion? Actually, I just disregard sizes of onions in recipes and go by feel, because what exactly is a “large onion”? The large onions at my store are _enormous_. From experience, I’m sure the recipes aren’t talking about these, but they never seem to have a definition that is convenient to reference. Apparently, looking it up, it seems like 4, 8, and 12 oz are the ballpark weights for small, medium, and large. The onions at my grocery are at least 16 oz (weighing the one intact one I have, it’s 18 oz.) ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/47 "2018-08-23T15:05:28Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > That’d be tough. Units of length don’t show up in recipes very often. When they do it’s usually something like “grease a 9” x 13" cake pan". A smoot x smoot-and-a-half would make for one big cake. 13 centismoots by 19.5 centismoots for your 9"x13" pan. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/48 "2018-08-23T15:09:08Z")
> [@Tzigone](#): > > I heard this one second-hand years ago. “An egg of butter” - a lump of butter the size of an egg. I believe from a Martha Washington cookbook, though I’m unsure. Obvious once explained, but not necessarily one I’d have figured out. And eggs were smaller then, so that has to be noted. My wife once read a recipe requiring an egg of _oil_. It specifically said to poke a hole in an egg, pour out the insides, fill the empty eggshell with oil and then pour it into the recipe. Something about how it had to have \*exactly \*the same amount of oil as eggs. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/49 "2018-08-23T15:26:29Z")
A ‘glug’. As in add three glugs of of red wine to the ragu. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/50 "2018-08-23T16:07:21Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > They’re not standardized, but they’ll comfort people who aren’t used to judging pinches and dashes. They can use the spoon and not be wrong. Yeah, I’m actually somewhat annoyed by the habit people have of referring to cooking as an art and baking as a science. I’ve had to talk more than one person new to baking down off a ledge because they freaked out not knowing how much a dash is and afraid their cake will blow up in their face. If having a measuring spoon marked Tad calms their worries enough that they actually start baking stuff, I’m all for it. > [@Alessan](#): > > My wife once read a recipe requiring an egg of _oil_. It specifically said to poke a hole in an egg, pour out the insides, fill the empty eggshell with oil and then pour it into the recipe. Something about how it had to have \*exactly \*the same amount of oil as eggs. Someone should show that recipe writer a scale and blow their mind. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/51 "2018-08-23T16:43:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Of course not. The skosh is a unit of distance. . . I think you’re right. But I can’t remember which brand of jeans advertised that their new style had “a skosh more” or where, exactly, they put that skosh. Google is my friend. It was Levis For Men. But a quick google doesn’t divulge where the skosh went beyond “where it counts”. There was a related blog screed against making jeans for fat-asses, though, so I’ve decided to look no more. > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > . . . On the subject of coleslaw, the best I ever had was at a restaurant in the main terminal at Sea-Tac Airport. There were little chips of fried ginger in it; yummy. Oooo! I have to try that. Are the chips the size of rice grains? Lentils? ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/52 "2018-08-23T16:45:07Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > Yeah, I’m actually somewhat annoyed by the habit people have of referring to cooking as an art and baking as a science. I’ve had to talk more than one person new to baking down off a ledge because they freaked out not knowing how much a dash is and afraid their cake will blow up in their face. Thank you! I find this cooking=art, baking=science analogy too strong and scares people off. There is some truth in it, but baking does usually tolerate a reasonable amount of slop, and there certainly is “art” to it, as our ancestors were not using precise kitchen scales and measuring cups to bake their goods. You do develop a feel for it, and the amount of liquid you need to add to a dough may change depending on the humidity of the day you are baking it, so going by “exact numbers” isn’t even that exact, unless you’re factoring in for that. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/53 "2018-08-23T20:09:24Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > 13 centismoots by 19.5 centismoots for your 9"x13" pan. 🙂 I find centi- to be an inelegant prefix; everything else is in powers of 1000. So 135 x 195 millismoots, please. > [@Yllaria](#): > > Oooo! I have to try that. Are the chips the size of rice grains? Lentils? About half the size of a tab of acid. They were about the thickness and crispness of a kettle-cooked potato chip. I don’t know how much trouble it would be to make your own. Maybe sprinkle them on, or stir them in, just prior to serving so they don’t get soggy. And I hope “half the size of a tab of acid” will now be a contender for most unusual measurement seen in a recipe. ---
