Weigh without a set of scales

This is something that really puzzled me when I went living in an English-speaking country. Having grown up in Italy, where recipes tell you "Put 120g of this then add 250g of that", I've always used a scale. The first time I saw I recipe with cups and teaspoons I said: yeah, but I've got 10 types of cups in the kitchen... which one should I be using?

Then someone told me that they were real unit of measure and introduced me to measuring spoons (something that in Italy would be very difficult to come by).

So, going back to your question:

1. I strongly second @Adam's opinion of buying a digital scale: they're cheap and do the job (personally, I would not spend more than $30-40 on it, but you can find $300 ones if you wish).

2. If your recipe calls for teaspoons, cups, etc. then you can:

   • Buy measuring spoons/cups (you can find a complete set for $10, for instance this)

   • Convert them to g (or whatever your scale measures) using an online calculator. If you google for "teaspoons to grams" or "cups to grams" you'll find plenty.

You can even get an app on your phone. I use this app which works pretty well (I'm sure there's a similar thing for iPhone, but I don't use Apple products, so I can't help there).

Looked up 'gelatin strength' in Google and found this link. Very interesting.

There are two types of gelatin: A and B (I have no idea what the 'isoionic point' is).

Anyway, in the shop, I guess you'll find approximately the same 'strength' gelatin, independent of the format.

Normally, the gelatin sheets are 2g and the granular gelatin is packed in 6gr envelopes. 3*2=6.

6g of gelatin (1 envelope) will bind 500ml water for jelly (as per the instructions on the envelope). Substitute water for other liquid and you are set to go.

Edit: Personally, I don't think the precision is too important. This weekend I added too much water to a recipe (500ml) and the result was nearly perfect. That is, it didn't collapse but was hard to ration.

Also - Changed gr to g.