What is tablespoon size

Last week, this query was posted by Andrew Phillips, a member of our Facebook community:. Yesterday I baked brownies requiring 6 tablespoons of cocoa. I dug through our cutlery drawer and the only thing resembling a tablespoon seemed too big, so I asked my friend if it was, perhaps, a tablespoon. She laughed derisively and said a tablespoon is just a regular spoon — the kind you eat cereal with. Please help. It is either approximately or in some countries exactly equal to 15 mL.

In recipes, an abbreviation like tbsp. Some authors additionally capitalize the abbreviation, as Tbsp. Use the tip of your thumb as a guide for measuring a tablespoon. As a general rule, the tip of your finger should measure about 1 teaspoon while the tip of your thumb should equal about a tablespoon. Hold your thumb next to whatever you are measuring to portion out a similar amount. A US tablespoon tbls is three teaspoons 15mL. Measure how much your bottle caps hold when you first purchase a new cooking ingredient to have the conversions in mind in the future.

Did you make this recipe? Leave a review. Method 2. Remember that 2 tablespoons is the size of a ping pong ball. If you want to monitor your portion sizes when eating at restaurants, knowing how to visually identify a tablespoon is a valuable skill. As a reference, keep in mind that a ping pong ball generally represents two tablespoons.

While this may be difficult to identify with liquids, solid substances will make the comparison pretty straightforward. Use the tip of your thumb as a guide for measuring a tablespoon. As a general rule, the tip of your finger should measure about 1 teaspoon while the tip of your thumb should equal about a tablespoon. Hold your thumb next to whatever you are measuring to portion out a similar amount. Adjust the amount slightly if you thumb is larger or smaller than average.

Use a cupped hand to measure 2 tablespoons of liquid. As a general rule, a cupped hand will hold about 2 tablespoons of liquid. If you do not have any measuring spoons or cups, you can approximate a tablespoon of liquid by filling up your cupped hand halfway.

If your hands are especially small or large, you may add or omit liquid accordingly. Note the portions of food that always equal a tablespoon. Some foods have consistent portion sizes and can be broken down to a tablespoon easily. Keep these in mind for fast measuring the next time you are cooking, baking, or calorie counting. One tablespoon of sugar, for instance, is equal to 3 single serving packets of sugar, or 3 sugar cubes.

A level spoon is generally recommended unless your recipe specifies otherwise. Not Helpful 11 Helpful All of these are common abbreviations for "tablespoon. I have two sets, one cheap-o set my husband had in college, and one nicer one that we got as a wedding gift. So I used both sets of spoons to compare against a set of kitchen measuring spoons. The verdict? The big spoons equaled exactly--to the drop--a tablespoon. Same thing with the smaller spoons: exactly a teaspoon.