American cup measurements?

snowleopard61

Kevie192 wrote: »

UK cups and US cups are different sizes and most the ones you get in the UK will be the UK version.

Oh! That's annoying ... but definitely useful to know; thanks. Perhaps my best option is to look out for someone at work who might be going to the US on holiday, as suggested.

Originally I always just assumed that Americans measured things very imprecisely, i.e. that you just used whatever cup was to hand - wondered how they managed to get their baking to work (as I'd never tried it). :rotfl:

pinkie_pie

I bought this set recently http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000TAU3JE I think it was 1.99 at the time. I use it loads, the reviews are right and the ring is rubbish so I just store them seperately

ETA - they are American measurements too, I checked

snowleopard61

cutestkids wrote: »

Hi

the actual weight measurement is not that important, more that you use the cups from the same set for one recipie,

I also find most American recipies for baking much less complex and uch more forgiving of little mistakes than the UK equivilant.:)

And that's useful too, thanks!:T

Mojisola

You can rely on Delia - https://www.deliaonline.com/conversion-tables.html

If you want to use a lot of American recipes, it will be easier to buy a set of American baking cup measures.

Kevie192

And, I'll let you into a not-so-secret... I MUCH prefer using cups instead of a set of scales - so much quicker and less mess! In fact, in a lot of my recipe books you'd find cup measurements as ive converted my favourite recipes to cups!

Kevin

cutestkids

Hi Again

Just to clarify if you are going to be using the cups for baking then as long as you use the cups from the same set you will not notice any difference to the end result the difference between the the American cup size and the Uk is so small the the cake or whatever will turn out the same size.

It is the volume that you are working with so if the recipie calls for one cup it does not matter if it is an American or Uk cup size the difference is not enough to have to adjust cooking times or cake tin sizes etc.

To look at it another way we have imperial and metric measurements in most cookbooks in the UK, there are slight differences in the actual weight when imperial is converted to metric, you can use either as long as stick to what you start with in one recipie

Mojisola

cutestkids wrote: »

Just to clarify if you are going to be using the cups for baking then as long as you use the cups from the same set you will not notice any difference to the end result the difference between the the American cup size and the Uk is so small the the cake or whatever will turn out the same size.

It can matter if the recipes have some ingredients in cups and some in teaspoon/tablespoon measures but, as long as you're aware of the difference between the cups you use and standard American cups, you can adjust to suit.

AlwaysAllie

Asda have lovely a lovely set of cup measures in bright colours (they also do a set of spoon measures and mixing bowls to match). I'm desperate for them but there's really nothing worng with the ones I already have

AA

squeaky

Hmmm...

To all intents and purposes I have a spare set of spoons. I keep things like rice, pasta, oats in jars - so I keep the cup measure that I use for portion control IN the jar. Helps to make sure that I don't forget which size I'm supposed to be using.

That would mean that you'd need to buy some new ones

Triggles

I'm originally from the states, but have been living here in the UK for years. I've been using a UK-bought set of cup measures for ages with all my baking recipes from the states and haven't encountered any major problems. But just a couple things to note :

- no such thing as self-rising flour in the states, but most recipes I've brought with me I have used SR flour with no problem. I have also used plain flour with no problem. They seem to be relatively forgiving in that way.

- baking powder is "double acting" in the states (most brands) IIRC. I was given the tip when I moved here to double the amount of baking powder in recipes from the states to make up for that, and I have done that with good results. (note this is for baking POWDER not baking soda!)

- brown sugar should be packed into a cup for the measure, not just poured in as you would for a scale measure

- flour should NOT be packed in, but scooped in gently and leveled off with a knife (or something flat)

Ah, my home ec teacher should be happy I do remember at least SOME things from class.:rotfl: