Looking for a term

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clarencebirdseye

Assistant Cook
Joined
Apr 21, 2018
Messages
1
Location
Florida
This has been driving me crazy.

A "pinch" is the amount you pick up between thumb and forefinger, right?

What is the term for the amount you can pick up with TWO fingers and the thumb?

There is a term for it, archaic I think, but there is a term. Anyone know it?
 
yes a pinch is the amount you pick up between your thumb and finger tips.

It is a 1/16th of a teaspoon.

there are other measurements:
smidgen 1/32nd of a teaspoon.
tad 1/4th of a teaspoon.
drop 1/64th of a teaspoon.
dash 1/8th of a teaspoon.
I have these measurement spoons but I've read conflicting data on the terms and amounts in teaspoons.

I often need 1/3 of a teaspoon and the closest I can come to that is to use 1/4th teaspoon plus a shy 1/8th teaspoon.
 
"A "pinch" is the amount you pick up between thumb and forefinger, right?

What is the term for the amount you can pick up with TWO fingers and the thumb?"

A: 2 Pinches?

But they said there would be no math in DC.

AA: There are two pinches in a dash and two smidgens in a pinch.
Welcome to DC.
 
But my fingers are bigger than yours, should I try to pinch less than I actually can? Which fingers should I use? Does one of the fingers always have to be a thumb? What if I'm left-handed?

At some point these small differences stop being important any more.
 
But my fingers are bigger than yours, should I try to pinch less than I actually can? Which fingers should I use? Does one of the fingers always have to be a thumb? What if I'm left-handed?

At some point these small differences stop being important any more.
Yup. When my sister-in-law married DH's brother, I gave her a set of measuring spoons with pinch, smidgen, etc., on them, along with my mother-in-law's recipe for springerles. I considered it more of a decorative item than a useful piece of equipment.

I've never seen a recipe that called for 1/3 teaspoon. If I did, I'd eyeball it in a half teaspoon.
 
...I've never seen a recipe that called for 1/3 teaspoon. If I did, I'd eyeball it in a half teaspoon.

As time goes by you realize more and more that you are going to add more or less than the recipe amount because you prefer it that way.
 
Does this help?

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As time goes by you realize more and more that you are going to add more or less than the recipe amount because you prefer it that way.
That, too, yes - I reached that point long ago ;) I was thinking it might be a baking or canning recipe that called for an unusual measurement like 1/3 teaspoon.
 
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