Monday, October 29, 2007

How to Measure Vintage Cooking Ingredients

For liquid measurements, old recipes often use measuring standards we no longer understand. For instance,

1 Wineglass equals 1/4 cup
1 jigger equals 1 1-2 ozs.
1 teacup equals a scant 3/4 cup
1 coffee cup equals a scant cup
1 peck equals 2 gallons (dry measure)
1 saucer equals about a cup
1 salt spoon equals 1/4 teaspoon
1 dessert spoon equals 1 tablespoon

Butter the size of an egg equals 1/4 cup or 2 ounces
Butter the size of a walnut equals 1 tablespoon

Some recipes measure in pounds. The size of a pound varies because different items are less dense and weigh more or less according to volume. For instance,
1 pound of flour equals four cups
1 pound of eggs is abut 8 medium eggs with shell or 10 with shell
1 pound of sugar is about 2-1/2 cups
1 pound of raisins is about 2-3/4 cups
1 pound of cornmeal is 3 cups
1 pound of rice is 2 cups

1 pennyweight is 1/20 ounce
1 drachm is 1/8 ounce

Oven temperatures in Fahrenheit range from:
Very slow (less than 300 degrees)
Slow (3oo degrees)
Moderately slow (325 degrees)
Moderate (350 degrees)
Moderately hot (375 degrees)
Quick (375-400 degrees)
Hot (400-425 degrees)
Very hot (450-475 degrees)
Extremely hot (500 degrees)

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