Spaghetti Measure: Neat, but why not get a scale?

This aperture-sporting little gadget is Joseph Joseph's Spaghetti Measure, which quantifies your pre-cooked noodles by cross-sectional area. It's cute, and visually compelling, and has the guise of usefulness - but how useful is it, really? I can think of a few problems: the "serving size" numbers are arbitrary and can't seem to be translated to standard units; the measurement depends on spaghetti of a certain diameter and length to be consistent; and worst of all, this is a one-trick wonder that only works on spaghetti noodles, not any others! If you're going to get a truly useful pasta-measuring gadget, find a lightweight kitchen scale; it's good for pasta of all shapes and sizes, and other small measurables as well. It may lack the cuteness factor, but I wager it'll serve you better for years.
[via Gizmodo]

2 comments:

Anthony said...

Ahh, but spaghetti is a specific length and diameter. Anything bigger or smaller has another designation (fettucini, angel hair, etc.).

This seems to be a new take on a very old device. I remember my Grandma's kitchen had a wooden board with 3 different sized holes to measure out spaghetti.

Dave Gustafson said...

Really? I thought one could get spaghetti of the "extra thick" or "extra thin" variety... Oh well. And they're only a standard length if you don't break'em! :-)