Cooking Puzzle

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Just looking at that chart, Alix - I think it's the cup measurement that would appear to be different in the table - but do Aussies use 'cups'? I've cooked when I've visited family over there, but using my recipes and my sister's UK type scales - no need to use cups!
 
The answer is that the chart is screwed up. You can see significant errors in the calculations for different sizes in the columns.

On the Canadian side, a tsp = 5 ml and a Tb = 15 ml That makes sense. On the Australian side, a Tb is = 20 ml (4 tsp not 3). Then when they go from a Tb to a 1/4 cup they can't multiply correctly. Using 4 Tb to a 1/4 cup, Canada multiplies 15 times 4 and gets 50 rather than 60. Australia multiplies 20 times 4 and get 60 not 80.

It's not that the 2 countries use different metric systems, it's that someone who created the chart is math challanged.

The correct answers are:

1 tsp = 5 ml (rounded)
1 Tb = 15 ml (rounded)
1/4 C = 59 ml (rounded)

The moral of the story is: Don't assume it must be true just because someone put it on a website. Website creators can't get spelling, punctuation and grammar correct, let's not assume they can "do the math".
 
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At first I was going to agree with Andy without reservation ... but .... things are sometimes "legislated" and aren't really what they "should" be by common wisdom. Remember, it was Congress in 1893 that "legislated" that the tomato was a vegetable, no longer a fruit. While I agree that some of the numbers just don't make sense mathematically - they might be a result of the guys who run the "Weights and Measures" bureaus in different countries "assigning" a value to a specific unit of measure.

Let me introduce everyone to one of my favorite sites: http://www.onlineconversion.com - How Convert Just About Anything to Anything.

1 Cup [metric] = 250 ml
1 Cup [US] = 236.59 ml
1 Cup [Canada] = 227.3 ml

While the rest of the would may have agreed that 3 5 ml teaspoons makes 1 15 ml tablespoon - it seems Australia has defined the tablespoon differently.

The thing I wish the site Alix posted had included, and a couple of other sites that have the same conversion charts for US-Canadian-Australian measurements, is the SI Metric equivalents. The curious thing about the conversion site I posted above is that some things are specific to Canadian and some for UK measurements (none listed for Australian).

It's most curious and I am sure someone could find a definative answer if they wanted to spend several days researching these anomalies in the weights and measures sanctioned by each country. I'm just not that curious. :cool:
 
The site is correct. An Australian tablespoon is 20ml. I have a Canadian flatmate and she has a cookbook from some restaraunt/cafe called Rebar, boy were those ingredient lists throwing me off o_O.

Ahh just realised that any recipe I got off discusscooking now has different tablespoon measures, well heres hoping no recipe requires a 'tablespoon of baking powder/baking soda', or I realise its from discusscooking.

Sometimes people can do the math :P.
 
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The metric system is so sensible, with everything in multiples of 10, but I've been raised using the other system, and just don't think "that way".
A couple of years ago I ordered a very cool conversion table from a catalogue called "Solutions". It is stainless steel and magnetic, and I have it attached to the side of my microwave. Very handy. Also good for multiplying recipes, as it tells how many tsps per tbl, per cup....etc.
 
I haven't checked the site, but I agree with Haggis that Australia and Britain both have tablespoons which are equivalent to 4 teaspoons. We also have dessertspoons, which are equivalent to 2 teaspoons (half a tablespoon).

I never bother about the difference when measuring.

What does bother me is that conversion sites don't take into account the 'rounding' factor. Who's going to measure out 3.12345 grams of something, for heaven's sake?!? This might be very satisfactory for a mathematician, but for a cook, it's a right PITA, so it just becomes 3 grams, OK? So one ounce translates to 28 point something grams. It's rounded to 30 for convenience.

