Comments by "GH1618" (@GH-oi2jf) on "My problem with metric recipes" video.

  1. The main difficulty with foreign recipes isn’t the units, it’s the ingredients.
    49
  2. Variation is normal.
    8
  3. You are just making that up. Ground beef in the USA is marked by weight when packaged. If you buy it from a meat maket that has it in bulk, it will be weighed to order.
    4
  4. Every system makes sense to those who understand it and apply it.
    4
  5. No, a 1-lb package is always 16 ounces. Weights are regulated — you can’t misrepresent the weight. Some things are packaged in sizes smaller than a pound. There is nothing sacred about the 1-lb package.
    3
  6. No argument there. There is far too much sugar in our (US) food.
    3
  7. US residential ovens typically go above 400°F (204°C).
    2
  8. A “cup” is a well-defined unit of volume measure in US cooking. There are cups made especially for that purpose. If you don’t know that, you aren’t even trying to learn the system.
    2
  9. Volume measurement is accurate enough for most cooking. Serious bakers are the most likely to benefit from precise measurement.
    2
  10. The notation that is used for fractions is entirely independent of units. We use both ratio notation an decimal notation for fractions of an inch.
    2
  11. Everybody knows that a “cup” in a recipe is a defined volume, and that there are measuring tools for that volume and for common fractions. If you are confused it can only be because you have not tried to learn the US system. That’s ok. You may use whatever system you prefer. But if you want to use a particular US recipe, almost anybody here could explain it to you.
    2
  12. I (in the USA) have cookbooks with recipes from other countries adapted foe the US kitchen. It seems to me that if someone writing a cookbook for use in European country wanted to incorporate US recipes, he or she would convert them. A cooking channel I like is Spain on a Fork. The presenter routinely gives measurements in both US and Metric units, with no attitude. That’s the best way.
    2
  13. “Metric” and “SI” are not the same thing. In any case, “Metric” is the term in common use for discussion of weights and measures based on le mètre. “SI” is for scientists, metrologists, and pedants.
    2
  14. bimetral
    2
  15. Even so, everybody in the US knows what it is. Language sometimes takes odd turns like that.
    2
  16. The difference between UK and US tablespoons is not significant. Australia doesn’t matter.
    2
  17. That’s a so-called “metric cup,” not a US cup.
    2
  18. The United States has never used the Imperial System. This has been explained a hundred times in forums on this subject, but metric advocates are slow learners.
    2
  19. I like the expression “a good amount” which a recently deceased YT cook used for garlic and some other ingredients.
    2
  20. A US Customary cup is 236.6 ml. There is no reason it should be a convenient conversion, because the two systems of units have separate origins. There is also something called a “legal cup,” which is 240 ml. This is probably the unit that is used on food packaging for the legally required nutritional data. The FDA allow the rounded up value to be used for convenience. Then there is the “metric cup” of 250 ml. This is probably used by people in metric countries who are converting a recipe written in US units. They would also use 500 g for a “pound.” Cooking does not require high precision, so it doesn’t matter.
    2
  21. Escoffier used pounds and cups.
    1
  22. We (in the USA) normally use tablespoons. Not many things call for a cup of butter.
    1
  23. A “stick” is 1/4 lb. In the US, a pound of butter is usually packaged as four sticks, so using a stick in a recipe is easy. The paper wrapper on a stick is marked to allow easy division into eight tablespoons.
    1
  24. Why? We don’t agree on anything else.
    1
  25. For packaged food products, yes. Except they are not Imperial, they are US Customary.
    1
  26. We could measure by weight in US units as well, so that is not an argument for metric units. In order to measure by weight, I would need a scale. To use a modernkitchen scale, I would need batteries. I don’t like batteries and prefer devices without them when I have a choice. Not only that, but if I wanted to measure by weight, all my cookbooks (about 50) would be obsolete. I would have to go through the tedious process of trying to rewrite all the recipes that I want to use. There are countless cookbooks written according to US cooking conventions, and countless more recipes online and in magazines.
    1
  27. US Customary units have been defined relative to Metric units since 1893.
    1
  28. The USA don’t have this problem. The presenter has a problem. It’s a minor one, but good for a video.
    1
  29. Such conversions rarely come up in practice. A five-gallon pail is a common package for many products. Nobody needs to know what that is in cubic feet. The foot has better uses. Tying all the units together is what makes so many metric units inconvenient sizes.
