Convert Ingredient Measures the Dummy Way

Kitchen measuring tools

An old joke has it that a scientist knows everything about something, a technician knows something about everything, and a secretary knows everything about the scientists and technicians. Sadly, some people would like you to believe that they know everything about everything. For some reason, these people invariably end up as the sort of freelancer writers who dump incomplete and/or incorrect information out on content farms like HubPages, Suite and eHow. Take, for instance, Amie Taylor, who claims to be highly conversant with landscaping. Maybe she is, but here at the Antisocial Network we suspect she's scientifically illiterate and now we've also decided that she doesn't know much about baking, either. The reason we think so? take a look at "How to Measure Equivalents for Baking"¹ at eHow.com...

Amie's Demand Media-required introduction tells her readers that

"To ensure that your baked goods come out perfectly every time, it's imperative that you measure your ingredients accurately. Whether you need to convert between U.S., Imperial or metric measurements, references exist to aid you with this process. You can also convert from one unit of measure to another within the same system. Whatever method of conversion you require, with careful planning and execution, your finished treats will do you proud."

For what it's worth, the AP style book (which DMS demands that you use) deprecates the use of "there exist" in favor of "there are." But whatever the case, Amie got the first sentence right, but things went downhill from there... After all, if "there exist" references, why not cite them and be done with it? But no, Amie's list of instructions devolve to look up the conversion record the converted units measure the ingredients Which, frankly, is no big deal: any idiot can follow that system. Where Amie goes all wonky on us is in explaining how to measure:

"Use the proper measuring cups for your purposes. Do not measure dry ingredients with a measuring cup meant for liquid ingredients and vice versa."

A meniscus

That's reasonably good advice, Aime, though not germane to the question (and it suggests that the volume of a liquid cup is different from a dry cup, which is not true). Taylor also tells her readers to

"Set a liquid measuring cup on a level surface and fill it to the appropriate line, checking it at eye level..."

...but doesn't say a word about the meniscus of the liquid being measured, because her reference doesn't (ours does!). And yet she goes on and on about accuracy, the dumbass. That's all well and good, except for a couple of problems. First, Taylor mentioned conversions "from one unit of measure to another within the same system," but then said jack about them after the introduction. Shame, Amie. But that's just a minor error.

No, Amie's big sin is that she has clearly never used a cookbook from a country that uses the metric system. If she had, she would know that dry measures aren't given in cups, teaspoons and tablespoons. Instead, they're given in grams or kilograms. We think that, at the very least, Amie should have mentioned weighing ingredients and suggested that you'd be wise to include a quality kitchen scale; one that weighs in both grams and ounces -- in your arsenal of baking tools. She didn't... and that's why she's the Dumbass of the Day for today.

¹ The original has been deleted by Leaf Group, but can still be accessed using the Wayback machine at archive.org. Its URL was    ehow.com/how_8453658_measure-equivalents-baking.html

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DD - COOKING