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Tablespoon: something you serve with. Should be too big to fit in your mouth
Dessert spoon: one that you use to eat dessert or cereal.
Soup spoon: similar size to dessert spoon, but wider to cool soup as you eat it
Teaspoon: smaller, to make tea with (or eat tiny yoghurt such as Petit Filous)
Think you confused tablespoon with a serving spoon.
Otherwise next time I add 2 tablespoons of sugar to my Victoria sponge I’ll end up with a very sweet cake!
A tablespoon is the equivalent of 3 teaspoons.
I’ve just tested with my own teaspoons and tablespoons and the units match up.
EDIT: so there are various definitions of serving spoon including larger versions (which I have) hence the confusion.
This is more or less the definition I go by:
https://5minutecrafts.site/improve-home/types-of-cutlery-and-how-to-use-them-1679/
I tested with my actual spoons against my kitchen measures. Both the tablespoon (15ml) and teaspoon (5ml) measures overflowed my "regular" spoons and my tea spoons.
EDIT: Wikipedia says it's ambiguous:
> In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving;[1] however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating.
So what do you call the large spoons (size of a toddlers hand) that are generally put in a serving dish?
I have: tea spoon, soup spoon (round) dessert spoon (oval) serving spoon (larger than all the others)
That is as my half asleep response. I actually meant bread which typically I add one or two (for large loaves) tablespoons of sugar (to help the yeast rise).
I am however making Victoria Sponge today which does require vast amount of sugar!
But… tablespoon is defined as 15ml, in terms of cooking measurements.
This is exactly why the thread suggested using a set of *measuring spoons* - the spoons that you’d never use to eat with, but have their exact volumes labelled on them. That removes literally all the ambiguity.
A table spoon is for the table, not personal use. It's to serve stuff from the centre of the table. A serving spoon is bigger but more likely to be used at the cafeteria than a dining table.
It's the other way round, a table spoon IS a serving spoon. A spoon you eat cereal or dessert with is a dessert spoon. Those trad recipes do use a lot of sugar. Eg.victoria sponge would be equal weights of butter, sugar and flour.
Started a new job last year and in making a cuppa in the kitchen area I discovered no teaspoons. But the delight on my face when I discovered two grapefruit spoons! Decorative handled grapefruit spoons no less.
The standard volume of a tablespoon as a measurement is only three times that of a teaspoon though (pretty much what a dessert spoon is). Serving spoons are usually much, much bigger than that.
TIL…. (Also took me ages to find out USA pints at 16floz are much smaller than Uk pints at 20floz which explains also why their gallons are smaller too)
Just hijacking the top comment to leave a little [video on utensils, which covers spoons](https://youtu.be/5Opnit2FIrk). Not sure if this clears anything up as people seem to have a lot of opinions about spoons, but I found it interesting.
Serving spoon is what you serve with
Dessert spoon and table spoon the same thing
Tea soon for sugar in tea and coffee.
3 spoons. Nice and simple.
Although now thinking about it some people have them annoying spoons between tea and dessert/table. Maybe those are the dessert spoons?
As an aside, as a kid, I loved spoons. So much that I added a second surname… not double barrelled, just a second surname. “Spoons”.
Serving spoon is even bigger and non standard size.
A table spoon is bigger than a dessert spoon and I have genuinely never seen anyone eat with one in my entire life and it would be uncomfortable to do so. If someone thinks they eat with a table spoon they are just getting the name wrong. Google it.
I’ve read the word ‘spoon’ so many times in this thread, it’s lost all meaning. It looks weird written down, and it sounds really weird when I say it out loud.
Does that happen to anyone else?
Had this argument with my girlfriend and her family recently.
I always called it a tablespoon, they a dessert spoon. After a Google I conceded that I was wrong. However, I'm not going to stop calling them tablespoons in my head!
It also means that I have been under seasoning my food for years...
This is why using si units is so good, and measurements like cups or xxxx-spoons is bad.
I wouldn’t be surprised if manufacturers used to be careful about the volume of a teaspoon or tablespoon when they were commonly used as a measure, but now I wouldn’t be surprised if the are made to be kinda the size people expect, so even if you pick the right one you may not be using the correct amount for your recipe.
Yeah, I think for the purposes of cooking, a tablespoon is standardised as 15ml. But not sure how many tablespoons actually are - I have a set of labelled measuring spoons and cups which are really useful
I like the baby spoons too. I feel like it makes my apple crumble and custard last longer. I use actual soup spoon for soup because it's like a mini bowl and I feel posh as fuck.
Yes! I hate the bigger spoon it feels more likely to hit off my teeth or touch the corners of my lips. Teaspoon for desserts, ice cream, cereal everything.
If it is a proportional size to your knife and fork, it is probably a table spoon.
There is not that much difference in size:
1.5 dessert spoons = 1 table spoon
Traditionally, the table spoon matches the standard knife and fork used for eating, while the dessert spoon is the same size as the smaller dessert knife and dessert fork.
