Liquid cups vs solid ones . . .

incisron
incisron Posts: 550 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Which one is bigger?

Replies

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,898 Member
    Cups should only be used to measure liquids, not solids. There's no difference in the size for "liquid" or "solid" - different countries have different cup sizes.

    The trouble with measuring solids in cups is that you can completely vary how much you get in there but how much you pack it down.
  • usmcmp
    usmcmp Posts: 21,219 Member
    A liquid cup is 8 ounces. Solids should be weighed, not measured in a cup.
  • incisron
    incisron Posts: 550 Member
    Thanks, every1. Didn't know that.
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    edited November 2015
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Cups should only be used to measure liquids, not solids. There's no difference in the size for "liquid" or "solid" - different countries have different cup sizes.

    The trouble with measuring solids in cups is that you can completely vary how much you get in there but how much you pack it down.
    In America, we actually do have two different cups, dry and liquid. Many companies sell one set and claim it is for both, but people who write recipes make distinctions. The older the recipe, the more true that is. It's coming to an end, though. The liquid cup is more and more often used as a cup across the board.

    We have two different ounces, too - one is weight, the other is volume. You'll hear references to things like "fluid ounce."

    Worse yet, the people who make measuring cups and spoons often sell things that aren't accurate. You might think it's a teaspoon, but it's 1.25 or 1.3 teaspoons or whatever. Cups, too. I have no idea why they don't make them accurate, but they often do not. You have to check your set if you want to be sure.

    One poster found out that our cups were different and gave up. She said something to the effect of, "The unit of measure changes based on what you're measuring?! I quit!" I know it sounds wacky to foreigners, but if you grow up with it, it's not a big deal.

    I have five sets. Two dry, two liquid, one British.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,898 Member
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Cups should only be used to measure liquids, not solids. There's no difference in the size for "liquid" or "solid" - different countries have different cup sizes.

    The trouble with measuring solids in cups is that you can completely vary how much you get in there but how much you pack it down.
    In America, we actually do have two different cups, dry and liquid. Many companies sell one set and claim it is for both, but people who write recipes make distinctions. The older the recipe, the more true that is. It's coming to an end, though. The liquid cup is more and more often used as a cup across the board.

    We have two different ounces, too - one is weight, the other is volume. You'll hear references to things like "fluid ounce."

    Worse yet, the people who make measuring cups and spoons often sell things that aren't accurate. You might think it's a teaspoon, but it's 1.25 or 1.3 teaspoons or whatever. Cups, too. I have no idea why they don't make them accurate, but they often do not. You have to check your set if you want to be sure.

    One poster found out that our cups were different and gave up. She said something to the effect of, "The unit of measure changes based on what you're measuring?! I quit!" I know it sounds wacky to foreigners, but if you grow up with it, it's not a big deal.

    I have five sets. Two dry, two liquid, one British.

    Holy heck, I knew about the weight ounce and fluid ounce but had no idea about the cups! That's crazy!
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,603 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Cups should only be used to measure liquids, not solids. There's no difference in the size for "liquid" or "solid" - different countries have different cup sizes.

    The trouble with measuring solids in cups is that you can completely vary how much you get in there but how much you pack it down.
    In America, we actually do have two different cups, dry and liquid. Many companies sell one set and claim it is for both, but people who write recipes make distinctions. The older the recipe, the more true that is. It's coming to an end, though. The liquid cup is more and more often used as a cup across the board.

    We have two different ounces, too - one is weight, the other is volume. You'll hear references to things like "fluid ounce."

    Worse yet, the people who make measuring cups and spoons often sell things that aren't accurate. You might think it's a teaspoon, but it's 1.25 or 1.3 teaspoons or whatever. Cups, too. I have no idea why they don't make them accurate, but they often do not. You have to check your set if you want to be sure.

    One poster found out that our cups were different and gave up. She said something to the effect of, "The unit of measure changes based on what you're measuring?! I quit!" I know it sounds wacky to foreigners, but if you grow up with it, it's not a big deal.

    I have five sets. Two dry, two liquid, one British.

    Holy heck, I knew about the weight ounce and fluid ounce but had no idea about the cups! That's crazy!
    It's just different. It's really not a thing if you grow up with it. The only trouble I ever had was with sugar, as it's generally considered a liquid, as an ingredient, so I wasn't sure which set to use (the dry one.)

    Stones, on the other hand, drove me batty when I first learned about them. The computer had a drop box that had pounds, kilos and stones. I was like, "Stones? Why is this here?" I thought it was an error, that some computer person had put a bogus selection in there. No, I was told, "Some people use that." Who, I asked. "Crazy people." Then someone else said, "No, not crazy people. English people. It's some number of pounds." The Brits measure their weight in stones. I was like, "Why? Why add another thing?!"

    I had to put in a stone to see how many pounds it was, then kept changing to make sure it was always the same.

