Measuring water

[Larry De La Briandais]

What does everyone use? I use mostly prepackaged meals that call for a very specific amount of water and don't really want to experiment with alternate amounts. Carrying a measuring cup seems like a waste. I have tried marking a container that I use for other things, but it doesn't last (used a sharpie).

So, I'm trying to find out what everyone uses. I assume that most everyone measures water (maybe a bad assumption, but…), so, what do you use?

[M B]

a marked pot perhaps? A piece of tape on the side?

I never add more than 75% of the water the directions call for anyway. You can always add a dab more water, but the only way to thicken a soupy dinner is to put in mashed potatoes.

[Jake D]

I use a campbells cup of soup cup for a mug. sharpie marks on the side at 1c and 1.5c

[Jerry Adams]

I use Sharpie. Find a place where there's an indent so it doesn't get rubbed off. Still, it gets rubbed off after a while so I re-do the mark. The plastic bottle should be replaced occasionally anyway. Not a perfect solution like you've concluded.

[Gary Dunckel]

I use either a Snow Peak 600 pot or an MSR Titan Kettle, and I have scored lines in them with a Dremel disk to denote 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 cups. This makes it pretty easy to pour the right amount into my FD meal bags. I usually pour 1.5 cups into my Pro Packs, stir well, then add a smidge more to thin it slightly (I don't care much for thick and gloppy meals).

[Bob Gross]

Gary, I think that you will agree, you can go a long way with a Dremel tool.

I etch lines that way on the outside of my clear plastic bowl. Then I mark over that with a black Sharpie. Then I put one drop of clear fingernail polish over that. It never seems to wash off.

–B.G.–

[Matt Weaver]

Since all my pots seem to have ml indentations and no cup markings, I just pour in one cup of water and scratch a line on the inside of the pot (with a pocket knife, screw driver, fork, whatever). Repeat at two cup measurement. No problems with marks disappearing, takes a minute to do.

[Daryl and Daryl]

"Carrying a measuring cup seems like a waste"

I carry a plastic measuring cup as my primary drinking and eating utensil (coffee, granola, beans, etc.) so it isn't a waste of ounces.

[Nico .]

My Evernew cook pots have basic markings (500 ml, 1 L, etc.). If I take a bowl/cup, I use one of those Ziploc "twist n lock" containers which also have basic markings (1 cup…)

I'm able to estimate my water measurements for my meals with either of these well enough for my needs.

If you need more detailed measurements or your bowl/pot don't have other markings, I think using a dremel to etch gradations is a good idea.

[Dale Wambaugh]

I use a center punch to make a few dots on unmarked metal pots at cup intervals. It's pretty easy to gauge 1/4-1/2 cup increments.

You could mark your spoon or chopstick to use as a gauge, like a dipstick.

[David Thomas]

Whether with indented dots or scratches, you can average the two measurements on each side of a cylinder.

i.e. if you mark 1/4, 1/2, 3/4, and 1 cup marks on opposite sides, you can get precisely 1/8, 3/8, 5//8, and 7/8 as well by aligning to disparate marks on each side.

Can't mark on plastic? You want some duct or gorilla tape along, and the easy storage place for tape is on the side of a water bottle. Viola'.

But as noted, just make it a little thick and add a bit of water if needed.

[Nick Gatel]

I use a SWAG. Never have problems.

;)

[W I S N E R !]

I've never cooked anything backpacking that I couldn't just eyeball.

[Bob Shaver]

I use a plastic cup, and I scratched marking for fractions of a cup, put some white out in the scratches, so my drinking cup is a measuring cup.

[Daniel Pittman]

OK Nick, what's a SWAG?

Edit: NM, I looked it up. That's exactly my method, but I'd never heard it called that.

[Greg Mihalik]

***WildAssGuess

Stupid
Simple
Scientific

…the result of which you can claim to be PFM.

[Daniel Pittman]

There's a bucket of wine and a bucket of water and you transfer a cup of wine to the water bucket, and then a cup of the mixture back to the wine bucket. Is there more wine in the water or water in the wine?

DO NOT Google the answer. Work it around in your head, and explain your reasoning.

[Joe Lynch]

My msr soloist has a cup with markings inside. I'm really happy with my soloist set.

[Franco Darioli]

Going back to measuring…
My pot holds 500ml at about 1cm from the top.
Half of that is 250ml or 1 cup. so one quater of my pot is about 125ml or half a cup.
All of the above are good enough for me to figure out how much water I need.

[Jeremy and Angela]

How much liquid is in each bucket?

E.g. each bucket has 1 cup of liquid to start:
1. The wine bucket becomes empty, with 2 cups in the water bucket, 1:1 mix.
2. The water bucket is reduced back to 1 cup, 1:1 mix.
3. The wine bucket once more has 1 cup of the 1:1 mix.
Thus, the buckets are equal.

Or, each bucket has 9 cups to start:
1. 8 cups in the wine bucket; 10 cups in the water bucket (now 90% water).
2. 9 cups in the water bucket, still a 9:1 ratio (== 81:9), favoring water.
3. 9 cups in the wine bucket, 8.1:.9 ratio (8 cups wine plus a cup that's 90% water): also 81:9, favoring wine.

So, it doesn't seem to matter; they are the same. I think I see a relationship with the water:wine ratio being the inverse of what's needed to balance out the other bucket. Since the ratio for the water bucket is calculated with an extra cup of liquid (e.g. 9:1 rather than 8:1, which means a 90% solution rather than an 88.9% solution), the cup being added back to the wine bucket needs to reflect that offset in some way. What did I miss?

// On topic: my teacup came with measurements; I just use those.

[Roger Caffin]

No one mentioned the sizes of the buckets.

Let the water bucket be huge, and the wine bucket small – so small it holds just one cup of wine.
Transfer 1 cup of wine to the water bucket. Now there is no wine in the wine bucket.
Transfer 1 cup of water/wine mix back to the wine bucket. Now there is a very small amount of wine in the wine bucket, and all the rest of the cup-full in the water bucket.

Alternately, let the water bucket be tiny and the wine bucket huge …

I suggest the problem is so poorly defined that any answer could be correct.

Cheers

[Larry De La Briandais]

With 1/4 cup measurements I can guess the others well enough.

Some really great ideas here (I knew there would be). I got one of those really light SS pots from Sierra Trading Post and I think I will use the center punch method, unless I can find my Dad's dremel. I need to find that thing, seems like there is always something I want it for. :^)

Thanks for the ideas. Next time I want to use a plastic container I have several new ideas to try!

[Jeremy and Angela]

Extending my "solution", as long as each bucket starts with at least 1 cup of liquid, this shouldn't actually matter; in each case the amount of wine added to the water bucket should equal the amount of water added to the wine bucket.

E.g. if you start with 1 cup of wine and 9 cups of water, you still end up with 0.9 cups of water in the wine bucket and 0.9 cups of wine in the water bucket.

[Jerry Adams]

After drinking enough of the wine, exact measures become less important : )

[Alpo Kuusisto]

I like to make my meals almost soups, so water usage is generous. Hot pasta soup on cold winter day – aahhh. But have never cooked with wine. How do you do that with freeze dried meals?

Ps. There's a simple and general answer to w vs w problem. No math involved, just logic.

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