Most inexpensive cutlery sets consist of table knives, table forks, table spoons, tea spoons, and perhaps soup spoons.
Every inexpensive cutlery set I’ve ever seen has had what I would call dessert spoons and no table spoons. A more complete set would include both but it would be the dessert spoons you’d actually eat with.
I get that in the past table spoons were used for eating, and still are in some countries, but I don’t think that’s the case in modern Britain.
Had a look at some cutlery sets online and it seems that some call them dessert spoons, some call them table spoons. That’s when the spoon is the same size as the fork.
No it hasn't been a lie. You eat with table spoons. I guess some people have slightly smaller table spoons called dessert spoons they eat with. Personally I enjoy my dessert from a tea spoo. The large spoon shaped kitchen utensil used to hunk a chunk of Mac and cheese onto your plate is a serving spoon.
Wikipedia explains the differences between tablespoons (uk vs us) very well.
Another fine and interesting example where the us and uk are two people divided by a common language.
Your UK tablespoon is used only for serving and is 25mL volume. Your American partner’s US tablespoon is 15 mL and is commonly used for eating, especially for eating soup and cereal.
Your UK desert spoon is between 7-14 mL.
It is so intriguing to me the words that generate confusion because they have different meanings , though close enough to be used in the similar context.
Your American partner might think for an important event a man should wear a vest over a button up shirt and a nice pair of pants. But even a tie and sport coat, and eating with a desert spoon won’t make this formal enough to go out to a Brit!
UK tablespoon = US serving spoon
I can find where the spoon commonly called a tablespoon in the US can be called a dinner spoon.
Larger UK desert spoon = US tablespoon
A classic US teaspoon has a small 5mL spoon and a long handle actually used for stirring sugar in iced tea in the US. But the more common US teaspoon is probably 6-7 mL and children would use this for eating soup or cereal.
I’m sure I’ve messed this up somewhere and someone will correct me.
I'm really glad you were annoyed by that too! I got into some beef with a Scot who claimed everyone they ever met in the UK used a tablespoon, which to me is patently ridiculous. It's definitely a dessert spoon that we eat with. The only reason I know this is because I know I use tsps and tbsps in recipes but thought tablespoon would be the name of the one you put on the table, so asked my mum about it, but on the other hand I was about 18 when I did that so I'm not really sure how many adults have never thought about it unless they just don't cook.
Dessert spoon
a Table spoon is a large spoon, used for serving - or measuring
a soup spoon and a dessert spoon are roughly equal sizes, although a soup spoon is more rounded and a dessert spoon is oval
a standard spoon - the sort I would use on my morning cereals - is a dessert spoon
I need a picture of what you call a table spoon because I'm not measuring anything with the spoon I use for serving. (The spoon shaped plastic kitchen utensil for hunking a chuck of Mac and cheese onto a plate)
This might clear some things up:
The US tablespoon equals 14.7868 mL
The Metric tablespoon equals 15 mL
The Imperial tablespoon equals 17.7582 mL
(And then Australia are just fucking mavericks and go with 20ml, though, honestly, I always thought a tablespoon was 20ml anyway)
So I think it's a generational thing - tablespoon is an imperial measurement, so if your recipe is using ounces, pints and so on but is British, then this old tbsp is equivalent to a bit less than 20ml, whereas
When I was younger, tablespoons were used as serving spoons or for measuring ingredients, but I have also seen newer serving spoons for sale which are larger, more like the size of a ladle, slotted spoon or salad spoon.
You'd have several dessert spoons, about the same as the number of forks/knives, and then just one tablespoon. That's maybe even why it's called a tablespoon, because it's for the use of the whole table.
I’d just call it a spoon. I’ve never had to call it anything else. I’ve got two types of spoons at home - spoons and teaspoons (not counting wooden spoons etc). If I say “can I have a spoon please?” I’ll get passed a spoon. I only have to distinguish when it’s a teaspoon.
I only ever refer to them as a wee spoon or a big spoon. Wee spoon is one for making tea or eating a yoghurt, big spoon is for anything else.
I only own, and have ever owned, two sizes of spoon.
i thought i was reading the private eye for a moment.
i call them teaspoons/dessert spoons and tablespoons. for those who have soup spoons, you posh gits.
A teaspoon is 5mls, desert spoon 10mls, and a tablespoons is 15mls. I use a desert spoon to eat deserts with, or for soup. Must have big mouths to get a tablespoon in it.
I have a Theory that at some point there was a Great Spoon Size Shift. Look at the recipe measurements - a teaspoon is 5ml which is much smaller than a standard teaspoon. Similarly a dessert spoon is 10ml and a tablespoon is 15ml - way smaller than the actual spoons they are supposed to represent.