    It wasn't until I lived around a bunch of British expats that I got used to converting and became able to think in both. But to the Brits, it's second nature. They don't see it as odd at all.

    Different systems, that's all. :)
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,149 Member
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Kalikel wrote: »
    Alatariel75 wrote: »
    Cups should only be used to measure liquids, not solids. There's no difference in the size for "liquid" or "solid" - different countries have different cup sizes.

    The trouble with measuring solids in cups is that you can completely vary how much you get in there but how much you pack it down.
    In America, we actually do have two different cups, dry and liquid. Many companies sell one set and claim it is for both, but people who write recipes make distinctions. The older the recipe, the more true that is. It's coming to an end, though. The liquid cup is more and more often used as a cup across the board.

    We have two different ounces, too - one is weight, the other is volume. You'll hear references to things like "fluid ounce."

    Worse yet, the people who make measuring cups and spoons often sell things that aren't accurate. You might think it's a teaspoon, but it's 1.25 or 1.3 teaspoons or whatever. Cups, too. I have no idea why they don't make them accurate, but they often do not. You have to check your set if you want to be sure.

    One poster found out that our cups were different and gave up. She said something to the effect of, "The unit of measure changes based on what you're measuring?! I quit!" I know it sounds wacky to foreigners, but if you grow up with it, it's not a big deal.

    I have five sets. Two dry, two liquid, one British.

    Holy heck, I knew about the weight ounce and fluid ounce but had no idea about the cups! That's crazy!

    Well, you didn't know it because it's not exactly true. In the U.S. the volume of one cup is the same (8 fluid oz., or about 240 ml) whether you use a liquid measuring cup or a measuring cup intended for solids. A liquid measuring cup will hold more than one cup, because it is intended that you will look at it at eye level to make sure the top surface of the liquid is at the one cup mark (or the mark for whatever volume you're measuring). Hence, a liquid measuring cup will be made of glass or some other clear material. A measuring cup for solids will only hold one cup, because it is intended that you will overfill it, tap the side to help the ingredients settle, and then level off the ingredients at the top of the cup (i.e., by scraping the back of a table knife across the top of the flour or sugar or whatever, with the edge rim of the cup holding your knife level). One would also have smaller, fractional measuring "cups" (1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup, 1/8 cup) because you can't really measure an amount smaller than the size of the cup using the "correct" method for cups intended for measuring solid ingredients.

    I'm not saying that weighing your food isn't generally going to be more accurate for someone who is calorie-counting, but people produced quite satisfactory cookies, cakes, and what not using measuring cups and measuring spoons for a long time before home kitchen scales became a common (or somewhat common) thing. Many home cooks still do quite well without a scale, although as I said above, I actually purchased my kitchen scales for baking, before I started on MFP -- mostly because I was starting to use a bread maker to make single loaves or in the summer when I didn't want to run the oven, and if you're not kneading the bread by hand and adding in flour until the consistency is right, you tend to get more consistent results by weighing your ingredients.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    edited November 2015
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    Well, you didn't know it because it's not exactly true. In the U.S. the volume of one cup is the same (8 fluid oz., or about 240 ml) whether you use a liquid measuring cup or a measuring cup intended for solids. A liquid measuring cup will hold more than one cup, because it is intended that you will look at it at eye level to make sure the top surface of the liquid is at the one cup mark (or the mark for whatever volume you're measuring). Hence, a liquid measuring cup will be made of glass or some other clear material. A measuring cup for solids will only hold one cup, because it is intended that you will overfill it, tap the side to help the ingredients settle, and then level off the ingredients at the top of the cup (i.e., by scraping the back of a table knife across the top of the flour or sugar or whatever, with the edge rim of the cup holding your knife level). One would also have smaller, fractional measuring "cups" (1/2 cup, 1/3 cup, 1/4 cup, 1/8 cup) because you can't really measure an amount smaller than the size of the cup using the "correct" method for cups intended for measuring solid ingredients.

    I'm not saying that weighing your food isn't generally going to be more accurate for someone who is calorie-counting, but people produced quite satisfactory cookies, cakes, and what not using measuring cups and measuring spoons for a long time before home kitchen scales became a common (or somewhat common) thing. Many home cooks still do quite well without a scale, although as I said above, I actually purchased my kitchen scales for baking, before I started on MFP -- mostly because I was starting to use a bread maker to make single loaves or in the summer when I didn't want to run the oven, and if you're not kneading the bread by hand and adding in flour until the consistency is right, you tend to get more consistent results by weighing your ingredients.

    ^^This.^^

    I still use measuring cups to measure flour, sugar, etc., when baking. I've been doing it all my life and it has always worked quite well. I see no need to change. It seems that whoever made the video posted above was never taught how to properly measure. It's always irritated me for that reason.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories