measuring | Beyond The Kitchen Sink

Snapshots of spaghetti

Looking very much like a camera iris diaphragm, the Joseph Joseph Spaghetti Measure doesnâ€™t measure f-stops, but spaghetti servings instead. The kitchen gadget answers the age-old question of how much spaghetti to make by providing a simple guide. Determine 1-4 servings simply by placing uncooked spaghetti through the aperture and moving the lever accordingly. Finally, another reason to think of cameras and spaghetti in the same thought without involving a baby, a bowl and a whole lotta mess.

Oh, what the hay, just one.

Mysterious Russian nesting dolls measure accurately

It must be by some prescient force of Russian magic that Sergei Maliutin and Vasiliy Zvezdochkin created Russian nesting dolls. How else would they have been able to know that over 100 years later, the toy would be discovered to be an actual tool? Whether you call them nesting dolls or matrioshka, matryoshka, babushka dolls, or stacking dolls, the fact remains: they accurately act as measuring cups.

Okay, so well, you need the M-Cups from Fred & Friends to actually use the nesting dolls as measuring cups, but the fact remains that this set is just as home in the kitchen as it is on the tchotchke shelf. At least in the case of this set, they accurately measure 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4 and 1 full cup. How? We may never know. Like how the moon can be just the right size to cause the occasional perfect solar eclipse, some things may never well be answered.

For when one spout just won’t do

It’s no secret that lefties are forced to wrestle with a world built for righties. For the lefty, everything from scissors to can openers all the work the ‘wrong’ way. Which is why I can understand why having a measuring cup with measurements all around the vessel would be a good thing. Be that as it may, I’m still not exactly sure why this Triple Pour Glass Measuring Cup needs three spouts. And it’s not even the only one out there. By that logic my ‘normal’ righty version should have two spouts, but it only has one. It probably all has to do something with an eventual lefty uprising, but I hope they bake the rest of us a nice batch of cookies first.

Spice jar meets measuring spoon

The goal of any good kitchen gadget should be to combine common tasks into one streamlined operation. When measuring out herbs and spices why bother digging out a measuring spoon when you could just integrate one into the jar itself? Thatâ€™s exactly what is going on with these Airtite Auto-Measure Spice Jars.

Available in either black or white, the 5-ounce spice jar conveniently dispenses dried herbs and spices one-quarter teaspoon at a time. Included is a shaker top for instances where good olâ€™ fashioned eyeballing it is good enoughâ€”which now doesnâ€™t have to be each time since you wonâ€™t have to hunt for those pesky measuring spoons.