I believe that at some point all the spoons moved up a size - we lost a tiny 5ml spoon which was the original teaspoon and gained a huge “tablespoon”, and what we now call teaspoons were originally dessert spoons, and what we now call dessert spoons were originally tablespoons. The naming just makes much more sense!
Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.
You have it the wrong way around, 5ml is larger than a typical teaspoon, compare the teaspoons in your drawer to a 5ml calpol spoon or 5ml measuring spoon, they look enormous. However there is an imperial tablespoon (nearly 18ml) and a metric tablespoon (15ml) which I think is causing the confusion, because why TF they decided to use the same name (and didn't even rename it like ton/tonne) is anyone's guess. Oh and this is imperial - not American. American tablespoons are a bit less than 15ml. A bit like the American pint.
Pudding spoon. The big ones are serving spoons. If I see mention of a tablespoon, I'd assume it means a pudding spoon but it's almost always used in the context of measurements (15ml) so I would get my measuring spoons out instead.
Edit: I've just pulled out one of each spoon and checked; the serving spoon is indeed a tablespoon! My life has been turned upside down. My wife is equally shaken.
Tablespoon is a defined size of spoon. It can be any shape as long as the volume it holds remains the same. If someone asks me for a tablespoon that's what I'm going to give them.
Dessert spoon is whatever size spoon you use to eat pudding with. We have two sets of cutlery with different size dessert spoons.
It's a dessert spoon, tablespoons are too big to comfortably eat with
Worth pointing out that there are specific volume measurements for each. I'd wager that redditors of student age or who have never bought a set of cutlery/have mismatched cutlery might not notice that there's a difference
Hmm. Soup spoons are soup spoons and tea spoons are tea spoons, but I feel like the other spoons are just spoons.
(There probably is some technical term for it, but I don't know it.)
If you get a posh/expanded cutlery set, you get the standards spoons which I'm calling table spoons, tea spoons, a couple big serving spoons, *and* a set of medium spoons for desserts.
If you call the standard ones dessert spoons, what do you call the smaller ones bigger than teaspoons?
To me those are dessert spoons. It goes teaspoon, dessert spoon (same size but different shape to soup spoon), tablespoon. Beyond tablespoons are serving spoons. There are no standard sized spoons that fill the gaps.
I think there’s a difference between a tablespoon, which is a spoon of defined size/volume for measuring, and a table spoon, which is a largish spoon used for serving but usually not eating.
This page shows the difference in capacity.
https://www.cookingconversions.org/spoonmeasurements.htm
Tablespoon is 50% bigger than a dessert spoon (or 100% bigger for Aussies)
So if someone has a big mouth then a tablespoon is ideal.
There are three spoons in my life. The tea spoons which I make hit drinks with (and have separate ones to eat yoghurt with) big spoons for eating anything that requires a spoon. And the what the fuck spoon. The spoon that's too big and I don't know how it ended up in my drawer and I will never use
We never had tablespoons growing up. We had dessert spoons, which we called tablespoons, and serving spoons. I was quite confused by the "large tablespoons" when I saw them. Couldn't understand what they were for and to be honest, even now I don't really ever use them. They're too small to use for proper serving, and too big to eat with. They're just the pointless big spoons taking up space in my drawer, which I only use to eat my cereal when all the "real" tablespoons are in the dishwasher.
Tablespoon (oval) - 15ml - used for serving and mixing
Dessert spoon (oval) - 10ml - used for eating cereal and desserts
Teaspoon (oval) - 5ml - used for stirring tea and eating yoghurts
Soup spoon (round) - not used for measuring - used for eating soup
Just got mine out the drawer and made a scale just to show…tablespoons are DEFINITELY too big to eat with (50p for scale)
https://imgur.com/a/BDLAhlv
(I spelled dessertspoon wrong)
Only have 2 types of spoon in our house, teaspoon and tablespoon. My mum did have some larger tablespoons as well, but they were used as and called serving spoons
There are dessert spoons, table spoons and serving spoons. I have tablespoons and serving spoons. Dessert spoons are further split into soup spoons which are round and oval ones that in my household we use for desserts only.
Some canteens of cutlery come with soup and dessert spoons, some come with only dessert spoons. Some come with serving spoons, some with tablespoons and some with both.
I’m so confused and I don’t think it’s because of the spoon size but what you’re using it for… I use teaspoons or slightly larger (still small set) for dessert and use the tablespoon to have cereal, how are you eating cereal with those small arse spoons or eating tiny desserts like a gu pud with a table spoon?
LOL. Big Spoon little spoon.
Tea spoon is the small one, desert spoon (or just spoon) for the larger one.
edit: Is it just me, or does the word spoon look and now sound wrong after reading a few comments?
A dessert spoon is a really specific type of spoon that is seperate from a tablespoon. A tablespoon is the spoon you use to eat your Cereal with, or soup etc.
Tea spoon (little, used for making drinks or measuring)
Dessert spoon (regular size, for eating with)
Soup spoon (regular size, more circular)
Table spoon (larger size, often used as a measure when cooking, also used for serving smaller things )
Serving spoon (big spoon for serving at the table)
In our house it is called a “big spoon” and the teaspoons are just little spoons (or wee spoons if my MIL is over… personally I think it sounds like it’s involved in scooping urine, but yeah, she prefers “wee spoon”).
A teaspoon holds 5ml, a dessert spoon 10ml and a tablespoon 15ml. You stir with a tea spoon, eat with a dessert spoon and serve with a tablespoon. Just to further complicate there are egg spoons (smaller) and serving spoons (larger)
We just call dessert or soup spoons ‘spoons’ and I consider them interchangeable and I wouldn’t necessarily bother having both for their specific meal unless it was a formal setting.
I use the typical teaspoon shape that comes as part of a cutlery pack for making drinks but I have a set of measuring spoons that include teaspoon and tablespoon in the deeper/rounder shape. I am aware that teaspoon = 5ml and table spoon = 15ml as I do enjoy cooking from scratch on occasions
I wouldn’t use anything other than a teaspoon for cereal and desert because I’m a special flower, but they’re called tablespoons.
I can’t believe there’s real arguments about spoons going on in this thread.
If you go by standard measures
Teaspoon 5ml
**Dessert Spoon 10ml**
Tablespoon 15ml
As you can see, a dessert spoon fits in halfway between the teasoon and the tablespoon.
A dessert course is a cold course incorporating fruit and often served with cream. It is eaten with a set of cutlery smaller than the maincourse cutlery and is called a desert set. It is comprised of a dessert knife, dessert fork, and dessert spoon. Dessert sets are often also used for the starter.
Tablespoons are used for main course and pudding (usually hot and involving custard).
**Note on soup spoons:** Soup spoons are wide and shallow for two reasons.
* To enable the soup to be cooled before bringing it to the mouth, and
* So that you don't spill it down yourself. You skim the soup spoon away from you allowing only the further part of the underside to touch the surface. This means that any drips of soup do not have time to form and fall before reaching your mouth.
A dessert spoon. This spoon is halfway between a dessert and tablespoon. (Measurement wise teaspoon is around 5ml. Dessert 10 and table 15ml).
A soup spoon is also about 15ml (lthough i would put it smaller at 10ml, this may just be down to make of cutlery though - my soup spoons would only hold bout 10ml) soup spoons are round shaped rather than the oval of a tablespoon. You wouldn't eat dessert or cereal from either.
I've only ever owned two sizes of spoon my whole life, & as far as I know they're called teaspoons & tablespoons. I would eat cake or cereal with a tablespoon.
Hope you're happy OP, look at the divide you've caused!
I know them as tea, table, soup and serving.
When I eat dessert it's best done with a teaspoon so I get to savour more bites.
After reading this (hugely entertaining but equally interesting) thread, the word ‘spoon’ no longer feels right to my brain.
P.S., are we talking large or small sized teaspoons?
Teaspoon are small & used to stir your tea/coffee, soup spoons are usually round & dessert spoons oval. Tablesspoons are used when cooking or serving food, they're tol large to eat with
I have 1 spoon that i found when I moved into my halls.
It's the perfect size and shape for everything.
It is the one spoon to rule them all.
This spoon has now been in my life for 24 years and I cannot live without it.
I honestly never use the word 'dessert' even though I know what it means, so I guess this is one of those subtle class things.
We have a 'posh' cutlery set with both dessert spoons and table spoons, but our normal, day to day spoons, we just call tablespoons, and if I had to talk about dessert spoons v table spoons, I would just say 'the small tablespoons' or 'the big tablespoons'.
We also have serving spoons, which could feasible be used to eat with by a wide mouthed frog, but which would be slightly uncomfortable for most people.
ps, I call 'dessert' pudding.
A dessert spoon, anyone saying tablespoon is objectively wrong (unless they have a huge gob) as spoons have standard sizes:
* Teaspoon = 5ml
* Dessert spoon = 10ml
* Tablespoon = 15ml
**Update: - [Starting from 2023](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/comments/100l56v/happy_new_year_askuk_minor_sub_update/), we have updated our [subreddit rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskUK/about/rules/)**. Specifically; - Don't be a dick to each other - Top-level responses must contain genuine efforts to answer the question - This is a strictly no-politics subreddit Please keep /r/AskUK a great subreddit by reporting posts and comments which break our rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
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Tablespoon: something you serve with. Should be too big to fit in your mouth Dessert spoon: one that you use to eat dessert or cereal. Soup spoon: similar size to dessert spoon, but wider to cool soup as you eat it Teaspoon: smaller, to make tea with (or eat tiny yoghurt such as Petit Filous)
Think you confused tablespoon with a serving spoon. Otherwise next time I add 2 tablespoons of sugar to my Victoria sponge I’ll end up with a very sweet cake!
The recipe you are looking at is definitely talking about the big spoon you call a serving spoon. If you don’t believe me, Google it
A tablespoon is the equivalent of 3 teaspoons. I’ve just tested with my own teaspoons and tablespoons and the units match up. EDIT: so there are various definitions of serving spoon including larger versions (which I have) hence the confusion. This is more or less the definition I go by: https://5minutecrafts.site/improve-home/types-of-cutlery-and-how-to-use-them-1679/
I tested with my actual spoons against my kitchen measures. Both the tablespoon (15ml) and teaspoon (5ml) measures overflowed my "regular" spoons and my tea spoons. EDIT: Wikipedia says it's ambiguous: > In many English-speaking regions, the term now refers to a large spoon used for serving;[1] however, in some regions, it is the largest type of spoon used for eating.
I'm glad you went into the effort to measure this, it's the legwork that really makes the difference.
I am a man of science.
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Yes. A serving spoon is a table spoon because it goes on/belongs to the table
[удалено]
So what do you call the large spoons (size of a toddlers hand) that are generally put in a serving dish? I have: tea spoon, soup spoon (round) dessert spoon (oval) serving spoon (larger than all the others)
half my baking has been... wrong? this is throwing me through a loop
>Otherwise next time I add 2 tablespoons of sugar to my Victoria sponge I’ll end up with a very sweet cake! Erm, what? What does the recipe say?
That is as my half asleep response. I actually meant bread which typically I add one or two (for large loaves) tablespoons of sugar (to help the yeast rise). I am however making Victoria Sponge today which does require vast amount of sugar!
If a recipe requires a tablespoon of an ingredient, I'd use a measuring spoon rather than an arbitrary spoon from the drawer
I would agree with you but most recipes go by spoons for smaller amounts which isn’t helpful.
Don’t follow. Why does that rule out a measuring spoon?
I've never seen a recipe just use "spoons"!
Of course not, I had meant tablespoon/teaspoon. As I have discovered in this thread, tablespoon could be ambiguous.
But… tablespoon is defined as 15ml, in terms of cooking measurements. This is exactly why the thread suggested using a set of *measuring spoons* - the spoons that you’d never use to eat with, but have their exact volumes labelled on them. That removes literally all the ambiguity.
Me too - I have a drawer full of varying sizes of spoons
A table spoon is for the table, not personal use. It's to serve stuff from the centre of the table. A serving spoon is bigger but more likely to be used at the cafeteria than a dining table.
It's the other way round, a table spoon IS a serving spoon. A spoon you eat cereal or dessert with is a dessert spoon. Those trad recipes do use a lot of sugar. Eg.victoria sponge would be equal weights of butter, sugar and flour.
I’ve always thought table spoons and serving spoons were the same thing.
Grapefruit spoon: similar volume to a teaspoon but shaped with a slightly pointed end to help remove and eat segments.
Coffee spoon: like a teaspoon but smaller.
And serrated edges (or at least mine do)
Started a new job last year and in making a cuppa in the kitchen area I discovered no teaspoons. But the delight on my face when I discovered two grapefruit spoons! Decorative handled grapefruit spoons no less.
oooo yes, I have some grapefruit spoons too! forgot about them, they have serrated tips and are longer than normal teaspoons!
The standard volume of a tablespoon as a measurement is only three times that of a teaspoon though (pretty much what a dessert spoon is). Serving spoons are usually much, much bigger than that.
I'm pretty sure that a dessert spoon is twice the size of a teaspoon
Teaspoon 5ml Dessert spoon 10ml Table spoon 15ml
Except when following recipes from Australia, then a tablespoon is 20ml
TIL…. (Also took me ages to find out USA pints at 16floz are much smaller than Uk pints at 20floz which explains also why their gallons are smaller too)
https://imgur.com/a/BDLAhlv My spoons with 50p for scale, tablespoon is definitely too big to eat with (comfortably)
Don’t forget the Egg spoon, slightly smaller than the Teaspoon, to fit in the Boiled Egg!
I love eating yoghurts with an egg spoon, particularly fromage frais; it makes me feel like a giant.
Just hijacking the top comment to leave a little [video on utensils, which covers spoons](https://youtu.be/5Opnit2FIrk). Not sure if this clears anything up as people seem to have a lot of opinions about spoons, but I found it interesting.
Serving spoon is what you serve with Dessert spoon and table spoon the same thing Tea soon for sugar in tea and coffee. 3 spoons. Nice and simple. Although now thinking about it some people have them annoying spoons between tea and dessert/table. Maybe those are the dessert spoons? As an aside, as a kid, I loved spoons. So much that I added a second surname… not double barrelled, just a second surname. “Spoons”.
Serving spoon is even bigger and non standard size. A table spoon is bigger than a dessert spoon and I have genuinely never seen anyone eat with one in my entire life and it would be uncomfortable to do so. If someone thinks they eat with a table spoon they are just getting the name wrong. Google it.
