Weight conversion

[mark111757 Profile]

Found a recipe for an Italian sub. Looks tasty but there is a hurdle. The weights for the meat and cheese....

1/10 pound deli ham
1/10 pound pepperoni
1/10 pound capacollo
1/10 pound Genoa salami

1/5 pound provolone cheese

Nobody I know weighs product out in tenths or fifths of a pound and my math is awful today. Would one of you good folks be able to convert this to a more useable form. I have yet to see a scale that would read out in tenths or fifths of a pound

Any takers??? Thank you in advance

[liketocook Profile]

1/10 of a pound is 1.6 ounces as far as I can tell Mark. Not completely precise but 1.5 oz each for the meats and 3oz for the cheese would work for this and ease of measuring. That's one hefty sub!

[mark111757 Profile]

LTC

Hmmmm...I thought that but really was not sure . the picture I saw of it, hefty is the word. At least two meals from it. Thank you

[Stokey Sue Profile]

That seems about right for a large sub - the 4 x 1/10 pounds of deli meets are in total 0.4 lb or 182g or 6.4oz meat, add 91g or 3.2oz cheese so you have 9.6 oz filling in total, over half a pound

But I agree it’s an odd way of describing it, and I wonder about the history

[ZeroCook Profile]

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Mark, everything in the US is weighed out in US Standard weights but in tenths and hundredths of a lb on electronic decimal scales. That's to say lbs to two decimal places.

To get ounces you need a calculator- all smartphones have them or you can download an app - or use a hand calculator.

Type in 16 then divide by the decimal weight on the product. For e.g. if you have something marked at .55 lb multiply 16 by .55 which equals 8.8 oz which you could off to 9 oz if you like.

[mark111757 Profile]

Extremely interesting. Thanks for sharing and all the input

[ZeroCook Profile]

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If you need to convert weights a lot, most digital kitchen scales will give you several readout options. I have a Cuisinart that does lbs & ozs, lbs and decimal parts of a lb, and metric, all to two decimal places - essential piece of kitchen equipment IMO.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

This is quite odd from a UK/EU perspective, in general either we use a metric system which uses decimals or we use an obsolete system of conventional or imperial units which doesn’t use decimals at all.

Good digital scales can show the weight to two decimal places of course, eg 2lb 3.07oz but I’ve always thought of that just as a limitation of the display which doesn’t show fractions like old dial scales did.

[ZeroCook Profile]

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It is odd, Stokey, but that's how it works. It's basically what happens when the whole world uses metric and decimal and one place holds out and refuses to change. Moreover, the use of Standard wet and dry volume measurements makes it even worse. i.e. cups, fluid ounces, quarts etc etc. Ditto mechanical parts. Most car mechanics have and need two sets of tools. One set in inches and disparate fractions (e.g. socket wrenches at 1/4", 3/8ths, 1/2", 5/8ths, 3/4", 7/8ths etc) and another in metric and sometimes there are both Standard and metric parts on a single vehicle, for e.g.

The real problem happens when you actually need to measure or weigh something, as asked in the OP.

Btw Mark, the same decimalisation happens to all digital measurements in the US. Next time you fill up your vehicle, take a look at the gas pump and you'll see gallons measured to two decimal places. Ditto all food weights, lumber lengths, etc.

Saving grace is that NAFTA requires all measurements in metric as well as Standard for Mexico and Canada.

Interesting how the currency has always been all-decimal!

[Stokey Sue Profile]

Interesting how the currency has always been all-decimal!

We aren't immune to mad mix and match - we buy our petrol in litres, but rate our vehicles in terms of miles per (Imperial) gallon

I always tended to mix and match measurements when sewing and sizes for wood are often odd conversions of 4 or 2 inch modules

I was surprised when I went to Cuba to buy things in lb and oz, but apparently Cuba broke away from Spain shortly before Spain joined metrication.