**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:** [August 23, 2018, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/54 "2018-08-23T20:41:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > About half the size of a tab of acid. They were about the thickness and crispness of a kettle-cooked potato chip. I don’t know how much trouble it would be to make your own. Maybe sprinkle them on, or stir them in, just prior to serving so they don’t get soggy. > > And I hope “half the size of a tab of acid” will now be a contender for most unusual measurement seen in a recipe. I made my own pickled ginger. Peel the skin, then slice or use peeler to make thin slices. You pickle the slices and boom, pickled ginger. Store bought is way easier and just as good, though. ---
**Author:** ![wanderer2575](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@wanderer2575](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wanderer2575)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/55 "2018-08-25T19:43:22Z")
My grandmother had handwritten recipes calling for “one glass” of this or “two glasses” of that. When my mother and aunt were clearing out her apartment after she died, they _think_ they determined the actual glass in question. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/56 "2018-08-25T21:04:31Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > A ‘glug’. As in add three glugs of of red wine to the ragu. Justin Wilson used to have fun with wine. If a recipe called for 3 cups of wine, he would carefully measure three cups, then up-end the bottle and add quite a bit more. Here is him making gumbo: At 06:10, he adds cayenne pepper sauce: “1 teaspoon, and a little more”. At 08:32, he shows off his ability to measure out a teaspoon of salt with the palm of his hand. On the subject of coleslaw, one Mexican restaurant in my town serves slaw with a dressing that consists only of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. I like it better than the anglo versions. ---
**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:** [August 25, 2018, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/57 "2018-08-25T21:48:49Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > I find centi- to be an inelegant prefix; everything else is in powers of 1000. So 135 x 195 millismoots, please. Not everything else. I don’t recall how popular it was throughout Europe, but in Hungary, deli items were all typically ordered in decagrams. So you’d ask for 20 dekas of salami, 30 deka of cheese, etc. Similarly, shots were served in centiliters, glasses of drinks in deciliters. Nothing inelegant about the “centi-” prefix, and, to me, a _centismoot_ feels more intuitive for describing objects of that scale, just like you normally wouldn’t describe it as a 230 mm by 330 millimeter pan. We have lovely system of SI prefixes; we should use them! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/58 "2018-08-25T22:28:21Z")
For the record, in Japanese “skosh” (the more formal version of which is “skoshi”) means “a little” of anything. It can be a little salt, a little bigger, a little further, a little skill with language, pretty much anything. There is always some context to show what kind of measurement is being addressed. I remember that jeans commercial too and it was the first time I had heard this term used in American English. I think it was some time in the 80s but I’m not sure. I’ve always wondered how this word passed into our vernacular, and having done so, why it didn’t gain more currency. Japanese have adopted so many English words, and continue to do so every day, relatively few words travel in the opposite direction. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2018, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/59 "2018-08-26T13:09:08Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Justin Wilson used to have fun with wine. If a recipe called for 3 cups of wine, he would carefully measure three cups, then up-end the bottle and add quite a bit more. > > Here is him making gumbo: > > At 06:10, he adds cayenne pepper sauce: “1 teaspoon, and a little more”. > At 08:32, he shows off his ability to measure out a teaspoon of salt with the palm of his hand. > > On the subject of coleslaw, one Mexican restaurant in my town serves slaw with a dressing that consists only of oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. I like it better than the anglo versions. Bill Wharton (aka The Sauce Boss) performs the blues on stage while making a huge pot of gumbo. After the show he feeds the audience. When he adds his hot sauce, he stops playing for a bit, explaining how precision is important or he’ll ruin the gumbo. He _very carefully_ adds _exactly_ one drop. Then he asks the audience if they like a bit of heat with their gumbo. Naturally, everyone screams YEAH!!! So he very carefully adds one more drop. He stirs the gumbo, takes a taste, and screams out for a beer, which someone in the audience passes to him. Once he is ok again, he says, “now where was I?”, grabs the bottle, and upends it into the pot. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046/60 "2018-08-26T17:54:34Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Last weekend I was making some coleslaw to take to my wife’s family reunion. The recipe is one that has been in the family for years - she got it from her mom or aunt, who got it from their mother, etc. One of the ingredients for the dressing for this slaw is “7/8 cup and 2 tsp sugar”. > > That just struck me as such a bizarre measurement. First of all, how would I even measure out 7/8 cup? I have 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 3/4 cups, but no 7/8. Second, wouldn’t it be easier to just make it “1 cup minus 1 tsp”, or even easier “1 cup”? I mean seriously, at that point does one tsp of sugar make _that_ much of a difference? > > What’s the most unusual measurement you’ve come across in a recipe? What was the rest of the reciple? I hope it wasn’t " … **mayonnaise** ⅞ cup and 2 tsp of sugar … " with the key word faded from frequent folding or such. :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unusual-measurement-youve-seen-in-a-recipe/820046.md?page=4)