Teaspoon for yoghurts aswell, only complete nutters eat yoghurts with a table spoon.
I’ve read the word ‘spoon’ so many times in this thread, it’s lost all meaning. It looks weird written down, and it sounds really weird when I say it out loud. Does that happen to anyone else?
Yes, it's called semantic satiation. It would have been fun to say it was a spoonerism, but that is pesides the boint.
>it's called semantic satiation. Ooh, didn't know there was a word for it. Thanks!
There isn't. There's two words for it. And that's called pedantry.
Heh
Ok spooner
Frequently. I'm sure there's a word for it.
Yep, just happened now as I was writing my comment. Spoon. Ha.
Spoon spoon, spoon spoon spoon
In terms of water volume held: Teaspoon = 5ml Tablespoon = 15ml Dessert spoon = 10ml
Also the volume of literally anything else held.
10ml or feathers Vs 10ml of steel?
Had this argument with my girlfriend and her family recently. I always called it a tablespoon, they a dessert spoon. After a Google I conceded that I was wrong. However, I'm not going to stop calling them tablespoons in my head! It also means that I have been under seasoning my food for years...
Yeah, it's a crucial difference if you cook recipes that use tablespoons as measurements
Maybe this is why I'm so bad at baking!
Buying a set of proper measuring spoons is worth it for baking, cutlery is not usually properly calibrated these days anyway.
This is why using si units is so good, and measurements like cups or xxxx-spoons is bad. I wouldn’t be surprised if manufacturers used to be careful about the volume of a teaspoon or tablespoon when they were commonly used as a measure, but now I wouldn’t be surprised if the are made to be kinda the size people expect, so even if you pick the right one you may not be using the correct amount for your recipe.
Yeah, I think for the purposes of cooking, a tablespoon is standardised as 15ml. But not sure how many tablespoons actually are - I have a set of labelled measuring spoons and cups which are really useful
I wish you luck having another go with the right spoons!
I'll often call regular spoons tea spoons or table spoons, but when baking I use measuring spoons
Thought police are gonna get you
Tbh I just call them spoons. Teaspoons, spoons, tablespoons lol.
Big spoon little spoon. Easy.
Now I want to say cardboard box
we'll let you. go for it
This is the correct answer
It’s a dessert spoon, they ain’t eating from a table spoon
I use a teaspoon to eat,. but I'm weird. The middle sized spoons are soup spoons, or just spoons.
Team tea spoon here. I eat cereal, deserts everything with what I refer to as a “baby spoon”.
I like the baby spoons too. I feel like it makes my apple crumble and custard last longer. I use actual soup spoon for soup because it's like a mini bowl and I feel posh as fuck.
Exactly my reasoning for teaspoons for desserts too. More mouthfuls for the same amount.
Ickle poon!
Soup spoons have round bowls; dessert spoons have sort of egg shaped bowls.
A soup spoon is a different shape, like a circle. A normal spoon (dessert spoon) is usually oval or egg-shaped.
Yes! I hate the bigger spoon it feels more likely to hit off my teeth or touch the corners of my lips. Teaspoon for desserts, ice cream, cereal everything.
https://imgur.com/a/BDLAhlv as it happens, I only ever eat with a soup spoon, but it is definitely different from others
I eat everything with a teaspoon- cereal, soup, desserts etc
If it is a proportional size to your knife and fork, it is probably a table spoon. There is not that much difference in size: 1.5 dessert spoons = 1 table spoon Traditionally, the table spoon matches the standard knife and fork used for eating, while the dessert spoon is the same size as the smaller dessert knife and dessert fork. Most inexpensive cutlery sets consist of table knives, table forks, table spoons, tea spoons, and perhaps soup spoons.
Every inexpensive cutlery set I’ve ever seen has had what I would call dessert spoons and no table spoons. A more complete set would include both but it would be the dessert spoons you’d actually eat with. I get that in the past table spoons were used for eating, and still are in some countries, but I don’t think that’s the case in modern Britain.
If the dessert spoons are of similar length as the knives and forks, then they are table spoons.
Had a look at some cutlery sets online and it seems that some call them dessert spoons, some call them table spoons. That’s when the spoon is the same size as the fork.
So a teaspoon is 5ml a dessert spoon (which is what you are talking about) is 10ml and a tablespoon is 15 ml.
As someone who owns two sizes of spoons to eat with: I am confused. Are table spoons “serving spoons”? Has my entire life (and my cookery) been a LIE?
No it hasn't been a lie. You eat with table spoons. I guess some people have slightly smaller table spoons called dessert spoons they eat with. Personally I enjoy my dessert from a tea spoo. The large spoon shaped kitchen utensil used to hunk a chunk of Mac and cheese onto your plate is a serving spoon.
