I don't mind using half a stick of butter or something alike. But I also agree on that it is annoying if to be told you need a packet of a certain ingredient, or even worse, they call for a specific brand. I live in a small town. Most of those things are hard (if not impossible) to find. Let's all just remember to be kind enough to write the content amount on that packet.
Furthermore, thank you, internet, for existing.
You don't say where you are from, but a standard packet of yeast is the US is the same size as the packets of yeast sold in Germany, Italy, France, and I bet the rest of Europe. Given the ease of finding answers on the web, it is pretty simple to google for equivalents or unfamiliar ingredients. British recipes call for all sorts of strange sugars. Just a bit of research reveals that we have them all in the US, although we call them by different names.
A lot of us hate recipes that call for packets and sticks and boxes, too, Marit, although Antonia's point is also well taken. Thank goodness for the ability to research this stuff on the internet!
Given that this is was started as an American website celebrating home cooks (a small number of whom are trained as professionals) it is only natural that the measurements used are the ones that many of us grew up with and are comfortable with. The submission process for the contests is geared toward that and the drop down menus give certain selections based on the American system. It is not based on ignorance or stupidity or any sense of "kitchen colonialism", it's just what comes naturally. I think it takes a certain amount of presumption to ask us to "bend to your superior ways" and rejigger our recipes. Further, when traveling abroad, I've definitely seen European products that come in standardized packaging in a given country; why shouldn't we do the same? It couldn't be easier to go to the internet and find a conversion table. I perceive a certain tone in this discussion that is out of tune with the generally helpful and friendly nature we usually enjoy.
Amen. It is just as easy for the recipe reader to use a conversion table as it is for the recipe submitter. It never bothers me to go back and forth..it never makes me cranky and maybe it's because I own a scale that weighs grams or lbs, but I find it somewhat fun.
I feel the same frustration when a recipe from England calls for "one sheet gelatin." It's not sold that way here, plus the way you use it in a recipe differs.
I'm thankful, however, that the internet makes it so easy to research how to adapt.
Also, I agree that mass (gram) measures should always be given. Apparently a lot of Americans have not yet realized how much easier, convenient, and fool proof usit is to use tested recipes specifying in grams. Best reason ever, for true slackers such as yours truly, is that you don't have to wash measuring cups -- particularly appreciated for items like peanut butter. (For recipes not providing gram measures, I just convert using the nutrition data required under US law, which always include metric quantities.) ;o)
There's a caveat to the Imperial system. That whole 8oz per cup refers to liquid measurements, not solid measurement. Yes, 1 cup of milk/water/any liquid is 8 oz (both in weight and volume). But 1 cup of flour is 4.5 oz (weight). And an imperial pint is 20 fl oz while the US pint is 16 oz. It's totally archaic and there's no apparent rhyme or reason to it. What all cooks (both foreign and domestic) need to be aware of this the differentiation between a liquid measure (volume) and a dry measure (weight).
Even a casual cook should have a basic concept of what a teaspoon, tablespoon, or cup are.
A cup isn't just a vague notion here in America; it is a consistent volumetric measurement. The concept of standardized measuring spoons and cups in the kitchen as well as level measurement was pioneered by American cookbook author Fannie Farmer about 120 years ago. Almost all American households that have a cook will have a set of these measuring tools somewhere in the kitchen.
While archaic, the Imperial measurement system still has some reason. There are 8 ounces to a cup, two cups to a pint (16 oz.), two pints in a quart (32 oz.), four quarts in a gallon (128 oz.).
Blame American recipe authors who don't understand the simplicity of weight-based measurements and are American-centric enough to be blissfully ignorant of the rest of the world.
That said, I performed a quick Internet search:
"One packet of yeast contains 1/4 ounce or approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast." One ounce is approximately 28 grams, so a quarter ounce is 7 grams.
Of course, you could stick with international food authors who stick with the sensible metric system rather than reading silly American websites. :-)
A larger kitchen scale isn't very accurate for gram weights.
I have a smaller one that I use for that. Most people don't have that.
In the past most american households did not have accurate kitchen scales. They were spring based scales. So 'cup' and 'spoon' measurements became the norm.
I go to a bulk herb store that still has a spring based scale and you can put a little bag of thyme on the scale once...it's one weight...drop it on there again...it's another weight.
Unfortunately, that's just shortsightedness on the part of some American recipe authors who fail to understand the "World" part of "World Wide Web" and thus just write for American readers.
It would be very easy to include parenthetical Imperial weight-based measurements like "1 packet of yeast (0.25 oz)" or "1 stick of butter (4 oz)" in online recipes but a lot of people still don't get it.
A lot of Americans take it for granted that the rest of the world does everything "our" way, but that is simply not the case.
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Furthermore, thank you, internet, for existing.
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I'm thankful, however, that the internet makes it so easy to research how to adapt.
Also, I agree that mass (gram) measures should always be given. Apparently a lot of Americans have not yet realized how much easier, convenient, and fool proof usit is to use tested recipes specifying in grams. Best reason ever, for true slackers such as yours truly, is that you don't have to wash measuring cups -- particularly appreciated for items like peanut butter. (For recipes not providing gram measures, I just convert using the nutrition data required under US law, which always include metric quantities.) ;o)
A cup isn't just a vague notion here in America; it is a consistent volumetric measurement. The concept of standardized measuring spoons and cups in the kitchen as well as level measurement was pioneered by American cookbook author Fannie Farmer about 120 years ago. Almost all American households that have a cook will have a set of these measuring tools somewhere in the kitchen.
While archaic, the Imperial measurement system still has some reason. There are 8 ounces to a cup, two cups to a pint (16 oz.), two pints in a quart (32 oz.), four quarts in a gallon (128 oz.).
That said, I performed a quick Internet search:
"One packet of yeast contains 1/4 ounce or approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast." One ounce is approximately 28 grams, so a quarter ounce is 7 grams.
Of course, you could stick with international food authors who stick with the sensible metric system rather than reading silly American websites. :-)
Your call.
Good luck.
I have a smaller one that I use for that. Most people don't have that.
In the past most american households did not have accurate kitchen scales. They were spring based scales. So 'cup' and 'spoon' measurements became the norm.
I go to a bulk herb store that still has a spring based scale and you can put a little bag of thyme on the scale once...it's one weight...drop it on there again...it's another weight.
At check out they use an electric scale.
It would be very easy to include parenthetical Imperial weight-based measurements like "1 packet of yeast (0.25 oz)" or "1 stick of butter (4 oz)" in online recipes but a lot of people still don't get it.
A lot of Americans take it for granted that the rest of the world does everything "our" way, but that is simply not the case.
Oh well...