Collating measuring spoons [S. Worthen | Weblog]

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We're thinking of getting another set of measuring spoons*, which is why I was looking at them online last night. There isn't that big a range of features they tend to come with. Melamine or metal. Flat- or round-bottomed. Round or oblong. Number of spoons and how small the set goes.

One feature they all advertise, however, is a way of keeping the set together. Handy loop or chain. Magnetism.

C. looked at the images I showed him with astonishment. We can't get those, he said. They're chained together. Use one, and they'll all get dirty!

We keep our spoons loose in a container in a drawer, unchained, although they arrived years ago with loop to secure them.

[Poll #1823399]

* Spice-intensive meals involve going through a lot of them very quickly, and spices require re-used spoons to be both washed *and* dried, which is fiddly when measuring lots of things quickly.

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There are 34 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

It's not so hard... When you use one, hold the rest of the looped spoons in your hand so they stay clean. In the dishwasher it's just as easy to wash the bunch as a single one, and because they all get washed together you know that whatever spoon you use has been recently cleaned.

That's my thought.

And, with spices, if it's a dry spice, I just wipe it with a paper towel to remove the traces of the other spice. I don't see the need to wash AND dry between quick-succession uses unless it's a wet product (vanilla, etc.).

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It depends on the spice and how strong its flavoring is. I would be cautious about re-using a measuring spoon after cardamon, for example.

But more importantly, I never anymore re-use without washing after measuring out peppers. Not since I learned some of them have an unlabeled wheat-based additive to keep them powdery. I cook for too many gluten-intolerant friends to risk their health that way.

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Obviously between dishes I wash all the spoons - I just toss the set into the dishwasher. In the same dish, however, it's all going in the same dish, so there's no cross-contamination of flavors that isn't happening in the dish anyway. I wipe very well with the kitchen towel in any case, so that there are no grains of spice still clinging to the spoon.

I have two sets of measuring spoons, plus several random loose spoons in most-used sizes (T, t) so even if I'm making dishes that couldn't be cross-contaminated even if one or two spice grains slipped through and I didn't want to hassle with washing between sets, I probably wouldn't need to.

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I'm not worried about contaminating the dish! (Although very rarely I'll be measuring for two different dishes at once.) I'm worried about contaminating the spices still in the jar.

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I've never noticed the jar being contaminated. I do wipe very well - just not under water.

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While I can't see the point of loops (I took my loop apart and use the spoons separately), magnetic spoons sound like a nice ide. I put mine in a drawer, and somehow they always end up separated.

I keep mine on their original loop because otherwise it would take approximately five minutes to lose them, but it is somewhat inconvenient, so I like the idea of magnetised ones.

I have two sets. One is fastened together into a bunch, so I use them as

haggisthesecond describes and then drop the bunch into the dishwasher after use. The other set is loose, but to be honest I use those more as scoops (eg for getting porridge oats out of the container) than as actual measuring spoons.

Yes, I need ticky boxen because I have both. I prefer the loose ones though.

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That's me, too! I ticked loose, but I have 4 sets and the loose one is the one I use. I only use the Canadian set when I'm cooking food from that part of the world, though, and ditto the French. In fact, I might have mislaid my French set, which is a shame, because it doubles up as my "I can't be bothered to convert" set, since it's the most pure metric of the lot.

And this is probably more than anyone needs to know.

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I have both grouped and ungrouped - and the same is true of cups. I'm not that precise usually, unless it's baking or a new recipe. If I need to re-use a spoon and it hasn't got damp, I just wipe it with a paper towel.

I'd be more concerned if I had different sets of spoons, but I only have American ones. The English teaspoon is far more flexible.

Mine are linked together, but it doesn't matter much because I've never used them. Anything in really small quantities I gauge by eye, and larger quantities are measured on my scales, which are electronic and retare very quickly, so I can add stuff till it reaches the right quantity.

I initially considered having a poll option along the lines of "I don't have measuring spoons - I cook by weight, not volume!" But then it got fiddly, because, of course, it's possible to cook primary by weight and still own measuring spoons, as in your case.

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I thhink I've got some somewhere but I use them so rarely that they go off and hide. My usual procedure with spices is to shake what looks like an appropriate amount into the lid of the jar; I don't really do precise measurement when cooking.

You CAN take the spoon off the loop, but my loop is so inconvenient that the path of least resistance is to just throw the lot into the wash.

The only time I actually measure things precisely is when baking and then only for things that would mess up the recipe if they weren't exact. I wouldn't bother cleaning any of the measures during the process if only dry ingredients are involved. Trace amounts of one spice contaminating another don't really matter especially if they're ending up in the same baked object anyway.
I'm just as likely to use English teaspoons as the things on a ring but the ring never bothered me since I just hold all but one spoon out of the way with my hand.
I've never used kitchen scales for anything but rescue kittens ;)

As far as I know, J never uses measuring devices at all (but he doesn't bake either)

My larger round measuring spoons came on a chain, but it was lost long since. The plastic narrow ones fit on the cutlery rack so I can find them easily. The ones for measuring pinch/dash and smideon are on a sealed ring so can't be separated.

But mostly I just grab a 'real' teaspoon or tablespoon.

I want some more measuring spoons, just a couple of 5ml teaspoons and 15ml tablespoons, to use at work etc, but it's hard to find any which aren't sold in a bunch with a whole load of other spoons. When I'm trying to count calories I really don't do well with approximate shakes, my teaspoon of sugar in my coffee or tablespoon of salad dressing grows and grows without a spoon.

the magnetic ones we got from lakeland are awesome.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/12545/Magnetic-Measuring-Spoons
so much fun to play with as well.

Unchained, unmagnetised, and missing, mainly...

I have two sets, one of which is held together with a chain and one of which is cleverly designed to snap together. I don't mind either, and really washing four measuring spoons is not much more difficult than washing one.

I have actual spoons for tea, soup spoons and generic table spoons. I estimate based on those.

I have one set that snaps together, so it's easy enough to just use one and then snap them all together in the drawer when they're clean. My other set came with a loop, which I used to use (though I would detach them when I actually used them), but somewhere along the way it broke or got lost. I still nestle them together in the drawer when they're clean and not in use, though.

I have two sets. One, complete, looped. One in separate bits (those are the ones that fit into the spice jars). But *actually* I cook mostly by eye and weight, grabbing the nearest teaspoon for the odd thing where the difference between 1/2 tsp and 3/4 tsp is significant. (baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar, dried yeast, and ground dried chillies and smoked paprika). When I do use them, I still tend to use one of them for everything, multiplying and dividing by eye.

Really I would prefer it if my regular, serving cutlery consisted of 5ml teaspoons and 15ml tablespoons.

I always take mine off the loop when I buy them. They do get separated and mixed up in the silverware; when this actually becomes a problem, I usually solve it by buying another set and chucking it in there too. Enough measuring spoons in the drawer, and the odds of coming across the one you want rise. (I think I have pieces from three sets in there, right now, and that's enough to find the size I'm looking for almost immediately.)

Two sets, both unlooped. I kept them on the loop for a few years, then unlooped them and never looked back. I have quite enough order and space in my kitchen drawers that I'm not in danger of losing them (where would they go?)

I had a set on a plastic loop, which easily gave up the ghost. Now I only have the half-teaspoon and teaspoon size, which is all I really need for the baking I do (1/4 teaspoon is about 'that' much in the palm of your hand). I have been wanting a full set, and thought I'd go metal, but spring them from their chain almost immediately. I have a basket of baking paraphernalia in the bottom of a cupboard - measuring cups, measuring spoons, and cookie cutters - which means they are reasonably easy to separate from the general 'other cutlery' draw.

I have a metal set, which is on a loop... which I'm now thinking of discarding (because lo, I did not know that was allowed!) Previous sets on plastic loops, or that have snapped together, have not fared so well in terms of their survival.

My other personal favorite bit of measuring spoon advice, if you are not already doing so: buy oblong/semi-rectangular measuring spoons so that they fit into spice jars.

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I have that for my coffee and chicory. An oblong spoon that's the perfect size for half a pot that I use only to measure that.

I was thinking of diminishing my kitchen equipment the other day...

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Oh, I appreciate that-- I've considered them in the past year or so, but never got around to making a purchase. It's good to hear that most practical angle; I literally did not think about that!

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Our tablespoon measure, which we use most often by far because we don't actually have any tablespoons, stays off the loop on which its fellows reside. The rest usually are washed together when one is used, partially confirming C's fear. :)

I find that the loop gets in the way when you need to measure out different quantities for a recipe--you cannot put a dry spoon in a container for fear of dripping from a wet one, for example. I also wash by hand, so it is more effort than the dishwasher folks.

October