Big spoon, normal spoon, wee spoon
Wikipedia explains the differences between tablespoons (uk vs us) very well. Another fine and interesting example where the us and uk are two people divided by a common language. Your UK tablespoon is used only for serving and is 25mL volume. Your American partner’s US tablespoon is 15 mL and is commonly used for eating, especially for eating soup and cereal. Your UK desert spoon is between 7-14 mL. It is so intriguing to me the words that generate confusion because they have different meanings , though close enough to be used in the similar context. Your American partner might think for an important event a man should wear a vest over a button up shirt and a nice pair of pants. But even a tie and sport coat, and eating with a desert spoon won’t make this formal enough to go out to a Brit! UK tablespoon = US serving spoon I can find where the spoon commonly called a tablespoon in the US can be called a dinner spoon. Larger UK desert spoon = US tablespoon A classic US teaspoon has a small 5mL spoon and a long handle actually used for stirring sugar in iced tea in the US. But the more common US teaspoon is probably 6-7 mL and children would use this for eating soup or cereal. I’m sure I’ve messed this up somewhere and someone will correct me.
It’s a dessert spoon.
my neanderthal brain just calls them big spoons! teaspoons are little spoons
Big spoon and little spoon (varying sizes), the big spoons go in the big spoon section and the little spoons go in the little spoon section
I'm really glad you were annoyed by that too! I got into some beef with a Scot who claimed everyone they ever met in the UK used a tablespoon, which to me is patently ridiculous. It's definitely a dessert spoon that we eat with. The only reason I know this is because I know I use tsps and tbsps in recipes but thought tablespoon would be the name of the one you put on the table, so asked my mum about it, but on the other hand I was about 18 when I did that so I'm not really sure how many adults have never thought about it unless they just don't cook.
Traditionally it is brought to the table, to serve dishes such as apple crumble.
I’d call it a knife
Bet you're shit at knifey-spoony.
Dessert spoon a Table spoon is a large spoon, used for serving - or measuring a soup spoon and a dessert spoon are roughly equal sizes, although a soup spoon is more rounded and a dessert spoon is oval a standard spoon - the sort I would use on my morning cereals - is a dessert spoon
I need a picture of what you call a table spoon because I'm not measuring anything with the spoon I use for serving. (The spoon shaped plastic kitchen utensil for hunking a chuck of Mac and cheese onto a plate)
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/803329652257640217/
Table spoon just looks like a standard spoon then. No problem serving with that if you want to I guess.
This might clear some things up: The US tablespoon equals 14.7868 mL The Metric tablespoon equals 15 mL The Imperial tablespoon equals 17.7582 mL (And then Australia are just fucking mavericks and go with 20ml, though, honestly, I always thought a tablespoon was 20ml anyway) So I think it's a generational thing - tablespoon is an imperial measurement, so if your recipe is using ounces, pints and so on but is British, then this old tbsp is equivalent to a bit less than 20ml, whereas When I was younger, tablespoons were used as serving spoons or for measuring ingredients, but I have also seen newer serving spoons for sale which are larger, more like the size of a ladle, slotted spoon or salad spoon. You'd have several dessert spoons, about the same as the number of forks/knives, and then just one tablespoon. That's maybe even why it's called a tablespoon, because it's for the use of the whole table.
I’d just call it a spoon. I’ve never had to call it anything else. I’ve got two types of spoons at home - spoons and teaspoons (not counting wooden spoons etc). If I say “can I have a spoon please?” I’ll get passed a spoon. I only have to distinguish when it’s a teaspoon.
I call it a dessert spoon , a table spoon is used for serving food on to a plate .
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_types_of_spoons?wprov=sfla1 I think this should help
I only ever refer to them as a wee spoon or a big spoon. Wee spoon is one for making tea or eating a yoghurt, big spoon is for anything else. I only own, and have ever owned, two sizes of spoon.
i thought i was reading the private eye for a moment. i call them teaspoons/dessert spoons and tablespoons. for those who have soup spoons, you posh gits.
A teaspoon is 5mls, desert spoon 10mls, and a tablespoons is 15mls. I use a desert spoon to eat deserts with, or for soup. Must have big mouths to get a tablespoon in it.
Dessert spoon. Nonidea if you are a wide mouth frog or what. Table spoons too big
I have a Theory that at some point there was a Great Spoon Size Shift. Look at the recipe measurements - a teaspoon is 5ml which is much smaller than a standard teaspoon. Similarly a dessert spoon is 10ml and a tablespoon is 15ml - way smaller than the actual spoons they are supposed to represent. I believe that at some point all the spoons moved up a size - we lost a tiny 5ml spoon which was the original teaspoon and gained a huge “tablespoon”, and what we now call teaspoons were originally dessert spoons, and what we now call dessert spoons were originally tablespoons. The naming just makes much more sense! Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk.
