Dear Joe, John, and All,
The Australian Standard cup has been defined as 250�mL since the mid 1970s.
It is a very useful measure for litres and fractions of litres, but not so
useful for fractions of cups.
A quick solution to this ever present kitchen measuring problem is to cheat!
When you want less than a cup think of your 250 mL cup as if it held only
240 mL. This is not a major cheat as you are only reducing your whole cup -
by 10 mL - or the equivalent of two teaspoons � and this error reduces when
you use smaller fractions of cups.
Thinking of a 250 mL cup as a 240 mL cup means that most fractions called
for in recipes work out neatly: 1/2 cup = 120 mL, 1/3 cup = 80 mL, 1/4 cup =
60 mL, even to 1/12 cup = 20 mL which is exactly the same (in Australia) as
one tablespoon. But you probably wouldn�t use 1/12 cup, as 20 mL is the same
as a tablespoon, and tablespoons are a lot easier to use.
In our kitchen we have two good measuring jugs, a large one and a small one;
a set of nested plastic measuring cups: 1 cup (250 mL), one half-cup, one
third-cup, and one quarter-cup; and two sets of plastic measuring spoons:
one Tablespoon (Ts = 20 mL), one teaspoon (ts = 5 mL), one 1/2 ts, and one
1/4 ts. We have two sets of teaspoons because one lot always seems to get
wet before all the dry ingredients are measured, so then you need to use the
second set. These, together with an electronic set of scales, that goes to 5
kg in one gram steps, do all of our measurements easily and accurately. The
electronic scales are an expensive luxury; they're not strictly necessary,
but now that we have them they are used constantly.
By the way, Joe, should your table read 5 Canadian cups and 4 British cups?
Cheers,
Pat Naughtin
CAMS - Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist
- United States Metric Association
ASM - Accredited Speaking Member
- National Speakers Association of Australia
Member, International Federation for Professional Speakers
--
on 2002/04/14 01.37, Joseph B. Reid at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> John Kilopascal wrote in USMA 19428:
>
>> All I know is a cup is 250 mL. All of the measuring cups in my house are
>> dual marked with the 250 mL being closer to the top than the FFU equivalent.
>> If I'm at a friend or family member's house when they are cooking, and I
>> happen to watch them fill the cup. I notice they always seem to fill it
>> closer to the 250 mL amount. Not that they are consciously doing this, but
>> they are filling it as close to the top as possible without going too high
>> and having some spill out.
>
>
> The Canadian Metric Practice Guide lists the following cups:
> Canadian 227 mL
> U.S. 237 mL
> UK 284 mL
>
> These numbers arise from:
> 4 Canadian cups = 1 imperial quart
> 4 U,S. cups = 1 U.S. liquid quart
> 5 British cups = 1 imperial quart
>
> Joseph B.Reid
> 17 Glebe Road West
> Toronto M5P 1C8 Tel. 416 486-6071
>
