# what is a rounded teaspoon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700 "2003-10-16T01:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/1 "2003-10-16T01:47:24Z")
how does it differ from a regular teaspoon? how many teaspoons go into a rounded teaspoon. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/2 "2003-10-16T01:52:46Z")
Like with sugar. Just scoop out the dry ingredient but don’t level off the contents of the spoon. It’s probably a spoonful and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/3 "2003-10-16T03:10:52Z")
It’s not the _spoon_ itself that’s rounded, it’s the contents. Dip a regular teaspoon into a bowl of sugar and pull it out held horizontally so it holds as much sugar as possible, piled up. That amount and shape of the pile of sugar in the spoon is called a rounded teaspoon of sugar. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/4 "2003-10-16T04:14:27Z")
No, Andrew, if it has as much as it can have piled up on it, it is a “Heaping Teaspoon.” Rounded means just that. I nice rounded shape that naturally sits on the spoon with minimal jiggling. Tris ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/5 "2003-10-16T05:25:00Z")
I’m trying to differentiate between the shape of the spoon itself, and the shape of the contents of the spoon. My take on the OP was that he thought there was a different type of teaspoon called a “rounded teaspoon” that held a different amount than a standard one. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/6 "2003-10-16T05:54:24Z")
Rounded and heaping teaspoons are not precise amounts. Heaping is the largest amount you can hold with a teaspoon. Ground coffee and brown sugar will pile up a whole lot on a teaspoon. Rounded is what you get after tapping twice on a heaping teaspoon. In my opinion, rounded should never exceed 2 teaspoons. That’s how it looks from here. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/7 "2003-10-16T10:51:47Z")
so, a rounded teaspoon of milk is different from a heaped teaspoon of milk ? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/8 "2003-10-16T11:00:36Z")
Only works that way with dehydrated milk. Dehydrated _water_, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/9 "2003-10-16T15:31:07Z")
\>\> Dehydrated water, on the other hand… I have some here for you. Just add water to reconstitute. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/10 "2003-10-16T22:16:35Z")
**pjd** was joking, of course, but liquids will round on a teaspoon. In a measuring cup, water and milk will form a _meniscus_, a slightly dished shape. I was taught to match the top edge of the meniscus to the measure line. In a spoon, though, liquid will form a slight dome above the top of the spoon. I try to get as close to a level teaspoon as I can, unless I’m trying to sneak in more of a liquid than it calls for. 🙂 In order to get a heaping teaspoon of milk, you have to freeze it. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2003, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-a-rounded-teaspoon/207700/11 "2003-10-17T15:02:22Z")
Er, if you’re measuring anything that needs to be measured to the ml (which you won’t in the kitchen), you’ll want to match the _bottom_ of the meniscus to the measurement line.