Are Scales Un-American?

I'll post the link and stand well back.....


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink ... ments.html

Couldn't agree more. We have had a kitchen scale for just under five decades. We use it daily and wish more recipes had measurements by weight. However, when directions are given in cups, I'm going to stop and convert so I can use the scale. Hopefully things will change.

[Robin Garr]

The Brits' empire was the 19th century. Ours was the 20th. I expect we can all make way for however the Chinese want us to measure food now.

When baking, we always go for a scale if the recipe gives us the opportunity. For cooking, I will use one when a weight is given and I don't feel confident just going by feel.

I am pretty much in agreement with the author of that piece, though. We'd all be better off with weights in the recipes.

She scoffs my hot dogs, eh?

Sure, weights are good. When you're done rewriting all the recipes, I'll get right to it.

I don't see this as a big deal. I first bought a digital scale because of Weight Watchers -- but my cooking friends have had analog scales for years. Of course it's more accurate, and I like it when recipes tell me how much stuff to use by weight.

But a "cup" or a "tablespoon" means something very specific in American cook books and I'm sorry if some people don't get it.

And if Robin is right and I start having to measure in "taels" or something like that I won't be very happy about it but I will find a way.

You know, I have said that if I decided to start lecturing in Swahili, all of my A students would go out and learn Swahili. You can't keep a good man down.

The title of this thread made me think of what happened to my Meyer lemon trees--died from scales.

Our fat cat gets precisely 60 grams of dry food per day.

Like others have mentioned, we go with weights when possible, but that is not the norm in our cookbook realm.