5 ms·

> Cup is a universal measure of volume. It works for flour, sugar, liquids. Until a recipe asks for 1-cup of butter. Tf am I meant to be, melt it down? Or 1-cu

> Cup is a universal measure of volume. It works for flour, sugar, liquids. Until a recipe asks for 1-cup of butter. Tf am I meant to be, melt it down? Or 1-cup of broccoli, how does that even work?! Grams works for everything. All the time, no exceptions.

bryanlarsen 3y ago
When a recipe asks for a cup of butter, they're not actually asking for a cup of butter. American butter comes in one pound blocks so it's likely the recipe developer actually used a half pound of butter rather than a cup. If you actually measure a cup of butter into your recipe you've likely put slightly more butter in than the recipe developer did. But at least you'll be close. Unlike 1 cup of broccoli.
- dukeyukey 3y ago
  How do you measure 1 cup of broccoli? Cos that sort of instruction comes up constantly. Unless American stores sell vegetables in 1 cup bushels (which just in case they do, is beyond insane) I don't see how you could reliably do that ever.
  - bryanlarsen 3y ago
    Yes, that's such an obvious point that I didn't think I needed to make it more clear that I agree with you.
Karellen 3y ago
"cups of butter" is the wildest measurement I come across regularly in US recipes. Just... how? Edit: A friend of mine has just related running across a US scone recipe asking for "5 tablespoons of cold butter". I don't even want to think about packing cold butter onto a tablespoon to get that measurement right!
- nkurz 3y ago
  In case you are wondering how this works in practice, American butter typically comes in "sticks". Each stick weighs 1/4 pound, and is individually wrapped in foil or paper. These wrappers are typically marked in Tablespoon increments with 8 Tablespoons (1/2 cup) per stick. Measuring Tablespoons of butter just involves looking at the markings on the stick (or visually estimating the number of 8ths) and cutting off the chunk that one needs. Measuring major fractions of cups is just counting sticks.
  - Karellen 3y ago
    That does provide a method to the madness, thanks. But... butter being measured in "cups" and "tablespoons", which are multiples/fractions of a 1/4lb block, is therefore fundamentally a unit of weight, not volume?!? That's even more wild.
  - Karellen 3y ago
    Also, that will greatly simplify the conversion process for me in the future. Previously, when I've come across a US recipe requiring cups of butter, I've looked up the size of a US cup - which is given in fl.oz - converted that to ml, and then found a good estimate for the density of butter, and used that to convert to a weight in grams - which I can then measure easily. If I'd known that "a cup of butter" was not really meant to be an actual "cup" measurement, and was actually shorthand (longhand?) for "0.5lb butter", that would have made conversion So. Much. Easier. Seriously, wtf. (I take it that other "cup" measurements are actually meant to be volume measurements, and I should measure cups of flour/sugar/etc... (and liquids, obviously) in volume-marked measuring containers?)
- wlindley 3y ago
  Butter in the USA is sold in 1-pound boxes, each containing four quarter-pound "squares" that are marked with tablespoon and fractional-cup gauges. Simply slice off five tablespoons. (There are "Eastern" and "Western" square sizes, depending on where you live.) See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter#Packaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter#Packaging Indeed, how would you slice cold butter by grams? Is there even a procedure?
joshstrange 3y ago
Agreed I hate volume measurements for anything that can’t be packed down or that is expected to be used in a non-liquid form (like the butter example). At least with butter, I know it means two sticks but I still prefer weight whenever possible.

bryanlarsen 3y ago

When a recipe asks for a cup of butter, they're not actually asking for a cup of butter. American butter comes in one pound blocks so it's likely the recipe developer actually used a half pound of butter rather than a cup. If you actually measure a cup of butter into your recipe you've likely put slightly more butter in than the recipe developer did. But at least you'll be close. Unlike 1 cup of broccoli.

dukeyukey 3y ago
How do you measure 1 cup of broccoli? Cos that sort of instruction comes up constantly. Unless American stores sell vegetables in 1 cup bushels (which just in case they do, is beyond insane) I don't see how you could reliably do that ever.
- bryanlarsen 3y ago
  Yes, that's such an obvious point that I didn't think I needed to make it more clear that I agree with you.

Karellen 3y ago

"cups of butter" is the wildest measurement I come across regularly in US recipes. Just... how? Edit: A friend of mine has just related running across a US scone recipe asking for "5 tablespoons of cold butter". I don't even want to think about packing cold butter onto a tablespoon to get that measurement right!

nkurz 3y ago
In case you are wondering how this works in practice, American butter typically comes in "sticks". Each stick weighs 1/4 pound, and is individually wrapped in foil or paper. These wrappers are typically marked in Tablespoon increments with 8 Tablespoons (1/2 cup) per stick. Measuring Tablespoons of butter just involves looking at the markings on the stick (or visually estimating the number of 8ths) and cutting off the chunk that one needs. Measuring major fractions of cups is just counting sticks.
- Karellen 3y ago
  That does provide a method to the madness, thanks. But... butter being measured in "cups" and "tablespoons", which are multiples/fractions of a 1/4lb block, is therefore fundamentally a unit of weight, not volume?!? That's even more wild.
- Karellen 3y ago
  Also, that will greatly simplify the conversion process for me in the future. Previously, when I've come across a US recipe requiring cups of butter, I've looked up the size of a US cup - which is given in fl.oz - converted that to ml, and then found a good estimate for the density of butter, and used that to convert to a weight in grams - which I can then measure easily. If I'd known that "a cup of butter" was not really meant to be an actual "cup" measurement, and was actually shorthand (longhand?) for "0.5lb butter", that would have made conversion So. Much. Easier. Seriously, wtf. (I take it that other "cup" measurements are actually meant to be volume measurements, and I should measure cups of flour/sugar/etc... (and liquids, obviously) in volume-marked measuring containers?)
wlindley 3y ago
Butter in the USA is sold in 1-pound boxes, each containing four quarter-pound "squares" that are marked with tablespoon and fractional-cup gauges. Simply slice off five tablespoons. (There are "Eastern" and "Western" square sizes, depending on where you live.) See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter#Packaging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter#Packaging Indeed, how would you slice cold butter by grams? Is there even a procedure?

joshstrange 3y ago

Agreed I hate volume measurements for anything that can’t be packed down or that is expected to be used in a non-liquid form (like the butter example). At least with butter, I know it means two sticks but I still prefer weight whenever possible.