Teaspoons to Tablespoons and 11 Other Things You Should Know
How many teaspoons to tablespoons?
When it comes to preparing recipes, most people find it confusing when having to scale up or down between teaspoons to tablespoons, cups, quarts, ounces and other units of measurements. A wide range of units is used, often in the same system – making things a little difficult for newbies. Then there are so many tips and tricks in recipe-making that can save you time and simplify your job.
Teaspoons to tablespoons: Common measurements and kitchen tips you should know
Here are 11 tips that can help you get to the next level in your recipe-making conquests. Besides the units of measurements, you will also find a number of tips and methods to simplify and speed up cooking.
1. Teaspoons to tablespoons
A teaspoon, even though it is a cutlery item, it is used for measuring ingredients when preparing recipes. Abbreviated as ‘tsp’, it is equivalent to around 5ml. A tablespoon (tbsp) is equal to 3 teaspoons and became the unofficial unit of measurement within the Apothecaries’ system in the 18th century. When you scale a recipe up or down from a teaspoon to a tablespoon, it is not as simple as using cups. But knowing that 3 teaspoons equal 1 tablespoon can make it easier to scale between the two, whether you are measuring baking powder, spices or salt.
2. Pints to a quart and quarts to a gallon
The pint (pt) is used as a unit of measuring volume in both the United States customary and imperial measurement systems. It is equal to 1/8 of a gallon. The imperial pint is approximately 20% larger than the American pint. A pint is equal to 2 cups or 1/2 quart. Whenever you have to measure several cups of liquid, it is better to use quarts than a pint. A quart (qt) is, therefore, equivalent to 2 pints. A higher volume of liquid can be measured in gallons (gal). A gallon has 4 quarts or 8 pints and is the largest measurement unit for liquid.
3. Ounces to a cup
Ounce (oz) is a unit of mass and is used in both the imperial and US customary measurement systems. 8 ounces usually combine together to make a cup. It is most commonly used in the grocery retail setting in the United States. It is commonly used for measuring recipe ingredients in cookbooks.
4. One stick of butter equals half a cup
Butter is typically available in 1 or 1/2 pound packages, further broken into ‘sticks’. A stick of butter weighs 1/4 pound or 4 ounces. It is equal to 1/2 cup. When you prepare chocolate chip cookies, a stick of unsalted butter is usually used as the standard for making 30 cookies.
5. A cup of sugar to honey ratio
Do you know that you can use honey in place of sugar? And in doing so, make sure to remember that 1 cup of sugar is not equal to 1 cup of honey. You can indulge your sweet tooth without all the potential health concerns that sugar can raise. You can use exactly 3/4 cup of honey in place of 1 cup of sugar. If you will be using more than a cup of honey, it is recommended to reduce the other liquid ingredients by 1/4 cup for every cup of honey added. This is because honey can help retain more moisture compared to sugar. You can replace 2 cups of sugar with 1-1/4 cup of honey.
Teaspoons to tablespoons in the kitchen
6. Try coating your cheese grater with non-stick spray for easier shredding
Shredding semi-soft cheese can be both a difficult and messy job. Not only can you lose some cheese because it keeps breaking, but it will also leave a lot of mess afterward. You can make it easier to shred the cheese and clean things up later with the help of non-stick spray.
Coating the cheese with the non-stick spray will also reduce the pain in your elbow. This method will help you have more shredded cheese and lesser of it sticking on the outside. And all the residue can be easily removed with water. It is recommended to soak the shredder in warm water before cleaning it.
7. Use an apple cutter on potatoes for great wedges
The apple slicer is made not just for apples, you can also cut great wedges out of potatoes. You can have lots of potato wedges in seconds. If you don’t use your apple slicer too often, make the most of it to cut even wedges out of potatoes. It is not essential to peel the potatoes unless you want to make chips.
Place the potatoes on a wooden board, take the apple slicer and press down and it’s done. There are a number of benefits of using this trick. It will not only save you valuable time, but it can also make it easier to wash up.
8. Pit cherries with a paper clip
If you will be making cherry pies often and have to pit lots of cherries, you will have to invest in a cherry pitter. It will save you time and make things much simpler. If you wouldn’t be pitting so many cherries, why spend so much? You can use metal paper clips to pit cherries with utmost ease, without having to spend a lot of money. All you will need to do is to unfold the clip and insert one end into the cherry. Dig at the pit so that it pops out and it’s done.
9. How to cut an avocado?
When it comes to cutting avocadoes, there are different ways to achieve different results. If you haven’t mastered the art of cutting an avocado, follow these steps:
- If you want to remove the pit, you should slice the fruit open vertically. This will make it easier to remove the pit.
- Do you want to slice the fruit inside the skin? You should rely solely on the knife’s tip. All you have to do is to slice into the flesh without piercing the skin. Make sure you are following the natural curve and keep repeating until the entire fruit has been cut.
- You can also scoop out the fruit using a spoon. This will involve working the spoon gently between the skin and flesh of the fruit. Again follow the curve of the fruit using the spoon’s concave side and scoop the slices out.
Common kitchen measurements and tips
10. Peel a banana upside down as monkeys do
Most people will be surprised to know that they have had been peeling the banana the wrong way forever. If you want to learn the best and the easiest way to peel a banana, you should check how the monkeys do it. They peel a banana upside down. The following steps will help you do the same:
- Locate the banana’s top. It is the end that is opposite to the stem.
- Press your thumbnail into the top part and pry it up against the pointer finger. This method will help prevent mashing or brushing the banana.
- Now you can peel the top part down towards the stem. It will be easy to peel the rest of the banana.
Using this method will give you an un-mashed and un-bruised banana every time.
11. Cooking corn in the microwave to remove the husk
Removing husk from corn shouldn’t be a complex task. There is a simple trick that is both easy and fast. Use the following steps:
- Place the ear of corn in a microwave oven and leave it to cook on high for around 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, flip it around and cook on high for another 2 minutes.
Remove the corn and it will be easier to remove the husk.
So follow these 11 tips and methods to get better results out of your recipe-making experience. These tips will not only make things easier, but they can also make you a better cook.
Thank you for reading about teaspoons to tablespoons!
By Mike O’Halloran
Mike is a writer and co-founder of ListCaboodle.
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