    1
  30. Merely calling it “inferior” isn’t argument, either.
    1
  31. Adam is not representative of the USA. Most of us are content with how we measure things while cooking.
    1
  32. In the first place, we don’t use Imperial in the USA. In the second place, US Customary units are as rigorously defined as metric units. There is nothing subjective about the meaning of a specification in US units. You could say, however, that measuring ingredients by volume is less precise than measuring them by weight, and you would have made a point.
    1
  33. We don’t measure 3/4 of a tablespoon. There are three teaspoons in a tablespoon, so a recipe would probably call for two teaspoons, which is close enough. Cooking is not like a laboratory science which requires high precision. If you know of a recipe which specifies 3/4 tablespoon of some ingredient, I would like to see it.
    1
  34. A metric cup is 250 ml. Any cookbook ought to to specify what units are used.
    1
  35. Most kitchen scales will have dual units.
    1
  36. It doesn’t have to be super precise, but 570 instead of 500 is way over.
    1
  37. A US cup is 236.6 ml (liquid measure). There is also a US legal cup of 240 ml, used only for nutrition labeling. A cup of 250 ml is a “metric cup.” Special cups are used for measuring, not just any cup on your shelf.
    1
  38. The United States has never used the Imperial System. Our units are US Customary.
    1
  39. measuring cup
    1
  40. We also have machinists drills and metric drills. Only people who actually need to drill a hole need to understand the various systems of drill sizes, and they manage to figure it out. It need not concern anonymous persons in YouTube forums.
    1
  41. The rockets were built using customary units, until recently.
    1
  42. In a recipe, “cup” means a measuring cup for kitchen use, not just any cup. In the US, that is 8 fl oz for liquids.
    1
  43.  @sulee16081  — The way to measire 1/4 cup is with a measuring cup marked in that size.
    1
  44. The United States adopted the metric system in 1866.
    1
  45. Adam did not say 350°F was his highest temperature. He said he couldn’t set 356°F. In other words, his control counts in steps of 10°F.
    1
  46. “Came first”? What does that mean? All people are related. We have a common origin. The US Customary system of measurement was in use before the metric system became established. The US adopted the metric system in 1866, before most nations. Our people are free to use whichever system of units they wish in their kitchens. Do you think more Usanians will decide to use metric units in their kitchens as a result of your vulgar insults? They won’t. Count on it.
    1
  47. Fourteen pounds of ground pork? Not many of us do institutional cooking.
    1
  48. There is no such thing as “American imperial system.” Everybody who follows discussions like this one knows that US Customary units are defined in terms of metric units because it gets mentioned hundreds of times.
    1
  49. Adam may be bitching, but most of us don’t get worked up over such things.
    1
  50. I agree. It is more like the way we use “red” and “pink” in US English.
    1
  51. Those cartons are ultra-Pasteurized for long shelf life.
    1
  52. You may be a hater, but you do not know what someone else will hate. I don’t use metric recipes, but I certainly don’t hate them. Many recipes from metric countries are adapted for use in Usanian kitchens. If there are any US recipes of interest to Australians, somebody ought to adapt them to the Australian style of cooking so people like you won’t have to struggle with them.
    1
  53. Approximately (in the USA).
    1
  54. We do not use Imperial units in the United States. For cooking from a USA cookbook, one needs measuring tools in US Customary units.
    1
  55. What do you mean standard? The metric system was adopted by the United States in 1866. It is one of our standard systems of measurement. The United States has participated in the international standards bodies since 1875.
    1
  56.  @okeyhehe1728  — Metric units are standard usage for some things (wine bottles) but not for other things. We use both. Cookbooks written for the US market do not use metric units, mostly. There might be some, though. There is no rule against it.
    1
  57. I doubt God cares how humans measure things.
    1
  58. The United States has never used the Imperial System, which was introduced half a century after the American Re olution.
    1
  59. He didn’t actually make the joke, he just explained how an idiom used in a joke is difficult to translate. In the USA, everyone understands the expression “it’s raining cats and dogs” to mean that there is a lot of rain coming down. Most persons whose first language is not English would not understand the meaning if translated literally.
    1
  60. One cup of butter is two sticks. Easy. But you could say half a pound. A cup of walnuts is reasonable. Walnut meat, that is. I don’t see why you think that is odd.
    1
  61. They are defined sizes and we generally use spoons made for the purpose of measuring.
    1
  62. There are countless cookbooks written according to US cooking conventions, and many US cooks have large numbers of cookbooks and other collected recipes. A few cooks are willing to experiment with metric recipes, but nobody with a large collection of recipes is going to convert them or throw them out and start over.
    1
  63. Defining the US units in terms of Metric units is not “using” Metric units, except by the metrologists who set the conversion factors. We do use Metric units directly in the USA, however, in many ways.
    1
  64. It’s only a Ragusea problem.
    1
  65. Just considering cooking, there are countless cookbooks written for the US system of cooking. I have almost 50 myself and only two are in the European system. Switching systems would make the use of my cookbooks difficult. Many are out of print and difficult to replace. They aren’t going to be converted and reissued. What we can do, individually if we wish to, is get additional measuring tools for European system and use them with European cookbooks, while retaining our traditional cookbooks and tools.
    1
  66. They are, usually, but it is implied that they are measuring cups and measuring spoons made for the purpose.
    1
  67. Most American recipes do not use those ingredients, although they will be used in certain things. The problem goes both ways. Julia Child wrote about it regarding her first cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Converting units wasn’t the difficult part; accounting for differences in ingredients was.
    1
  68. We use both US Customary and Metric units.
    1
  69. Proportional representation is the worst of all European inventions. I don’t expect that will take hold in the US, although it is not unknown for cockamamie political schemes to be adopted here. Ranked-choice voting, for example.
    1
  70. Increasing a recipe from two servings to three is so easy I would do that in my head.
    1
  71. A pound is 453.6 grams.
    1
  72. A “cup” is accurate enough for two reasons: 1. It means a measuring cup, used in the proper way, not just any cup; 2. Cooking does not require mathematical precision. The USA is not officially Metric. We are bimetral. Both Metric and US Customary units are legal for trade. There are some places where Metric units may be required, but not many.
    1
  73. On labels, it should always be written “fl oz” for fluids. When speaking, we don’t usually say “fluid” because it is obvious from context. As a practical matter, this does not cause problems. If you are bothered, you should just try to get over it, because it isn’t important.
    1
  74. It is crazy. That’s why we stick with Customary units.
    1
  75. We can get any amount of ground (minced) meat also. Some stores, however, don’t grind it on site so sell it only in standard packages. He just needs to find a better meat market.
    1
  76. Accuracy and precision do not depend on units.
    1
  77. Do what?
    1
  78. Are you objecting to the “stick” as a unit of butter? It is the easiest way to measure butter.
    1
  79. A stick of butter is 1/2 cup.
    1
  80. In the US, there are 12 eggs in the most common retail package. Is that true everywhere else?
    1
  81. We do use the metric system wherever it suits our purpose. Anyone who prefers to cook in metric units, for example, can buy suitable kitchen tools in metric units. Both metric and customary units ae legal in the USA. A modern digital scale is switchable between systems of units. The difference between Australia and the USA isn’t so much the units, but the liberty to choose. In Australia, when the government decided to change, the Imperial units ceased to be legal after a specified conversion period. That is not the way we do things in the USA.
    1
  82. When we start cooking, we buy a special measuring cup. Actually, a set of cups and spoons.
    1
  83. No, what makes sense is for everyone to use what serves his or her purpose.
    1
  84. It is not our (US) fault that the metric cooking community does not create enough content to satisfy those who want to look up recipes in metric units.
    1
  85. He doesn’t have steps of 5°F on his oven controls.
    1
  86. Our scientists use SI units also.
    1
  87. He didn’t “round,” he truncated. That is the right way to truncate. It doesn’t matter which way you do it because the last digit is not significant in this context.
    1
  88. The USA does not use Imperial units. We use US Customary units.
    1
  89. Since 1893, actually. That fact has been mentioned a thousand time in the various forums on this subject. It is irrelevant to the question. We who use US Customary units are not, because of that fact, using the metric system. Only the metrologists are using it. How the units are defined doesn’t matter to those who use them.
