[Sca-cooks] Bisket bread, and weights and measures

[Pixel, Goddess and Queen]

On Tue, 27 Aug 2002, Kirrily Robert wrote:

> Two questions:
>
> 2. Does anyone have a source which provides modern (metric, preferably)
> equivalents for Elizabethan weights including the pound, peck and ounce?
> If I can't find anything, I'll just use modern pounds and ounces, but I
> would rather know the period measures.
> http://www.meridies.org/as/dmir/Brewing&Vintning/slpebmod.html gives a
> good list of books on the subject, but I don't have any of them.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Katherine

The authority (ie, Zupko) sayeth:

peck: a measure for grain and other dry products, generally containing 2
gal (8.810 l) and equal to 1/4 Winchester bushel.

avdp. pound is 16 ounces, troy pound is 12. The troy pound was used for
"bread, wheat, and all manner of graine, or corne..." (and a number of
other things that aren't relevant at the moment, like pearls and silk).
The Avoirdupois pound was used for spices, grocery wares, and "other
drugges".

The avdp. ounce is 28.359 grams, while the troy ounce is 31.103 grams.

Hopefully this will help.

Margaret, who is now going to go back upstairs and draw Gothic versals