http://www.metricviews.org.uk/2006/12/24/xmas-eve-salmon-beetroot-relish/ Commentary on the measurement muddle in the UK Tue, 06 Jan 2009 12:29:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.5 http://www.metricviews.org.uk/2006/12/24/xmas-eve-salmon-beetroot-relish/#comment-53 Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:36:51 +0000 http://www.metricviews.org.uk/2006/12/24/xmas-eve-salmon-beetroot-relish/#comment-53 One strength of the old imperial weights system in the kitchen was that much cooking is based on halves, for example one unit of flour and half as much butter for pastry. This works well when your base is 16 (lb and oz) as you can halve and halve again down to 1/2 oz. Many recipes get into problems trying to apply metric measures because they start with 250 g (about a 8 oz), halve it and you’re down to 125 g. What do you use next? Either 50 g and loose your proportions, or 62.5 g and loose your sense of proportion. It’s far easier to start with 200 g (about 7 oz) or 400 g. Then you can halve and halve again till you get to 25 g, which is less than 1 oz, and quite sufficient for all practical purposes. One strength of the old imperial weights system in the kitchen was that much cooking is based on halves, for example one unit of flour and half as much butter for pastry. This works well when your base is 16 (lb and oz) as you can halve and halve again down to 1/2 oz. Many recipes get into problems trying to apply metric measures because they start with 250 g (about a 8 oz), halve it and you’re down to 125 g. What do you use next? Either 50 g and loose your proportions, or 62.5 g and loose your sense of proportion.
It’s far easier to start with 200 g (about 7 oz) or 400 g. Then you can halve and halve again till you get to 25 g, which is less than 1 oz, and quite sufficient for all practical purposes.

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