Cups v. weighing scales - is there an historical explanation?
Broadly speaking UK recipes will specify amounts by weight (lbs/ounces or metric), whereas American recipes will specify amounts by volume (cups).
Is there an explanation for how the two different approaches arose in the first place? I'm not talking about whether or not metric is used, but specifically about volume versus weight.
Best Answer
I'm no authority, but I have a hypothesis.
Measuring weight is more complex than measuring volume. Before the invention of the digital scale (recent history), or the spring scale (1770, by a Brit) things were weighed with a balance scale and a set of weights. Materials alone makes this more expensive than a simple cup that would hold a liquid.
Given the timing of the invention of the spring scale, and our subsequent armed revolution, and many years (decades?) of being a flat-out poor country I don't imagine that we had much money to worry about spring scales or balance scales. A cup is cheaper and simpler, and doesn't wear out or break. The durability also likely had a role to play in our journeys westward.
Likely by the time we actually could afford "fancier" methods of measurement the volume thing was just too ingrained in our heads. Plus, we tend to be stubborn (e.g. metric).
Pictures about "Cups v. weighing scales - is there an historical explanation?"
Are scales more accurate than measuring cups?
Kitchen scales are tidier, simpler, and more accurate than cups or teaspoons. Americans are not a systematic people, at least not when it comes to measuring out cooking ingredients. Pick up just about any cookbook and you will find a hodgepodge of units\u2014pinches, teaspoons, cups, ounces.Why do bakers use scales instead of measuring cups?
More: When in doubt, 3 tips for measuring flour right for better baked goods. When a recipe does supply weights, there are myriad advantages to using the scale instead of cups: Weighing is faster, easier, and more fun than using measuring cups and it requires fewer utensils, thus less clean up.Where did the cup measurement come from?
In the United Kingdom the standard cup was set at 10 imperial fluid ounces, or half an imperial pint. The cup was rarely used in practice, as historically most kitchens tended to be equipped with scales and ingredients were measured by weight, rather than volume.How did ancient scales work?
They consisted of two plates attached to an overhead beam which was fixed on a central pole. Measurements were taken by placing the measured object on one plate and weight stones on the other, until an equilibrium was reached. Archaeologists have discovered these uniform, polished stone cubes in early settlements.More answers regarding cups v. weighing scales - is there an historical explanation?
Answer 2
The Wikipedia answer to this is that Fannie Farmer in her 1896 very popular cookbook decided to use volume measurements for solids instead of weight measurements. In chapter 2 she explains how precise measurements are essential in following recipes and then goes on to explain how to measure flour by volume. No fanfare. My impression is that she was just codifying what was already common practice then.
So I'm voting against the traditional answer, as it does not quite explain why it became common practice. I've also read the speculation that volume measurements where common until the introduction of the metric system, which never made it to the US.
I did some more digging into this question. The Boston Cooking School helped popularize the use of volume measurements for dry ingredients. Cooking schools were part of a Domestic Science movement that was stronger in the US than in Europe. As Hobodave points out, springs scales were a British invention and it was only in the early 1900s that reliable ones started to be sold in the US. By then cups and spoons were too popular and with the government and other institutions supporting and standardizing the practice it was hard to change.
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
Images: Curtis Adams, Andres Ayrton, Thirdman, Maksim Goncharenok