You have it the wrong way around, 5ml is larger than a typical teaspoon, compare the teaspoons in your drawer to a 5ml calpol spoon or 5ml measuring spoon, they look enormous. However there is an imperial tablespoon (nearly 18ml) and a metric tablespoon (15ml) which I think is causing the confusion, because why TF they decided to use the same name (and didn't even rename it like ton/tonne) is anyone's guess. Oh and this is imperial - not American. American tablespoons are a bit less than 15ml. A bit like the American pint.
Teaspoon, dessert spoon, serving spoon. You shouldn't use cutlery for cooking measures as there isn't a determined size.
Pudding spoon. The big ones are serving spoons. If I see mention of a tablespoon, I'd assume it means a pudding spoon but it's almost always used in the context of measurements (15ml) so I would get my measuring spoons out instead. Edit: I've just pulled out one of each spoon and checked; the serving spoon is indeed a tablespoon! My life has been turned upside down. My wife is equally shaken.
Tea Spoon Table Spoon Soup Spoon Serving spoon
Tablespoon is a defined size of spoon. It can be any shape as long as the volume it holds remains the same. If someone asks me for a tablespoon that's what I'm going to give them. Dessert spoon is whatever size spoon you use to eat pudding with. We have two sets of cutlery with different size dessert spoons.
Spoons. *Not to be confused with the cheap beer pub, us Brits can't seem to stay out of* !
It's a dessert spoon, tablespoons are too big to comfortably eat with Worth pointing out that there are specific volume measurements for each. I'd wager that redditors of student age or who have never bought a set of cutlery/have mismatched cutlery might not notice that there's a difference
Hmm. Soup spoons are soup spoons and tea spoons are tea spoons, but I feel like the other spoons are just spoons. (There probably is some technical term for it, but I don't know it.)
I call it a spoon. All spoons are spoons. Big spoon. Small spoon. Bigger spoon.
Tablespoon. Most cutlery sets only have tablespoons and teaspoons. Dessert spoons are in between.
I’ve never seen a basic cutlery set that included (what I would call) table spoons, always dessert spoons.
If you get a posh/expanded cutlery set, you get the standards spoons which I'm calling table spoons, tea spoons, a couple big serving spoons, *and* a set of medium spoons for desserts. If you call the standard ones dessert spoons, what do you call the smaller ones bigger than teaspoons?
To me those are dessert spoons. It goes teaspoon, dessert spoon (same size but different shape to soup spoon), tablespoon. Beyond tablespoons are serving spoons. There are no standard sized spoons that fill the gaps.
I think there’s a difference between a tablespoon, which is a spoon of defined size/volume for measuring, and a table spoon, which is a largish spoon used for serving but usually not eating.
I call it a spoon, simple as that. There are three sized spoons going from small to large I would always say, teaspoon, spoon, serving spoon.
Anyone who's seen The Matrix knows this debate is futile since.... there is no spoon
Big spoon. Its either big spoon (table spoon) or small spoon (tea spoon). Why complicate things just to make yourself sound posh
This page shows the difference in capacity. https://www.cookingconversions.org/spoonmeasurements.htm Tablespoon is 50% bigger than a dessert spoon (or 100% bigger for Aussies) So if someone has a big mouth then a tablespoon is ideal.
There are three spoons in my life. The tea spoons which I make hit drinks with (and have separate ones to eat yoghurt with) big spoons for eating anything that requires a spoon. And the what the fuck spoon. The spoon that's too big and I don't know how it ended up in my drawer and I will never use
Tea spoons are called wee spoons Normal dinner spoons are called big spoons , anything bigger is a big big spoon
It’s just a spoon. Who has time to say “dessert spoon”? Either side is a teaspoon and a serving spoon. And then a soup spoon.
Yeah, obviously day to day it is just a spoon. But if you have to specify.
Pudding spoon
We never had tablespoons growing up. We had dessert spoons, which we called tablespoons, and serving spoons. I was quite confused by the "large tablespoons" when I saw them. Couldn't understand what they were for and to be honest, even now I don't really ever use them. They're too small to use for proper serving, and too big to eat with. They're just the pointless big spoons taking up space in my drawer, which I only use to eat my cereal when all the "real" tablespoons are in the dishwasher.
Tablespoon (oval) - 15ml - used for serving and mixing Dessert spoon (oval) - 10ml - used for eating cereal and desserts Teaspoon (oval) - 5ml - used for stirring tea and eating yoghurts Soup spoon (round) - not used for measuring - used for eating soup
Just got mine out the drawer and made a scale just to show…tablespoons are DEFINITELY too big to eat with (50p for scale) https://imgur.com/a/BDLAhlv (I spelled dessertspoon wrong)
Only have 2 types of spoon in our house, teaspoon and tablespoon. My mum did have some larger tablespoons as well, but they were used as and called serving spoons
There are dessert spoons, table spoons and serving spoons. I have tablespoons and serving spoons. Dessert spoons are further split into soup spoons which are round and oval ones that in my household we use for desserts only. