> wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hiya, would like to try some of these recipes, but I'm british and use
> ounces in cooking. Does anyone know the conversion? Thanx
>

There are fluid ounces (volume) and there are dry (avoirdupois weight)
ounces.

Fresh water converts easily between volume and weight -

Other things do not convert easily - and unless you like having a
food-covered calculator in your recipe stores:

since you are British, it is probably a lot easier long run to pop over
to Harrads (sic) and get a set of US-measure measuring cups and spoons for
less than the cost of the ride there.
Or check a local cooking shoppe.
Or order a set on the internet.

mo

1) Replicating cooking recipes is supposedly most reliable when done by
weight. Use of the common cup and spoon measures indirectly delivers the
proper weight of the ingredient.

2) Fresh water, used as the standard so the old labs and merchants could set
up their measures at a common point, converts easily between volume and
weight -

1 measured cup water = 8 fluid ounces = avoir. 8 ounces.
( similar to using water in old metric common point: 1cc=1ml=1g )

Note: I do not think the Imperial gallon at 10 lbs a gallon was originally
part of the system and follows these rules, however. I believe it is akin to
the bakers dozen, devised so the provider of goods could not be hanged for
shorting a customer by mistake, back when brit leaders were on a death
penalty craze.

3) You may have heard the memory tool "pint's a pound the world around" .
For water:
1 measured cup water = 8 fluid ounces = avoir. 8 ounces =16 tablespoons.
And there are 16 cups and 8 pints and about 8 lbs of water per gallon.
It is octal-based ( i.e., "on multiples of just fingers, because the
thumbs are busy holding the food" someone said)

4) Most other things do not convert easily , because their volume per weight
varies. A cup of flour or a cup of shortening does not weigh 8 ounces.
Some people's baked goods and souffles, however, well exceed 8 ounces a
cup.


and BTW, don't eat baked goods that exceed 1 kg per cup.