Why do Americans measure everything in cups? - eviltoast

Used a couple of US recipes recently and most of the ingredients are in cups, or spoons, not by weight. This is a nightmare to convert. Do Americans not own scales or something? What’s the reason for measuring everything by volume?

  • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Why should I take an extra step to weigh everything out? Why should I give up some valuable counter space for a food scale? That’s just extra work for no reason.

    • Squirrel@thelemmy.club
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      7 months ago

      Precision. Volume varies by how tightly something is packed, how finely something is diced, etc. I’ve seen recipes that recommend spooning flour into the measuring cup to ensure it’s not packed in tightly, so you don’t use too much. How much simpler is it to just weigh it?

      • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Unless you’re a professional chef it does not matter if you use 65 grams or 70 grams of something in a recipe. Makes zero difference.

        • Squirrel@thelemmy.club
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          7 months ago

          I’m happy that you don’t need it, but some of us like better precision. Plus, it’s convenient to put a mixing bowl on a scale and add things by weight, rather than using numerous measuring cups.

              • Cryophilia@lemmy.world
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                7 months ago

                Exactly. You need to use a cup to move the thing from its container to a mixing bowl, might as well use a measuring cup

                • Squirrel@thelemmy.club
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                  7 months ago

                  Spoon out sugar, spoon out flour, pour in milk, pour in oil, drop bits of other things in until you get to the weight needed. Even if you wash all of the spoons, it’s easier than measuring cups. At worst, you still use a measuring cup or two, but still fewer than before.

                  Look, I was with you until recently, but your argument really has no leg to stand on.