Kenneth wrote:
> On Thu, 24 Feb 2005 16:22:57 -0500, "Bob (this one)"
> > wrote:
>=20
>>Dry ounces are still volume measure

> Hi Bob,
>=20
> You offer that as if it were some widely accepted fact, but
> I think it is far more ambiguous.

No, really isn't ambiguous at all. It has a very specific meaning.=20
"Dry ounces" is a standard of measure. It's what comprises a dry pint=20
and that's how berries are sold - those pints and quarts are=20
different than fluid measures with the same names. You're confusing=20
them with "avoirdupois ounces" which are measures of weight. There's=20
no direct interchangeability. The clich=E9 that says a volume ounce of=20
water weighs an ounce avoirdupois is wrong. Close but no cigar.

> If someone told me to add eight ounces of flour to
> something, I would weigh it (as would many other people.)

<LOL> Right. That would most likely be a cup in the US and a weight=20
measure just about everyplace else that uses ounces (not many places=20
left). I'd suggest you ask the person for clarification. The final=20
recipe will vary significantly if he meant weight and you used volume=20
or vice versa. It's just guesswork that way.

What many other people would or wouldn't do isn't germane to the=20
discourse. There are defined standards for volume and weight with=20
conventional names. Guessing about them is merely guessing, no matter=20
how many people do it.

> I certainly would not deny that some would pull out a
> half-cup measure, but I think that is hardly as likely as
> you seem to believe.

You know, there are standards for recipe notation. They vary from=20
country to country and culture to culture. To see the American=20
standard, get a copy of "Recipes Into Type" by Whitman and Simon.

Few American kitchens have scales because of Fanny Farmer and her=20
approach to writing recipes. She published her book just about at the=20
right time for the industrial revolution to provide standardized=20
measures. Little glass cups with numbers on them are cheap. Scales are=20
not. So cups it was and so it remains except in the professional=20
kitchens.

Anyone who told you to add 8 ounces of anything customarily referred=20
to by volume is merely adding distraction and confusion. If people are=20
going to play in the kitchen, it behooves them to learn the local=20
language.

Pastorio