    1
  90. A set of measuring cups usually has four cups, sometimes six. They nest, so they take the space of one cup.
    1
  91. We do that in the USA as well. Not confusing here. We just don’t worry about it.
    1
  92. The United States has never used the Imperial System.
    1
  93. yep. He should watch Marco.
    1
  94. One US cup is half a US pint. Special cups are used for measuring.
    1
  95. We do, but not for cooking. Most of us, anyway.
    1
  96. W don’t often use 64ths of an inch, or 32nds.
    1
  97. 1/2 cup of butter is just one stick. Easy.
    1
  98. That is only true when packages are wrapped by hand. Automated machinery can produce consistent one-lb packages of ground meat. That is inconvient when a cook wants to make a meat loaf with three different meats in a particular ratio. I have to go to a particular market where all the ground meat is in bulk form and weighed to order, because my regular market only sells one-lb packages of ground pork.
    1
  99. No, this presenter is being quirky. The rest of us are just cooking dinner without all the drama.
    1
  100. You are just wrong there. Cups and spoons for cooking are well-defined sizes. They are less precise than weight measure, true, but they are sufficient for most cooking when properly used. Your use of the word “disastrous” is hyperbole. Millions of Usanians are cooking every day with our customary system. Where is the disaster? If I put too much salt in a dish it may turn out badly, but I wouldn’t call it a disaster. Somehow we manage to make tasty, nutritious meals with our system.
    1
  101. And your point is?
    1
  102. An Imperial cup is different from a US cup. I’m not sure it is even a recognized unit.
    1
  103. The United States does not use the Imperial System.
    1
  104.  @TheMilkMan8008  — The United States uses US Customary units. The Imperial System was introduced half a century after the American Revolution, and was not adopted by the United States (not being part of the Empire). While many US units are the same or nearly the same as Imperial units, there are a few important exceptions. I don’t know why people keep using this term “Imperial” after it has been explained a thousand times. We used to say “English” units, which was a bit vague but correct, at least. “US Customary” is the right term.
    1
  105. Our US units did not come from Imperial. The Imperial System was introduced 50 years after the American Revolution. The Mendenhall Order has been cited countless times in the various forums on this subject, but it is irrelevant to the question at hand. The fact that US Customary units are defined in terms of metric units does not mean that we are using metric units when we cook. Only the metrologists were using metric units.
    1
  106. If you don’t want to learn the units of U.S. cooking measurement, you shouldn’t visit U.S. cooking channels.
    1
  107. “Normal person”? I doubt scales are the norm in US kitchens. I’ve never used one and I have never known anyone who used one. I’m sure they do exist, though. Volume is used instead of weight for something like “a cup of chopped onion” because the precise amount doesn’t matter. More likely it would be “one medium onion” or “one large onion.” I don’t even measure such things. I have several small bowls and I just put chopped ingredients in them in an amount that looks right. I made a mushroom cream sauce tonight and didn’t measure anything. Often, it isn’t necessary.
    1
  108. There are many little differences in the language between the United Kingdom and the United States.
    1
  109. If only everyone drove on the right side of the road. If only there was just one system for cell phone transmission. If only there was only one frequency used forAC power. etc.
    1
  110. It isn’t a real problem. Just use a conservative amount then adjust to taste. Some cookbooks specify “salt to taste.” If you cook regularly, and stick to one type of salt, you will learn how much is needed.
    1
  111. That’s why we use US Customary in the USA.
    1
  112. The easy way to try an American recipe is to get some American measuring cups and spoons and do it the way we would do it. These kitchen tools are really inexpensive.
    1
  113. Disingenuous. The “cup” is a well-defined unit of volume, at least in the USA. What is your point, exactly? I don’t get it.
    1
  114. It isn’t much of a problem, though, because there are countless cookbooks written for the US market.
    1
  115. We (in the USA) say “ground beef” (or other meat) where British would say “minced beef” for the same thing. But if we chop an onion finely using a knife, then we have “minced” it. The “ground” meat is made by putting the meat through a “grinder,” which chops it finely. I suppose if we chopped meat finely by hand, we would be mincing it, but that is too much work.
