re: Chuck G. dosage calculator

[Dirk.Matthys at toyota-europe_com]

Thank you everybody for the swift response.
I learned two things from the reply.

- spoons have to be level.
- spoons are an actual standard! after reading the mail my wife showed up
with some measuring spoons in different colours she uses for cooking. I
initially thought that people just grab in the kitchen drawer for any spoon
hence my question. Obviously there is something like measuring spoons which
make life easier.

( and regarding granule size of these chemicals: I buy lab grade KNO3 and
K2SO4 from pharmacy, they are dry white powders quite easy to measure and
dissolve. KNO3 is not sold as stump remover or fertiliser here. at least
not in the end customer facing stores. )

Thanks everybody.

I hope to have my website up in February showing the results of PMDD
approach.

Measuring spoons AFAIK are to be leveled, so I assume Chuck's are also.
Calumet baking powder (not soda) comes with a built-in straight edge on the
inner lid just for that purpose -- a neat idea. I too have found that
different spoons have different ideas of what a teaspoon holds (5 mL, no?).
I even have one set where the tablespoon is marked as 2 teaspoons (makes
for hot chili).

Jared

Dirk is wondering about how to fill a "measuring spoon". It ought to be
levelled off. An old credit card works well.

As for spoons that vary - get out of the Dollar Store. A "teaspoon" or a
"tablespoon" are standard measurments, at least in baking - there isn't (or
shouldn't be) any variation from one spoon set to the next. If there IS,
throw the offending set away and buy a set that is accurate.

Cuisipro makes a nice set in stainless steel in sizes from 1/8 tsp. (0.625
ml), 1/4 tsp. (1.25 ml), 1/2 tsp. (2.5 ml), 1 tsp. (5 ml.) and 1 tblsp. (15
ml.). They ought to be available from any half decent kitchenware store or
you can get them online from Cooking.com for $9.95.

(http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=137556)

You might also find a set labelled "dash, smidgen, pinch". A "dash" is the
same as 1/8 tsp. (0.625 ml), a a "pinch" is 1/16 tsp. (0.312 ml) and a
"smidgen" is 1/32 tsp. (0.156 ml). The set I use are from Restoration
Hardware.

(
http://www.startsampling.com/slProduct.iphtml?name=Pinch%2C%20Dash%2C%20Smi
dgen)

One tip, if this is how you are going to measure out your chemicals, is to
make sure that you also have a small mortar and pestle to grind up any
chemicals which aren't already in finely granulated form (KNO3 is commonly
sold as "prills", little white balls that look like tapioca). You will be
more accurate in your measurment if you grind up the prills into a powder
before you try to fill your measuring spoon. Calcium Nitrate (at least the
Decahydrate form) is also sold as "prills" and Epsom Salts crystals are
sometimes rather large - they will all benefit from being ground into a
powder before being measured.

Of course, for some I expect that even this will be too close to "rocket
science" to be useful....... :-)

James Purchase
Toronto