By Weight or by Liquid Measure?

I wish I could post this as a general thread for all areas of this forum. The issue is that with so many recipes, we use ounces (oz.) but there is never any clear-cut differentiation as to whether it refers to weight or liquid measure. "Dry weight" used to be a standard expressed as "avoirdupois;" I remember reading this term often when I was a kid, and it made things so much simpler knowing that it meant "by weight." Sometimes I see a recipe I'd love to try, but, especially with honey (which is why I'm putting this in the Mead section), it's clear that the main honey ingredient is pounds and ounces but then the "other" honey, usually buckwheat, is given in ounces.... Now, I can take as many 1-lb jars or whatever that it takes to get the main bulk of the honey, but let's say that the buckwheat honey is supposed to be 7-oz or the back-sweeten amount of honey is listed as 5-oz ---- well, it makes best sense to me that I can more readily use measuring cups etc for that than it would be to use a scale. BUT, since it isn't clearly expressed, I have to guess and I've almost always gone with liquid measure, but it may not be right.

Am I just cixelsyd, or ignorant, or whatever, or does anyone else get frustrated with this? I mean, many recipes are given for 1-gal batches, but whether for 1-gal or multiplying to get 5-gal or whatever size batches, things can get pretty messed up and maybe that' why some people have success and like the recipe and others don't - one uses what the writer used and the other uses what the writer wrote. If that makes any sense....

Anyways, for folks like me, in the future when posting recipes would you keep us in mind and list as liquid measure when no "pounds" (which would make it obvious that it's by weight) but only ounces are given?

I did search, but didn't find anything regarding this; not saying there isn't something already written, just that I didn't find it.

Thanks in advance.

- Tim

P.S. - I just realized that my sig pretty much has always summed this up.

I've always measured honey by weight....

Me too. If I ever do by volume, it's usually in larger quantities (quart, 1/2g, gallon, etc).

OK, but let's look at an actual example (I've done this one a couple of times), Joes Quick Grape Mead for instance...

It's obvious that the "64 ounces" Welch's Grape Juice is 1/2 gallon, and is liquid measure, as is the 6 oz of grape juice used to back sweeten. It's also obvious that 2# of honey is by weight.

What is less obvious is the 1 oz buckwheat honey in the main recipe and the 6 oz honey for back-sweetening.

For the record I've done both batches as liquid measure and they're terrific.

Looks like I may be The Lone Dolt on this one, eh?

I'd say it's probably weight. In fact, any time I buy honey, it's "by weight" outside of large volume (5g buckets) which weigh anywhere between 60 and 70 pounds depending on if they slightly overfill or not.

Most recipes that refer to ounces mean weight.

My experience is that liquids tend to use volume measure, where dry ingredients use weight. So, I would measure honey by volume, but I would measure grains by weight. (If you see a dry ingredient listed in something like tablespoons, it's probably been converted at some point from weight to volume as an easily expressable measure, since small amounts tend to be hard for the average person to weigh with accuracy).

Anyway, that's the way I do things. Of course, your mileage may vary.

Yes, I agree... my main issue, though, is that it'd be better for the authors to be clear. And in spite of all the good information in each post (thanks to all), in the end there really isn't a clearly defined way of listing in English.

I figure I'll keep going with what's presumed to be the author's intent.

Interesting. I've seen honey measured in both liquid and weight form for other recipes (cooking, baking). Sauces for instance, I take it as a liquid measure, rather than by weight.
I suppose that because other honey measurements for mead is given by weight (pounds) then I automatically assume (and we all know how that is) that the remainder of the measurements are by weight. I'm now not sure how I would assume for wine when it refers to a gallon of juice and 6 oz. of honey, wether I would have gone by weight or by liquid.

I usually follow the rule that if they are talking about oz they mean weight.

For recipes, most folks would put 3/4 cup honey if that is what they meant. If they put 6 oz of honey, it is usually the weight. It is much more common to put the volume measurement if that is what they are looking for.

Rossnaree said:

OK, but let's look at an actual example (I've done this one a couple of times), Joes Quick Grape Mead for instance...

It's obvious that the "64 ounces" Welch's Grape Juice is 1/2 gallon, and is liquid measure, as is the 6 oz of grape juice used to back sweeten. It's also obvious that 2# of honey is by weight.

What is less obvious is the 1 oz buckwheat honey in the main recipe and the 6 oz honey for back-sweetening.

For the record I've done both batches as liquid measure and they're terrific.

Looks like I may be The Lone Dolt on this one, eh?

Click to expand...

Dolt? hardly. Blame the US measurement system for having ounces and fluid ounces, instead of grams and liters (litres?...)

for what its worth I've never seen a recipe call for honey in fluid ounces...always its by weight. I've also only seen honey sold by pounds...even if you buy a 5 gallon bucket, they should be selling you X pounds of honey.

when in doubt on any recipe, mead or otherwise, just ask the author or forum if its ounces or fluid ounces