I was brought up on Imperial measurements, but for 40 years I've been accustomed to metric, and I'm comfortable with both, and for commonly used measurements, I have no difficulty with conversions. Of the two, metric is BY FAR easier to deal with. It is my dream, much like that of Martin Luther King, that one day America will catch up with the rest of the world and go metric!! It would make life much easier for them, as well as for everybody else. For one thing, we wouldn't have to bother with confusing and conflicting conversion tables. :-p

A cup is still a cup. A measuring cup, that is!
 
Wow. OK, I totally didn't realize that in the UK and Australia a tbsp was 4 tsps. THAT might make a bit of difference in some recipes. WEIRD! Wonder why that changed in Canada?

Metric would definitely make life easier. At least then when a recipe says 15 or 20 mls we would know what to do.

Thanks for all the information folks.
 
That's why I often state that my recipes are in Imperial measurements - the US gallon is different to our - and I think the US pint is different, too.... I knew about the spoon measurements being different because I once used a recipe that a dear American friend who lives in WV sent me.... DISASTER.....

You can tell the age of my recipes by whether they are shown in Imperial or metric!
 
Alix said:
Wow. OK, I totally didn't realize that in the UK and Australia a tbsp was 4 tsps. THAT might make a bit of difference in some recipes. WEIRD! Wonder why that changed in Canada?

Metric would definitely make life easier. At least then when a recipe says 15 or 20 mls we would know what to do.

Thanks for all the information folks.

Just goes to show you Alix, you guys have been ripped off for years. :ROFLMAO: Might have something to do with all that snow up there - keeps shrinking things.... :LOL:

I've got a set of old measures marked in fluid ounces,

1 cup = 8 fl ozs. etc

They are made from tinned copper. :ohmy:

Now I don't know whether they are US fl ozs or imperial fl ozs. :LOL: :wacko:
 
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I guess that means when we post recipes we had better specify which countries measurements we are using otherwise it could get messy.
 
Yes it could get messy! I would start a push to have things posted in metric but I think I might get lynched. LOL.

Brooksy, missed your post before...LOL to the shrinking thing. I made a comment that the winters here keep Canadians a bit slimmer because we shiver off all our calories. LOL.
 
Alix said:
Yes it could get messy! I would start a push to have things posted in metric but I think I might get lynched. LOL.

Brooksy, missed your post before...LOL to the shrinking thing. I made a comment that the winters here keep Canadians a bit slimmer because we shiver off all our calories. LOL.

As illogical as it is, the US system is what I know and it makes sense to me. Besides, I don't want to buy another set of measuring cups and spoons that I have to find a place for in my small kitchen. I've seen cookbooks that give the measurements both ways, which is a good idea.
 
I can't imagine waking up to snow Alix. Less than a week into Spring and we've had 30C+ days all week.

I think I'd rather be sweating than shivering, that way there's more room for beer. :LOL:

A move to metric in the states would be a sight to see. I enjoy telling Americans they drive on the wrong side of the road. Always works :ROFLMAO:
 
We didn't see 30 degrees much this summer. Unusual for us. Now of course I have my fleece pants at the ready and the temp is dipping below freezing most nights. DANG IT! LOL to the beer thing. You really need to make a trip up north here Brooksy, we Canadians will show you what beer is SUPPOSED to taste like! :LOL:
 
From what I remember from cooking school was that when canada went metric they were using US mesures and they did the conversions from US mesurements to Metric but that only covered cooking for all other measurements was based on the UK. grrrrr LOL best to know where your cookbooks are from before you try to bake at times. I don't think I am very clear hope you can figure it out.
 
I still 'prefer' Imperial measurements to metric - but can use either... most of our scales and weights are dual on things like pyrex liquid measurement jugs etc. Thankfully, we go by dry weight, not volume, so I don't go down the nightmare route of trying to convert 'cups' to imperial to metric :LOL:
 
Alix the reason it was not hot in Edmonton this summer is because I moved to Toronto Last fall. WE had a record summer here in Toronto. I do hope the weater gets back to normal for you poor Edmontonians I don't miss the city at all and i lived there for over 20 years. To bad I did not know about this list then we could have met.
 
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