FOR READY REFERENCE
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
It is so much easier to measure ingredients than to weigh them that the housewife saves time and work by acquainting herself with certain equivalent measures and weights. Without burdening her memory with a dry array of items and figures, I have collected here certain details to which she can refer quickly and confidently.
- “One cupful” of flour, milk, etc., means half a pint.
- Two scant cupfuls of packed butter make one pound.
- Two and a half even cupfuls of powdered sugar are one pound.
- Two cupfuls (one pint) of water or milk make one pound.
- Three even cupfuls of Indian meal make one pound.
- Four even cupfuls of dry flour make one pound.
- Two cupfuls (one pint) of water or milk make one pound.
- Ten eggs of ordinary size make one pound.
- Two cupfuls of minced beef, packed closely, make one pound.
- A gill of liquid is half a cupful.
- One heaping tablespoonful of granulated sugar is one ounce.
- Two heaping tablespoonfuls of flour make one ounce.
- Two heaping tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar make one ounce.
- Two heaping tablespoonfuls of ground coffee make one ounce.
- One tablespoonful of milk, vinegar or brandy make one-half ounce.
- The juice of an ordinary lemon is about a tablespoonful. A breakfast cupful of bread-crumbs well pressed in equals about four ounces. Very finely chopped suet, slightly heaped up, weighs about the same. A heaped breakfast cupful of brown sugar represents half a pound, and stoned raisins well pressed in weigh about the same.
TIME-TABLE
Baking and roasting
FISH AND MEATS
| Baked beans with pork | 6 to 8 hours. |
| Beef, fillet, rare | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Beef ribs or loin, well done, per pound | 12 to 16 minutes. |
| Beef ribs, or loin, rare, per pound | 8 to 10 minutes. |
| Chicken, per pound | 15 minutes or more. |
| Duck, domestic | 1 hour or more. |
| Duck, wild | 12 minutes per pound. |
| Fish, whole, as bluefish, salmon, etc. | 10 minutes per pound. |
| Goose, 8 to 10 pounds | 2 hours or more. |
| Grouse | 25 to 30 minutes. |
| Ham | 15 minutes per pound. |
| Lamb, well done, per pound | 15 to 18 minutes. |
| Liver, whole | 12 minutes per pound. |
| Mutton, leg, well done, per pound | 15 minutes or more. |
| Mutton, leg, rare, per pound | 10 minutes. |
| Mutton, saddle, rare, without flank, per pound | 9 minutes. |
| Mutton shoulder, stuffed, per pound | 15 to 25 minutes. |
| Partridge | 35 to 40 minutes. |
| Pork, well done, per pound | 20 minutes. |
| Small fish and fillets | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Turkey, 8 to 10 pounds | 12 minutes per pound. |
| Veal, well done, per pound | 18 to 20 minutes. |
| Venison, rare, per pound | 10 minutes. |
Boiling
MEATS
| Chicken | 1 to 1-1/2 hours. |
| Corned beef (rib or flank) | 4 to 6 hours, according to size. |
| Corned beef (fancy brisket) | 5 to 8 hours. |
| Corned tongue | 3 to 4 hours. |
| Fowl, 4 to 5 pounds | 15 minutes per pound, if tender. |
| Fresh beef | 4 to 6 hours. |
| Ham | 4 to 6 hours. |
| Mutton | 15 minutes per pound. |
| Turkey, per pound | 15 to 18 minutes. |
FISH
| Clams and oysters | 3 to 5 minutes. |
| Codfish and haddock, per pound | 10 minutes. |
| Bass and bluefish, per pound | 10 minutes. |
| Halibut, whole or thick piece, per pound | 15 minutes. |
| Lobster | 30 to 40 minutes. |
| Salmon, whole or thick piece, per pound | 10 to 20 minutes. |
| Small fish | 6 to 8 minutes. |
Broiling
| Bacon | 4 to 8 minutes. |
| Lamb, or mutton chops | 8 to 10 minutes. |
| Liver | 4 to 8 minutes. |
| Quail | 10 to 15 minutes. |
| Quail in paper cases | 10 to 12 minutes. |
| Steak, 1 inch thick | 8 to 12 minutes. |
| Steak, 1-1/2 inch thick | 9 to 15 minutes. |
| Shad, bluefish, etc. | 15 to 30 minutes. |
| Slices of fish | 12 to 15 minutes. |
| Small fish, trout, etc. | 8 to 12 minutes. |
| Spring chicken | 20 minutes. |
| Squabs | 10 to 15 minutes. |
Frying
| Bacon fried in its own fat | 2 to 3 minutes. |
| Chops, breaded | 8 to 10 minutes. |
| Doughnuts and fritters | 3 to 5 minutes. |
| Fillets of fish | 4 to 6 minutes. |
| Potatoes | 2 to 5 minutes. |
Boiling vegetables
| Asparagus | 20 to 25 minutes. |
| Beans, string | 1 to 2 hours. |
| Beans, Lima | 30 to 40 minutes. |
| Beets, new | 45 minutes to one hour. |
| Beets, old | 4 to 6 hours. |
| Brussels sprouts | 15 to 25 minutes. |
| Cabbage | 30 to 80 minutes. |
| Carrots (old) | 1 hour or more. |
| Cauliflower | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Celery | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Corn | 10 to 20 minutes. |
| Macaroni | 20 to 50 minutes. |
| Onions | 45 minutes to 2 hours. |
| Oyster-plant | 45 to 60 minutes. |
| Parsnips | 30 to 45 minutes. |
| Peas | 20 to 50 minutes. |
| Potatoes, white | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Potatoes, sweet | 15 to 25 minutes. |
| Rice | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Squash | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Spinach | 20 to 30 minutes. |
| Tomatoes, stewed | 15 to 20 minutes. |
| Turnips | 30 to 45 minutes. |
Steaming
| Brown bread | 3 hours. |
| Puddings, one quart or more | 2 to 3 hours. |
| Rice | 45 to 60 minutes. |
Baking of bread, cakes, custards and pudding
| Fruit cake | 2 to 3 hours. |
| Layer cake | 15 to 20 minutes. |
| Loaf bread | 40 to 60 minutes. |
| Muffins, baking-powder | 20 to 25 minutes. |
| Muffins, yeast | about 30 minutes. |
| Pie crust | 30 to 45 minutes. |
| Plain loaf cake | 30 to 90 minutes. |
| Potatoes | 30 to 45 minutes. |
| Rolls, biscuit | 10 to 30 minutes. |
| Scalloped and au gratin dishes | 10 to 20 minutes, |
| according to size. | |
| Sponge cake, loaf | 45 to 60 minutes, |
| according to size. | |
| Timbales | about 20 minutes. |
The instructions given above must be modified by circumstances: the age and quality of meat, vegetables and fish, the size of loaves and so forth. It is not possible to make out a table which shall be absolutely accurate. Experience is the one trustworthy teacher.