A measuring spoon is a spoon used to measure an amount of an ingredient, either liquid or dry, when cooking. Measuring spoons may be made of plastic, metal, and other materials. They are available in many sizes, including the teaspoon and tablespoon.
Metric measuring spoons are available in sets, usually between four and six, typically with decilitre (100 ml), tablespoon (15 ml), teaspoon (5 ml) and millilitre measures.[ citation needed ] For fractional measures, there is often a line inside to indicate "half" or "a quarter", or a separate measure may be included, like 1⁄2 dl.
In the U.S., measuring spoons often come in sets, usually between four and six. This usually includes ¼, ½, and 1 teaspoon and 1 tablespoon. [1] The volume of a traditional US teaspoon is 4.9 ml and that of a tablespoon is 14.8 ml, only slightly less than standard metric measuring spoons.
In Japan, usually two spoons are used: a large spoon (大さじ, Ōsaji) and a small spoon (小さじ, Kosaji or Shōsaji). A large spoon is 15 milliliters, and a small spoon is 5 milliliters. Sometimes a much smaller spoon may be used, usually a 2.5 milliliter spoon (½ small spoon).
The Australian definition of the tablespoon as a unit of volume is larger than most:[ citation needed ]
1 Australian tablespoon | = 20 ml | ||
= 2 dessertspoons, | 1 dessertspoon = | 10 ml each | |
= 4 teaspoons, | 1 teaspoon = | 5 ml each |
Special spoons are manufactured to measure popular materials for common tasks. For example, for coffee the standard measuring spoon contains 7 grams of coffee powder, adequate for an espresso. [2]
Cutlery in many countries includes two spoons (besides the fork and knife, or butterknife). These cutlery spoons are also called a "teaspoon" and "tablespoon", but are not necessarily the same volume as measuring spoons with the same names: Cutlery spoons are not made to standard sizes and may hold 2.5~7.3 ml (50%~146% of 5 ml) for teaspoons [3] and 7~20 ml (47%~133% of 15 ml) for tablespoons. The difference in size can be dangerous when cutlery is used for critical measurements, like medication.
A teaspoon (tsp.) is an item of cutlery. It is a small spoon that can be used to stir a cup of tea or coffee, or as a tool for measuring volume. The size of teaspoons ranges from about 2.5 to 7.3 mL. For cooking purposes and dosing of medicine, a teaspoonful is defined as 5 mL, and standard measuring spoons are used.
A tablespoon is a large spoon. In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving; however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating.
United States customary units form a system of measurement units commonly used in the United States and most U.S. territories, since being standardized and adopted in 1832. The United States customary system developed from English units that were in use in the British Empire before the U.S. became an independent country. The United Kingdom's system of measures was overhauled in 1824 to create the imperial system, which was officially adopted in 1826, changing the definitions of some of its units. Consequently, while many U.S. units are essentially similar to their imperial counterparts, there are significant differences between the systems.
A spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery, especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for transferring food to the mouth. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients and for serving food. Present day spoons are made from metal, wood, porcelain or plastic. There are a wide variety of spoons that are made of a variety of materials and by different cultures for many different uses and foods.
Espresso is a coffee-brewing method in which a small amount of nearly boiling water is forced under pressure through finely ground coffee beans.
In recipes, quantities of ingredients may be specified by mass, by volume, or by count.
Kitchenware are the tools, utensils, appliances, dishes, and cookware used in food preparation, or the serving of food. Kitchenware can also be used in order to hold or store food before or after preparation.
A mess kit is a collection of silverware and cookware designed for use by military personnel for food and military rations. They may also be used during camping and backpacking. There are many varieties of mess kits that militaries issue to their personnel that later become available to consumers.
Tableware items are the dishware and utensils used for setting a table, serving food, and dining. The term includes cutlery, glassware, serving dishes, serving utensils, and other items used for practical as well as decorative purposes. The quality, nature, variety and number of objects varies according to culture, religion, number of diners, cuisine and occasion. For example, Middle Eastern, Indian or Polynesian food culture and cuisine sometimes limits tableware to serving dishes, using bread or leaves as individual plates, and not infrequently without use of cutlery. Special occasions are usually reflected in higher quality tableware.
A dessert spoon is a spoon designed specifically for eating dessert and sometimes used for soup or cereals. Similar in size to a soup spoon but with an oval rather than round bowl, it typically has a capacity around twice that of a teaspoon.
A measuring cup is a kitchen utensil used primarily to measure the volume of liquid or bulk solid cooking ingredients such as flour and sugar, especially for volumes from about 50 mL upwards. Measuring cups are also used to measure washing powder, liquid detergents and bleach for clothes washing. The cup will usually have a scale marked in cups and fractions of a cup, and often with fluid measure and weight of a selection of dry foodstuffs.
The cup is a cooking measure of volume, commonly associated with cooking and serving sizes. In the US, it is traditionally equal to one-half US pint (236.6 ml). Because actual drinking cups may differ greatly from the size of this unit, standard measuring cups may be used, with a metric cup being 250 millilitres.
Dry measures are units of volume to measure bulk commodities that are not fluids and that were typically shipped and sold in standardized containers such as barrels. They have largely been replaced by the units used for measuring volumes in the metric system and liquid volumes in the imperial system but are still used for some commodities in the US customary system. They were or are typically used in agriculture, agronomy, and commodity markets to measure grain, dried beans, dried and fresh produce, and some seafood. They were formerly used for many other foods, such as salt pork and salted fish, and for industrial commodities such as coal, cement, and lime.
Coffee preparation is the process of turning coffee beans into liquid coffee. While the particular steps vary with the type of coffee and with the raw materials, the process includes four basic steps: raw coffee beans must be roasted, the roasted coffee beans must then be ground, and the ground coffee must then be mixed with hot or cold water for a specific time (brewed), the liquid coffee extraction must be separated from the used grounds, and finally, if desired, the extracted coffee is combined with other elements of the desired beverage, such as sweeteners, dairy products, dairy alternatives, or toppings.
In common usage, a scoop is any specialized spoon used to serve food.
A salt spoon is a miniature utensil used with an open salt cellar for individual service. It is a historical and nostalgic item from a time before table salt was free-flowing, as it is today. The spoon itself ranges from 2 to 3 inches long and has a circular bowl measuring approximately 0.5 to 0.75 inches. They can be found in a wide range of materials including glass, Sterling silver, plastic, wood, ivory, bone and shell.
A kitchen utensil is a small hand-held tool used for food preparation. Common kitchen tasks include cutting food items to size, heating food on an open fire or on a stove, baking, grinding, mixing, blending, and measuring; different utensils are made for each task. A general purpose utensil such as a chef's knife may be used for a variety of foods; other kitchen utensils are highly specialized and may be used only in connection with preparation of a particular type of food, such as an egg separator or an apple corer. Some specialized utensils are used when an operation is to be repeated many times, or when the cook has limited dexterity or mobility. The number of utensils in a household kitchen varies with time and the style of cooking.