How To Test the Accuracy of Your Measuring Spoons

I first heard about this from Stella Parks on SeriousEats.com, so I looked into this further when I notice two of my teaspoons looked very different in size.

In the United States, a tablespoon is defined as a unit of volume equal to half a fluid ounce (just shy of 15 milliliters), while a teaspoon is a unit of volume equal to one-sixth of a fluid ounce (roughly five milliliters). Maddeningly, these standards aren't upheld by government regulations, so the accuracy of any given measuring spoon rests solely on the integrity of the manufacturer. For that reason, She finds novelty spoons (shaped like hearts or Pikachu or whatever) notoriously unreliable, as well as those based on some gimmicky design.

How do you determine if a newly purchased set of spoons is accurate? Test them.

From Stella Parks: An easy way to verify the accuracy of your teaspoon is to grab the little dosage cup that comes with every bottle of cough syrup; two teaspoons should bring you to the 10-milliliter line. If not, your set's a dud. If you have a scale, you can also check by weighing out a tablespoon of water to be sure it clocks in at half an ounce. (Just make sure your scale is accurate enough to reliably measure in half-ounce increments.)

From King Arthur Flour: Fill each spoon level with table salt, and weigh, remembering to tare the scale before adding the salt. To tare a scale means before you add your ingredient to measure, place the bowl, or whatever you are using to hold the ingredient, on the scale first; then turn the scale on. A teaspoon of standard table salt should weigh between 6 and 7 grams. If your new 1/4 teaspoon measure filled with salt reads 3g, you might question the whole set’s accuracy.