Culinary historians say that perhaps Americans measure with objects because colonial homes and Conestoga wagons had plenty of cups and spoons but very few reliable scales. The colonial kitchen was a fireplace with several ovens of varying temperatures depending on how close they were to the flames. One would cook by hanging pots over the fire and moving them around to control the cooking temperature. Each day started from scratch by milking the cow, gathering eggs, and hauling water from the well. A "cup full" literally meant all that a cup would hold.
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1 gill |
= ½ cup |
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1 teacup |
= a scant ¾ cup |
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1 coffee cup |
= 1 scant cup |
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1 tumbler |
= 1 cup |
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1 pint |
= 2 cups |
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1 quart |
= 4 cups | |
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1 peck |
= 2 gallons (dry) |
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"A pints a pound the world around" |
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Butter the size of a hazelnut |
= 1 teaspoon |
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the size of a walnut |
= 1 tablespoon |
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the size of an egg |
= ¼ cup or 2 ounces |
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1 pennyweight |
= 1/20 ounce |
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1 drachm |
= 1/8 ounce |
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1 ounce = |
4½ Tablespoons allspice, cinnamon, curry,
mustard, paprika 4 Tablespoons cloves, made mustard 3½ Tablespoons nutmeg or pepper 3 Tablespoons sage, cream of tartar cornstarch 2 Tablespoons of salt or any liquid |
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1 pound = |
2 cups of liquid 4 cups of flour 8 medium-sized eggs with shells 10 eggs with out shells 2½ cups powered sugar or brown sugar, packed down 4 cup of grated cabbage, cranberries, coffee, chopped celery, cheese 3 cups of cornmeal 2 cups of cooked rice 2¾ cups raisins or dried currants |
