All I can say about that is that Australian carrots must be enormous. Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
>-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Behalf Of Pat Naughtin >Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2003 22:17 >To: U.S. Metric Association >Subject: [USMA:26094] Re: soft metrication--got metric milk? > > >Dear Michael, > > >on 2003-06-14 20.01, Michael-O at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >> this is kinda weird, such strange sizes never evolved in true metric >> countries. >> >> e.g. 3 L, 700 mL, 600 mL > >I don't know about the reasons for 3�L and 700�mL, but there was a definite >reason for the selection of 600�mL as a retail container size in Australia, >especially for milk and cream. > >A 600�mL container is about 6�% more than an old imperial pint. > >For cooking recipes this slight increase fits well with other cooking >increases. By choosing 600�mL as a standard retail container, Australian >cooks were able to adapt their old recipes fairly quickly and easily. >However, as time has gone by, and with changes in packaging technologies, >most milk is now sold in 1 litre, 2 litre, and 3 litre containers, >but cream >is still sold in 300�mL and 600�mL packages. > >500�grams is about 10�% more that an old imperial pound. >1�kilogram is about 10�% more that the old imperial 2 pounds. >A metric cup (250�mL) is about 10�% more that an old imperial cup. >A 60 gram egg is about 9�% more than a 55 gram egg. >30 grams is about 10�% more that an old imperial ounce. > >This will make more sense if we look at a real recipe. I have chosen a >recipe for a beef stew from a book that came from the USA. I have >quoted the >recipe from the book, I then give an exact conversion to metric measures, >and then I give an approximate conversion based on the Australian method of >rounding up to the next, reasonably rational, number, but using USA spoon >and cup sizes. > >Beef stew Exact Approximate Increase > >2 pounds stewing steak 907 g 1�kg 10�% >4 ounces salad oil 57�mL 60�mL 5�% >1/3 cup chopped onions 76�mL 83�mL 9�% >Few dashes of pepper no conversion >3/4 cups boiling water 170�mL 190�mL 12�% >4 potatoes (2 lb.) 907 g 1�kg > 10�% >4 carrots (1 1/2 lb.) 680�g 750�g 10�% >1/2 teaspoon salt 2.4�mL 2.5�mL 4�% >Chopped parsley no conversion > >As you can see the new metric recipe gives a stew that is about 10�% larger >than the original, but the proportions, more or less, remain the same. > >In this case, both the exact conversion and the approximate >conversions will >work well enough, but more care, and maybe test cooking, is necessary where >proportions are more critical than stews; say in bread and cake baking. > >Cheers, > >Pat Naughtin LCAMS >Geelong, Australia > >Pat Naughtin is the editor of the free online newsletter, 'Metrication >matters'. You can subscribe by sending an email containing the words >subscribe Metrication matters to [EMAIL PROTECTED] >-- >