    1
  116. The government did switch, to some extent, but the federal government does not run our home kitchens.
    1
  117. US scientists included, but when they gas up their cars, they do it in gallons.
    1
  118. The foot and pound are international units.
    1
  119. Measuring in cups is easy. For those ingredients I wouldn’t use my measuring cup, I would just use small bowls that ate about a cup. It is understood that it is not a precise measurement. In fact many cooks would not measure them at all except by the hand and eye.
    1
  120. You ought to forget it because we are tired of reading about it. The incident was so rare that people cite it over and over because there are no other similar cases. NASA actually has a remarkable record of success in unmanned space exploration.
    1
  121. Yes, but he gets viewers and commenters by being insufferable, and that’s what he wants.
    1
  122. We (in the USA) do not use the Imperial System. We use US Customary units. In cooking, it is important not to confuse the two. But we are not “stuck.” Both customary and metric units are legal for trade. Anyone here may cook entirely in metric units and sell products measured in metric units.
    1
  123. There is no ambiguity with a “cup.” It is a well-defined volume.
    1
  124. He was making a little joke. He was also hinting that once you open the special package of broth, it begins to deteriorate, so you had better have a plan for the rest of it.
    1
  125. Disingenuous. Everybody knows that the “cup” is a unit of volume and that measuring cups are made for the purpose. If you haven’t figured that out, you aren’t even trying to learn the system, so we don’t care that you are having difficulties.
    1
  126. That is not a major error. A fluid ouncce weighs approximately one ounce. The exact amount depends on the fluid, but the error is small enough that it can be ignored in cooking. Chicken stock is a little denser than water, and the package is marked as being 900 grams and change, so he should just take 10 fl oz for 300 grams. By the way, it seems that his recipe made the same error by equating grams to ml, which is not accurate for chicken stock. Doesn’t matter.
    1
  127. There are many differences in language usage among various English-speaking countries. Most people are tolerant of these difference and smart enough to understand them in context.
    1
  128. Such a rate failure that people must cite it over and over because there are no other cases. NASA actually has an excellent record of success in unmanned space missions.
    1
  129. We are bimetral. I expect we will remain so for a long time.
    1
  130. One stick is 1/4 lb, so half a stick is 1/8 lb or two ounces. A stick is 113.4 g.
    1
  131. It isn’t the pasta, it’s the sugar.
    1
  132. Variation is normal. That’s why the bell-shaped curve is called the “normal distribution.” You don’t want normality, you want conformity.
    1
  133. A “stick” of butter is 1/4 lb. It is a unit because in the US, butter is usually packaged in quarters.
    1
  134. His video is dumb, but I expect a provocative video like this gets a lot more attention than any serious cooking video. Anyone who creates YouTube content wants attention.
    1
  135. Most residential ovens go much higher than 350°F. What he meant is that he does not have a setting for 356°, so he would use 350°. He could probably use 375° or 400°, but those settings are a larger deviation from the recipe.
    1
  136. We have minced meat, we just call it something else. There are many things called by different names in different English-speaking countries. Most people can deal with it. Mathematics is independent of units. We use Metric units when they suit us.
    1
  137. I just took a close look at our bathroom scale and discovered that not only can I set it to kgs, I can also set it to stone/lbs. I’m guessing similar scales in the UK can be set to lbs. We’ll be sticking with lbs here in the USA.
    1
  138. It isn’t our (in the USA) fault if there aren’t enough metric recipes on the web. It is up to people who use metric recipes to publish them.
    1
  139. The US Customary cup is 236.6 ml. Only metric countries use the metric cup of 250 ml.
    1
  140. Things are easy for us (in the USA) as they are. We are not concerned whether visitors find our units difficult or not. When I visit Europe, I prepare and I make adjustments. I don’t expect anyone to convert units for me.
    1
  141. Cups and spoons are well-defined volumes. You use measuring cups (and spoons) designed for that purpose. A US cup is half a US pint.
    1
  142. We do not use Imperial units in the United States, especially in cooking. We use US Customary units. It is nobody’s fault, it is just the way it is.
    1
  143. We did not. Our US Customary units come from English units. Britain decided to regularize measurement throughout the British Empire half a century after the United States had left the Empire, and they made some choices which conflicted with US units. It is not our fault we were not consulted.
