Who else?

I'm definitely with you.  I brought my measuring cups & spoons 'cross the pond with me when I moved.  We have a really cheap & crappy scales that I don't trust at all either.  I use my US cookbooks - as much as I can anyway, since a lot of them are still in storage in Florida.  Hate converting recipes, which I sometimes do, but most times - by the time I've attempted to convert, I just don't feel like making whatever it is anymore.

Also I get so confused on converting 'cause isn't there some differentiation between dry weight & liquid weight in ounces - blah de blah de blah...I bought a 'pint' of milk at the store awhile back (it said pint on it).  Now, I was always told 'two cups to the pint', 'two pints to the quart', '4 quarts to the gallon'.  That pint of milk had a darn sight more milk than 2 cups in it.  WTF?!?!!

You sometimes need to use a bit more baking powder in your baked goods here and make sure you use fresh baking powder.  Even a few weeks too old or exposed to the heat, cold, humidity well any number of things and you will wind up with flat baked goods.

If you are using baking powder in a cookie you will get something more cake like.  You should use baking soda in most cookies recipes.  There are some recipes that do use baking powder, but in things like choco chip and most cookies I prefer a non-cake like texture.  If I want cake I will eat cake.

What does your recipe use Ashley?

On the subject of scales... well you get what you pay for in most cases.  Mine is a Slater scale and is quite accurate though it does tend to want to stay in 5 gram/oz increments so getting 18 oz is hard and it tends to flip between 15 and 20.

 

For grams and pounds and such I use my WW digital scales....they are FAB!

I have that same problem as well.. cakey toll house cookies.. I follow the toll house recipe but get thick soft cookies instead of a proper toll house...pisses me off!

   Not sure what you guys are doing... mine work just fine....

Tollhouse or otherwise...

odd...

What kind of flour do you use?

This whole thread has inspired me to get off my butt, and make some cookies!!! With my brand new cooker, that we just got......not having had a proper for the last three years!!! I'm using the oven for the first time, we have a double oven, I just love that!!! And because we bought if from a small appliance store, it didn't come with a manual, and my hubb's uncle hooked it up for us, then we couldn't figure out how to use the oven, my hubby call the shop we got it from, and the guys telling him that the grill, will only work with the door open, and I'm going, that's just STUPID, finally I messed around with it, and figured how to work everything......who knew that it would take such trouble to operate a cooker!!!! Anyway, it's working wonderfully!!!! I'm off to taste a cookie now....

I was really confused when I first moved here and spent so much time converting my recipes.  Now I have it down to an art (just automatically convert in my head) and cook in a mixture of imperial and metric measures.  I am worried about cooking in the US, though.  I'm doing the Christmas dinner and will have to DE-convert all of my recipes again!   

I think my mom sent me the metric cups/tsps etc, can't remember where I got them all. But they are handy. And I did get a glass cutting board here that has a number of the equivalents on it, which is also handy.

As for cookies, they are now selling those Betty Crocker bag-o-cookie mix here, I saw them at Asda and got the Chocolate Chip cookie one, makes about 8 cookies and you just add water. Not bad!

I like my kitchen scales, and measuring in metric hasnt been a problem for me, but then again, i dont bake very often anymore.

I bought a 'pint' of milk at the store awhile back (it said pint on it).  Now, I was always told 'two cups to the pint', 'two pints to the quart', '4 quarts to the gallon'.  That pint of milk had a darn sight more milk than 2 cups in it.  WTF?!?!!

British (Imperial) pints are larger than American pints. (20 fluid ounces, as opposed to 16).

I'm awful I math...I can barely handle teaspoons vs tablespoons and cups etc. The whole metric thing has never really sunk in. I've almost given up all hope of remembering what is how much. (and don't even get me started on trying to convert from C to F or F to C....)

  Not sure what you guys are doing... mine work just fine....

Tollhouse or otherwise...

odd...

What kind of flour do you use?

Plain flour. This is another question  I had, I had a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that asked for all purpose flour. Is this the same as plain flour? All purpose flour was not to be seen in Morrisons.

Yes plain flour is like all purpose flour.  -- I do suspect that they might be slightly different though... just due to wheat types perhaps.  Hmm...

hmm... I am stumped..

British (Imperial) pints are larger than American pints. (20 fluid ounces, as opposed to 16).

Yeah, see, they need to call it something else then...or we do...'cause that's just a recipe for disaster! 

British (Imperial) pints are larger than American pints. (20 fluid ounces, as opposed to 16).

Thanks, otterpop!  Good to know.

Yeah, see, they need to call it something else then...or we do...'cause that's just a recipe for disaster! 

Absolutely - luckily, I decided to measure it out (in cups)...vs just pouring the 'pint' of milk into a recipe that called for a pint...'erm, only thing is now I can't remember whether it was a Brit or American recipe, so no telling which pint it was calling for!

Another weird thing...I was following a Nigel Slater recipe awhile back that had some metric measurements (and some odd ones too as to baking pan size, etc) but then it also called for a teaspoon of...(this or that) -- I thought it was strange for the recipe to be mixing metric and teaspoons/tablespoons.

but then it also called for a teaspoon of...(this or that) -- I thought it was strange for the recipe to be mixing metric and teaspoons/tablespoons.

watching the  Gordon Ramsay  cooks Christmad DVD  I physically saw him  refer to  teaspoons..but just out of his drawer.. not like ours..  so  I know what you mean... like my MIL  will say  dessertspoon (as  a legal  measurement!!  .. )  which to me is  a pasta  spoon..