Dry measure
Encyclopedia
Dry measures are units of volume
used to measure bulk commodities which are not gas
or liquid
. They are typically used in agriculture
, agronomy
, and commodity markets
to measure grain
, dried bean
s, and dried and fresh fruit (e.g. a peck
of apples is a retail unit); formerly also salt pork
and fish
. They are also used in fishing
for clam
s, crab
s, etc. and formerly for many other substances (e.g. coal, cement, lime) which were typically shipped and delivered in a standardized container such as a barrel.
They are often confused or conflated with units of mass
, assuming a nominal density
, and indeed many units nominally of dry measure have become standardized as units of mass (see bushel
).
, the unit of dry volume was the stere
, but this is not part of the modern metric system
; the liter
and the cubic meter (m³) are now used. However, the stere is still widely used for firewood
.
, dry barrel, dry gallon
, dry quart
, dry pint
, etc. The bushel
and the peck
are only used for dry goods. Imperial units of volume are the same for both dry and liquid goods. They have a different value from both the dry and liquid US versions.
Many of the units are associated with particular goods, so for instance the dry hogshead has been used for sugar and for tobacco and the peck for apples. There are also special measures for special goods, such as the cord
of wood, the sack, the bale
of cotton, the box of fruit, etc.
Because it is difficult to measure actual volume and easy to measure mass, many of these units are now also defined as units of mass, specific to each commodity, so a bushel of apples is a different weight from a bushel of wheat (weighed at a specific moisture level). Indeed, the bushel, the best-known unit of dry measure because it is the quoted unit in commodity markets
, is in fact a unit of mass in those contexts.
Conversely, the ton
used in specifying tonnage
and in freight calculations is often a volume measurement rather than a mass measurement.
In U.S. cooking
, dry and liquid measures are the same: the cup
, the tablespoon
, the teaspoon
.
US dry measures are 16% larger than liquid measures; this is advantageous when cooking with fresh produce, as a dry pint of vegetables after trimming ends up being about a cooking (liquid) pint.
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
used to measure bulk commodities which are not gas
Gas
Gas is one of the three classical states of matter . Near absolute zero, a substance exists as a solid. As heat is added to this substance it melts into a liquid at its melting point , boils into a gas at its boiling point, and if heated high enough would enter a plasma state in which the electrons...
or liquid
Liquid
Liquid is one of the three classical states of matter . Like a gas, a liquid is able to flow and take the shape of a container. Some liquids resist compression, while others can be compressed. Unlike a gas, a liquid does not disperse to fill every space of a container, and maintains a fairly...
. They are typically used in agriculture
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
, agronomy
Agronomy
Agronomy is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, feed, fiber, and reclamation. Agronomy encompasses work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science. Agronomy is the application of a combination of sciences like biology,...
, and commodity markets
Commodity markets
Commodity markets are markets where raw or primary products are exchanged. These raw commodities are traded on regulated commodities exchanges, in which they are bought and sold in standardized contracts....
to measure grain
GRAIN
GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems. Our support takes the form of independent research and analysis, networking at local, regional and...
, dried bean
Bean
Bean is a common name for large plant seeds of several genera of the family Fabaceae used for human food or animal feed....
s, and dried and fresh fruit (e.g. a peck
Peck
A peck is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning , and four pecks make a bushel....
of apples is a retail unit); formerly also salt pork
Pork
Pork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig , which is eaten in many countries. It is one of the most commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BC....
and fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
. They are also used in fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
for clam
Clam
The word "clam" can be applied to freshwater mussels, and other freshwater bivalves, as well as marine bivalves.In the United States, "clam" can be used in several different ways: one, as a general term covering all bivalve molluscs...
s, crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
s, etc. and formerly for many other substances (e.g. coal, cement, lime) which were typically shipped and delivered in a standardized container such as a barrel.
They are often confused or conflated with units of mass
Mass
Mass can be defined as a quantitive measure of the resistance an object has to change in its velocity.In physics, mass commonly refers to any of the following three properties of matter, which have been shown experimentally to be equivalent:...
, assuming a nominal density
Density
The mass density or density of a material is defined as its mass per unit volume. The symbol most often used for density is ρ . In some cases , density is also defined as its weight per unit volume; although, this quantity is more properly called specific weight...
, and indeed many units nominally of dry measure have become standardized as units of mass (see bushel
Bushel
A bushel is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 4 pecks or 8 gallons. It is used for volumes of dry commodities , most often in agriculture...
).
Metric units
In the original metric systemMetric system
The metric system is an international decimalised system of measurement. France was first to adopt a metric system, in 1799, and a metric system is now the official system of measurement, used in almost every country in the world...
