One pint of liquid weighs one pound.
One pint of meat chopped and packed solid weighs one pound.
Seven heaping tablespoonfuls of sugar = one cupful.
Five heaping tablespoonfuls of flour = one cupful.
Two cupfuls of liquid or dry material = one pint
Four cupfuls of liquid or dry material = one quart.
Mixing Materials.—In the compounding of recipes, various modes are employed for mingling together the different ingredients, chief of which are stirring, beating, and kneading.
By stirring is meant a continuous motion round and round with a spoon, without lifting it from the mixture, except to scrape occasionally from the sides of the dish any portion of the material that may cling to it. It is not necessary that the stirring should be all in one direction, as many cooks suppose. The object of the stirring is to thoroughly blend the ingredients, and this may be accomplished as well by stirring—in one direction as in another.
Beating is for the purpose of incorporating as much air in the mixture as possible. It should be done by dipping the spoon in and out, cutting clear through and lifting from the bottom with each stroke. The process must be continuous, and must never be interspersed with any stirring if it is desired to retain the air within the mixture.
Kneading is the mode by which materials already in the form of dough are more thoroughly blended together; it also serves to incorporate air. The process is more fully described in the chapter on "Bread,"