question for British people

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jennontheroad
jennontheroad Posts: 142 Member
in Food and Nutrition
dear British people,

In British cook books, and even here on MFP, when you talk about food you use grams. So does everyone have a kitchen scale, or do you just know off the top of your head how many grams are in standard measures like one cup of flour?
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Replies

  • MySlimGoals
    MySlimGoals Posts: 753 Member
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    I'm not British, but we use grams in New Zealand too, like most of the world. I would use a kitchen scale for the flour if the recipe asked for flour in grams, but most recipes would state the flour quantity in cups of course.
  • mixedfeelings
    mixedfeelings Posts: 904 Member
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    Yep, most homes will have a set of scales or a measuring cup. I have both, I use the scales when I want to know exactly what amount I'm eating but I will use the measuring cup when I'm just baking and want to have a rough idea. Usually when baking cakes or dough you can tell by the texture if it hasn't enough of something.

    With certain things that you cook often you just get a feel for.

    It's not really something I've thought about but in away I thought all kitchens would have a set of scales. I've heard cup used as a measurement before but I've only recently realised how much it mean as when I hear cup I always think of a tea cup which certainly holds a lot less than a cup when referred to in recipes.

    P.S. I think I might be the one and only Brit up at this time.
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Yeah most other English peeps I know have a kitchen scale :)
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
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    Australian here. We use metric as well.

    I have digital scales for measuring weight, plus a set of spoon and cup measures. I have no idea how many grams of flour are in a cup. If a recipe calls for grams, then I'll weigh it, if it calls for a cup, I'll add a cup. Too easy!
  • snowwolf64
    snowwolf64 Posts: 6 Member
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    I'm Scottish and have digital kitchen scales that measure in grams or ounces. I never use recipes that use cups as a measurement, all my recipe books use grams. I've some older recipes that were my mother's, they use ounces, which is why I got the scales I did.
  • 2essie
    2essie Posts: 2,863 Member
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    I have kitchen scales but I noticed a lot of things are measured by the cup. Amazon has the cups for sale at about £2 -£3 with free postage so worth investing in a set.
  • MrsAgi
    MrsAgi Posts: 338 Member
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    I'm Scottish and have digital kitchen scales that measure in grams or ounces. I never use recipes that use cups as a measurement, all my recipe books use grams. I've some older recipes that were my mother's, they use ounces, which is why I got the scales I did.

    English here and the same. I've never been into a kitchen that didn't have scales, many people have several (i still have my nan's balance scales with weights as well as proper digital ones), although i have been to plenty who don't have measuring cups or spoons as we just don't use them!

    I do all my baking in oz cos i was taught by my mum, who was taught by hers.... but most cooking i do 9n g because modern recipe books are written thst way. I don't think i've ever cooked in cups - on the occasional time i,ve used a US recipe ive translated it into g
  • Sassia
    Sassia Posts: 460 Member
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    I always use scales. It's the only way to be totally accurate with everything. I bake a lot as well so they are so valuable to me. You can get some for just a few pounds. Argos are a good bet. I have salter digital ones that cost £30 as well as mechanical ones that cost £7. See what you prefer.
  • Chadomaniac
    Chadomaniac Posts: 1,785 Member
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    Use a kitchen scale if you want to be acurate .
  • MrsR0SE
    MrsR0SE Posts: 341 Member
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    dear British people,

    In British cook books, and even here on MFP, when you talk about food you use grams. So does everyone have a kitchen scale, or do you just know off the top of your head how many grams are in standard measures like one cup of flour?

    I've always owned kitchen scales and couldn't cope without them! I would say that I would measure ingredients exactly (in grams or ounces) when baking and making a new recipes, but for some in the past (savoury dishes) I would add 'to taste'. Since being on mfp I measure everything, always, including breakfast cereal etc.

    I do own a set of measuring cups, which I bought so I could make US recipes seen online etc, but the first time I make them I usually weigh things out and convert the recipe to metric for future reference!
  • andiechick
    andiechick Posts: 916 Member
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    I've owned kitchen scales as long as I've owned my own house...I couldn't imagine not having them. Mine are digital and measure solids as well as liquids and I use them for everything, even weighing out my portion of cereal on a morning - if I don't do this then I have a tendancy to seriously over-estimate, haha!!
  • jesz124
    jesz124 Posts: 1,004 Member
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    Asda sell a set of measurement cups, they were only £1! I think one USA cup = 250ml basically.
  • EdTheGinge
    EdTheGinge Posts: 1,616 Member
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    All about the scales here
  • SteveJWatson
    SteveJWatson Posts: 1,225 Member
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    I have scales that measure in metric and imperial. Never bothered with cups etc.
  • joyfuljoy65
    joyfuljoy65 Posts: 317 Member
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    A cup seems too variable to me - a cup of pasta twirls with lots of air space must weigh less than a cup of rice that you can pack in. So I always use my digital scales and weigh in grams (or oz if an old recipe).
  • jonnyman41
    jonnyman41 Posts: 1,031 Member
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    British but don't usually bother with scales. Plenty of food products already have weights on them so for recipes quite often you can work out by eye. e.g 125 gr of butter would be half the pack! I also have a couple of measuring jugs (usually used for liquid that I do often measure) but they also have markers for measuring flour. Much quicker than using a scale of course. For my own food calculations I usually go off the packet as even pieces of meat, fish etc have weights and values on them unless you buy direct from a butchers shop.
  • jst1986
    jst1986 Posts: 204 Member
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    As a Brit I dont use all this Cup stuff - scales and grams all the way for me!
  • taunto
    taunto Posts: 6,420 Member
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    like in America they use lbs and oz. they use grams and kilo grams in britain (and pretty much everywhere outside of US and like 2 other countries).

    After a while, you just learn how much 100 grams feels like and so on. Mainly because many people grocery shop on a regular bases (I pickup something on my way from work for example and our house wives shop daily too)
  • Carfoodel
    Carfoodel Posts: 481 Member
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    I take it you aren't really meaning do people have scales as I think everyone does - so assuming you mean do you measure all your food? the answer is yes for me - I have a digital scale and I measure everything.

    I was getting way off with guestimates and underestimating portion sizes even things like peanut butter - I know a crackerbread is 5g so when I put peanut butter on them I just drop them onto the scale when they are "loaded" - with peanut butter being 85 cals for 15g another 10g is easy to add without realising and that adds up - cereal is the same as it is easy to pour a bigger portion without realising it.

    There is usually a metric version of most foods on here so cups as a main measurement is not that big a problem - I think more and more people that use metric as norm are using this site now so the choices are getting added to the database all the time.
  • loudgls89
    loudgls89 Posts: 87 Member
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    I've never used a recipe with cups in, and always try to convert it to grams. I have scales so that I can get the exact measurement, I find it much more accurate than cups.

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