, the unit of dry volume was the stere
Stère
The stere or stère is a unit of volume in the original metric system equal to one cubic metre. The name was coined from the Greek στερεός stereos 'solid' in 1793 France as a metric equivalent to the cord. The stère is typically used for measuring large quantities of firewood or other cut wood,...
, but this is not part of the modern metric system
Si
Si, si, or SI may refer to :- Measurement, mathematics and science :* International System of Units , the modern international standard version of the metric system...
; the liter
Litér
- External links :*...
and the cubic meter (m³) are now used. However, the stere is still widely used for firewood
Firewood
Firewood is any wood-like material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form....
.
Imperial and U.S. customary units
In U.S. customary units, most units of volume exist both in a dry and a liquid version, with the same name, but different values: the dry hogsheadHogshead
A hogshead is a large cask of liquid . More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either Imperial units or U.S. customary units, primarily applied to alcoholic beverages such as wine, ale, or cider....
, dry barrel, dry gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
, dry quart
Quart
The quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately...
, dry pint
Pint
The pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
, etc. The bushel
Bushel
A bushel is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 4 pecks or 8 gallons. It is used for volumes of dry commodities , most often in agriculture...
and the peck
Peck
A peck is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning , and four pecks make a bushel....
are only used for dry goods. Imperial units of volume are the same for both dry and liquid goods. They have a different value from both the dry and liquid US versions.
Many of the units are associated with particular goods, so for instance the dry hogshead has been used for sugar and for tobacco and the peck for apples. There are also special measures for special goods, such as the cord
Cord (unit of volume)
The cord is a unit of measure of dry volume used in Canada and the United States to measure firewood and pulpwood. A cord is the amount of wood that, when "ranked and well stowed" , occupies a volume of...
of wood, the sack, the bale
Bale
- Places :* Bale , a small town in Croatia* Bale, California, in Napa County* Bale, Norfolk in England* Bale, Poland* Balé Province, Burkina Faso* Basel, the Swiss city, for which the French name is Bâle-Ethiopia:* Bale Mountains...
of cotton, the box of fruit, etc.
Because it is difficult to measure actual volume and easy to measure mass, many of these units are now also defined as units of mass, specific to each commodity, so a bushel of apples is a different weight from a bushel of wheat (weighed at a specific moisture level). Indeed, the bushel, the best-known unit of dry measure because it is the quoted unit in commodity markets
Commodity markets
Commodity markets are markets where raw or primary products are exchanged. These raw commodities are traded on regulated commodities exchanges, in which they are bought and sold in standardized contracts....
, is in fact a unit of mass in those contexts.
Conversely, the ton
Ton
The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...
used in specifying tonnage
Tonnage
Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...
and in freight calculations is often a volume measurement rather than a mass measurement.
In U.S. cooking
Cooking
Cooking is the process of preparing food by use of heat. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely across the world, reflecting unique environmental, economic, and cultural traditions. Cooks themselves also vary widely in skill and training...
, dry and liquid measures are the same: the cup
Cup (unit)
The cup is a customary unit of measurement for volume, used in cooking to measure liquids and bulk foods such as granulated sugar...
, the tablespoon
Tablespoon
A tablespoon is a type of large spoon usually used for serving. A tablespoonful, the capacity of one tablespoon, is commonly used as a measure of volume in cooking...
, the teaspoon
Teaspoon
A teaspoon, an item of cutlery, is a small spoon, commonly part of a silverware place setting, suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of tea or coffee...
.
US dry measures are 16% larger than liquid measures; this is advantageous when cooking with fresh produce, as a dry pint of vegetables after trimming ends up being about a cooking (liquid) pint.
Struck and heaped measurement
The volume of bulk goods is usually measured by filling a standard container, so the containers' names and the units' names are often the same, and indeed both are called "measures". Normally, a level or struck measure is assumed, with the excess being swept off level ("struck") with the measure's brim—the stick used for this is called a "strickle". Sometimes heaped or heaping measures are used, with the commodity heaped in a cone above the measure.U.S. units of dry measure
- 1 pint (pt) = 0.550610471 L
- 1 quartQuartThe quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately...
(qt) = 2 pt = 1.101220942715 L - 1 gallonGallonThe gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
(gal) = 4 qt = 268.8025 in³ = 4.40488377086 L - 1 peckPeckA peck is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent to 2 gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. Two pecks make a kenning , and four pecks make a bushel....
(pk) = 8 qt = 2 gal = 8.80976754 L - 1 bushelBushelA bushel is an imperial and U.S. customary unit of dry volume, equivalent in each of these systems to 4 pecks or 8 gallons. It is used for volumes of dry commodities , most often in agriculture...
(bu) = 2150.42 cu in = 4 pk ≈ 35.2391 L