Metric? What do think?

[moolie]

As a Canadian who was in her early years at school around the time when SI/metric came in, I have to say that it didn't totally "take" here. I very definitely remember the speed limit signs in my town changing from miles per hour to kilometres per hour, they started out with "km/h" at the bottom so no one would be confused but now just have the number.

Most people my parents' age and older tend to think in Imperial measurements, although many think of temperature in terms of centigrade (which isn't actually metric but works similarly).

Most people my age tend to be a bit "bi" when it comes to units of measure, for example:
-I weigh myself in pounds but my food in grams as per ORChick's example about flour... although I can visualize a pound of butter/hamburger/chicken and think of meat servings based on pounds
-I can translate temperatures fairly well but think in centigrade, my oven shows both temperatures but I have it set to Imperial because that is what most cookbooks use, whereas I have the thermometer in my car set to centigrade
-I personally cook in pinches and scoops and handfuls but if I have to measure I use cups rather than mL (other than weights)
-I measure my height in feet and inches but road distances in kilometres (or hours, which is a typically western Canadian outlook)
-I measure fabric for sewing in metres
-I know there are 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, but no idea how many yards in a mile and I always forget how to translate kms to miles and vice versa
-I know there are 8 ounces in a cup, 2 cups in a pint, and 2 pints in a US quart, 4 quarts to a US gallon
-I have no idea how many pounds are in a stone--I think it is a weird number like 14 though, but always have to look it up when my English friends use that term

My teenage kids are a little better with metric, in that they only use metric at school so are better at visualizing their height in metres and their weight in kilos, but they are more familiar with both measurements in Imperial because our bathroom scale is Imperial and they constantly compare their height against their 5'7" tall mother. They cook like I do. And they can't translate between Imperial and metric on any scale whatsoever without a chart or converter, nor do they know how many.

 

[Denim Deb]

I can't agree w/ya on that one, Pinky. I'm the math/logic type and I hate the metric system. :/ I only use it when I have to.

 

[pinkfox]

lol, mabe your just odd Deb love ya!
and yup 14lbs to a stone.

 

[ORChick]

And I'm not in any way math or logic oriented, but I do find that metric is easier - once it has been learned! Nothing is easy if one doesn't know how to do it.

 

[ThrottleJockey]

I think that technically we are "converted"...at least on the record books. I don't mind the metric system and grasp it fairly well, I just prefer the english system for some odd reason. Working on cars in the eighties and nineties certainly made it easier to learn conversions...About the only thing I can think of that I would like to see changed is our clock/calendar. Neither work and neither are accurate ways to measure speed/distance. I would like to see a metric clock and calendar. Leap day is a prime example of how and why our calendars/clocks are wrong, it exists solely as a makeshift correction to a flawed calendar. It's my birthday and even living with it for over 40 years I have difficulty fully explaining it. We got it wrong at the turn of the century if my research is correct and that is why our current system sucks so bad, I can prove at least a 24hr inaccuracy/discrepancy in our clocks/calendars. Might not seem like a big deal but astronomically may be the difference between "night and day".

 

[hqueen13]

I like the "roundness" of metric being divisible by 10 makes it so easy to remember.
I'm used to the crazy Imperial system, but that doesn't make it any better, really....
I don't think I care either way, LOL.

 

[k15n1]

The bit about soda bread: Cups and liters are equally inaccurate ways to measure powders. All volumetric measurements of flour are going to be variable, regardless of the units. Proper recipes are always by weight. Look up Baker's Ratio if you're curious.

Anyway, for me, it's just units. I use both systems but when it's my choice I work in metric.

WHY do people like or dislike certain unit systems? I know there are strong opinions, but I always wonder why.

BTW, call me a fact checker, but the right/left brain thing is basically a misnomer.

 

[ORChick]

The bit about soda bread: Cups and liters are equally inaccurate ways to measure powders. All volumetric measurements of flour are going to be variable, regardless of the units. Proper recipes are always by weight. Look up Baker's Ratio if you're curious.

Anyway, for me, it's just units. I use both systems but when it's my choice I work in metric.

WHY do people like or dislike certain unit systems? I know there are strong opinions, but I always wonder why.

BTW, call me a fact checker, but the right/left brain thing is basically a misnomer.

In my OP I did state that the reason I appreciated the Irish recipe over the American "translation" was because it measured (where appropriate) by weight. You are absolutely correct that measuring dry ingredients is equally inaccurate whether done in cups or milliliters; more so in the latter method actually, as that is, by definition, a liquid measure. If American cook book authors would put in weights along with volume I wouldn't really care which system was used, but very few of them do - although rather more recently than was usual in the past. A small kitchen scale is not a huge expense, and is very useful (and the older ones are downright decorative ; I have several, mostly for show though they are still accurate enough.) The little digital scale is practical, as it has a tare feature.

Maybe not right/left brain in this instance, but it does appear (from this very small sampling) that it might be a predominantly male/female thing. Only a few of the guys have responded, but seem to favor the metric. Most of the women seem to prefer the Standard American system; not all, certainly - I have made my preference clear, and am assuredly not male . There are a few others as well. But also a familiarity with the system seems to be a factor - Canadians (moolie), and those who have lived where metric is the norm (with the exception of pinkfox) seem more inclined to see its practicalities.

The changeover WILL happen; its bound to at some point. And it will be a learning curve for everyone, and an unpleasant one for many. But it WILL happen. Doesn't look like it will be soon though.

Thanks for the comments, everyone. I've enjoyed reading your views

 

[pinkfox]

and yet home ec in my highschool (USA) was taught cups for liquids WEIGHT in lbs and ounces for dry...always...so that oes throw me off when i see 1 cup of flour...its like hmm, 1 cup is 8o so is that 1 liquid cup measurment or an 8oz weight measurment lol.

the right vs left is anectdotal at best, its just somethign IVE personaly noticed when talking to people directly about it...

 

[Hinotori]

We learned metric early in school. It's more accurate for science. I don't have problems using either, since I've been used to it for so long. I just recently got a new digital scale. The old one is being used to weigh chickens now.

I prefer metric for measuring my eggs to get a more accurate weight for my records on the first eggs, and the huge ones. I have an old 1920s scale I use for just the regular eggs.