Measuring Spices

[bones1948]

I am frustrated.  I find a recipe and it calls for .8 or .29 of a teaspoon of a particular spice.  Trying to be exact how in the world do you figure out how much 8 tenths of a teaspoon is? I am wanting to try out different recipes but only want to make 1 lb batches so I can descide if I like the taste.  Trying to convert a 5 lb recipe to a 1 lb recipe is giving me headaches.  How do you go about figuring it out?

Bones

 

[daveomak]

Use a grams scale...... about $10 different places....

If you want 1/4 tsp..... weigh 10 tsp just to get some accuracy.... 1 tsp weighs 1/10 of the 10 tsp.... 1/4 tsp weighs 1/40 of 10 tsp......

Weighing is the most accurate and gives great reproducibility when making up spice mixes....

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I would suggest that you convert the teaspoon to grams. 1 teaspoon is 5 grams. So following your example .8 teaspoons = 4 grams, .29 teaspoons= 1.45grams. Weighing is more accurate than using measuring spoons and cups. Small digital kitchen scales are fairly cheap and work great.

I should edit that this is a guideline. Some substances are more dense than others. So using Dave's method I would measure an accurate teaspoon of each then weigh and note the measurement. Then do your conversions based on those numbers.

 

[dewetha]

i can't imagine that that kind of accuracy is even need except maybe with some super hot extract of ghost pepper or something. i seriously doubt the human pallet of 99pct of the population could tell the difference between .8 tsp and 1 tsp.

 

[smoking b]

 
i can't imagine that that kind of accuracy is even need except maybe with some super hot extract of ghost pepper or something. i seriously doubt the human pallet of 99pct of the population could tell the difference between .8 tsp and 1 tsp.

The reason it's so important in this case is because the OP is trying to scale recipes. Maintaining the balance is critical to have the same flavor profile. 

 

[kathrynn]

You can find the small inexpensive scales at even Wally World (Walmart) and Harbor Freight.  Most are under $15.00

It will help....and not take up a lot of space on the work area.

Kat

 

[bama bbq]

Volume (tsp) and weight (gram) depend on density. (e.g. 1 cup flour weighs less than 1 cup water, or 1 tsp paprika weighs less than 1 tsp minced garlic). There are web sites that can help determine ingredient weight but I can't post an example due to the no link policy. If you'd like a link to an example site sent me a PM but you should be able to Google it.

Using scales is 10 x faster than measuring cups and spoons. Just add an ingredient, press the Tare button, and repeat as often as there are ingredients. It is much more accurate as well. 1 cup to one person will weigh different than one cup to another. And the terms "heaping" or "rounded" add more inconsistency. But if the scale is accurate there is more consistency.

We should write recipes using weight vs volume measurements.

 

[chef jimmyj]

Converting to Grams is the most accurate. I have the scale below and love it. If you are in a hurry, .8 is a slight heaping 3/4tsp, .29 a slight heaping 1/4tsp...JJ

 NEW Digiweigh DIGITAL KITCHEN FOOD SCALE  $12 at Amazon

And this was a gift, works great....

BestDealUSA 200g x 0.01g DIGITAL GRAM POCKET BALANCE WEIGHING SCALE  $7.86 at Amazon