    1
  144. It’s like U. S. Grant’s knowledge of music. He knew only two tunes: “One is Yankee Doodle and the other isn’t.”
    1
  145. A pint’s a pound the world around. That’s just as easy.
    1
  146. Ground beef in the USA should not have filler (nonbeef products). The fat content will vary, but should be marked as a percentage. Of course it contains cuts which are not the best steak cuts, but otherwise a lot of meat would be wasted. Some places will offer ground sirloin at a higher price. I never heard of water being added. Meat contains some water naturally. Google is just a search engine, not a source of such information. Who knows what your source is or whether it is reputable.
    1
  147. We do use it, but not in our home kitchens. Most of us, anyway.
    1
  148. We don’t bother defending our cooking measures, we just use them. We don’t care how you cook. We don’t measure a cup of butter by putting butter in a measuring cup. A cup of butter is two sticks. It’s trivial.
    1
  149. The United States has never used the Imperial System. The differences betwee Imperial and US Customary are significant in the kitchen.
    1
  150. You have always had an individual right to switch. Just get the tools you need for a metric kitchen, and a suitable cookbook, and go fo it.
    1
  151. We have no trouble cooking in our customary units. We even cook food from other countries when it suits us. Ragusea is not representative of Usanians in this video.
    1
  152. The United States does not use the Imperial System, so we never see those odd units. I doubt they are in Imperial either.
    1
  153. The United States uses metric units in many contexts, but not much in cooking.
    1
  154. The United States adopted the metric system in 1866, before most of the world.
    1
  155. A US cup is 236.6 ml, but there is something called a “US legal cup” which is 240 ml. That is used for package labeling. The difference isn’t important in home cooking, because measuring cups are not that precise.
    1
  156. No, but it is a typical cooking temperature. Some ovens might adjust in discrete steps of 25°F, which would make a conversion from metric approximate. It doesn’t matter, though.
    1
  157. Right. It’s like calling light red “pink.”
    1
  158. You aren’t even trying then, but it doesn’t matter. We think you should follow whatever system you choose in your own kitchen.
    1
  159. But how did you correct for your metric eggs?
    1
  160. Things are not complicated for us (in the USA). We have our Customary units, kitchen tools compatible with our units and our practices, and countless cookbooks written for our system. We even have countless cookbooks of exotic recipes from metric countries which have been adapted for the US kitchen. We do an enormous amount of cooking every day with no complications at all. It is only complicated for people who come here from metric countries who have never heard the expression “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
    1
  161.  @pixelhavoc4950  — It’s a metaphor and it seems to be over your head. It means that when you are a visitor in another’s home or country, you adapt to his or her way of doing things. Don’t come into my kitchen and tell me how to measure things.
    1
  162. Food packaging in the US is marked in both English and metric units, for the most part.
    1
  163. We do use the metric system, but rarely in our home kitchens. Why does anybody care how I cook in my own kitchen?
    1
  164. How did Europeans cook before the invention of inexpensive scales that could measure a few grams accurately?
    1
  165. There is a proper way to do the measurement to get a consistent result. Anyway, a recipe that calls for that much flour is for a batter. Cooks judge their batter by its viscosity and adjust to make it thinner or thicker as needed.
    1
  166. When butter is specified in cups, it is not put in cups to measure it. A stick (1/4 lb) is half a cup.
    1
  167. Nevertheless, everyone in the USA knows what “ground beef” is. Communication is what matters.
    1
  168. “You guys” meaning who? In the United States, we mince garlic, which means to chop into small pieces with a knife.
    1
  169. Some of it clearly is.
    1
  170. No, you misunderstood, because he didn’t explain the problem clearly. Some ovens designed for the US market will have discrete steps of 25°F for the temperature. So a specified temperature given in Celsius will fall somewhere in between 350°F and 375°F. This taxes his brain. He doesn’t know how to deal with it.
    1
  171. No, you misunderstood his problem because he did not state it clearly. Read the comments because I’m tired of repeating myself.
    1
  172. Sure, as long as it is replaced with US Customary.
    1
  173. I don’t agree, but it depends on what you mean by “makes sense.” That is not a well-defined term.
    1