Guess I'll just come out and say it. I'm a mixed fraction fan. 23+2/3 instantly tells you it's "23 and a bit", unlike 74/3, and it's more accurate than 23.67.
this post was submitted on 10 Feb 2024
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For me the problem is notation, putting a number in front of a fraction usually means multiplication and when giving a solution in anything but maths, the needed accuracy can be achieved with decimals
I like improper for numbers between 1 and 2 at least
My high school geometry teacher said we're not allowed to use mixed fractions unless we're baking.
Then one time he put mixed fractions on a test. He told the class he was baking when he wrote it.
I always hated mixed fractions as a kid. Thought the teacher just pulled that concept out of their ass.
Its not even helpful in baking.
It definitely is.
If a recipe calls for 3 and 3/4 cups flour, I know right away I need three 1 cup scoops of flour and one 3/4 cup scoop.
If it calls for 15/4 cups, now I need to calculate how many one cup scoops it is and also what the additional remaining fraction is in addition to how much I've actually measured out so far.
The more numbers you need to keep in your head when following a recipe, the more likely you are to make a mistake.
This is a great example of why volumetric recipes are inferior. With grams it's just a single weight standard across the board. I'd much rather just use a scale, when a recipe call for 50g I know I need... a scale. When a recipe calls for 75g I know I need... a scale. No need for dirtying a bunch of inaccurate measuring implements.
Did you, like me, also watch How To Cook That's video the other day?
The first 10 minutes cover the sort of problems people have when baking cookies, and - not much of a spoiler - ultimately reaches the conclusion that measuring ingredients by weight is better.
I haven't seen it, but I've been baking for a long time and came to the same conclusion. One of my exes couldn't get her mom's pupusa recipe right and kept saying her mom does it differently every time, a pinch here and a splash there. So I just stuck her bag of Masa and everything else on a scale and copied her recipe, even extra dustings and splashes of water, to the gram. They all looked at me like I was an idiot. Guess who made identical pupusas every single time?
Just use a quarter cup scoop, less dishes.
Takes longer and compounds errors
If the error matters, you should be using weight.
You're not wrong
If im making pre mixed pancakes, its all about less mess.
Use the 3/4 cup 5 times :)
If a recipe calls for cups, I'm using a different recipe anyway.
Then it doesn't say 3 3/4 cups which is a problem, I don't think it's a mixed fraction if it is written like 3 and 3/4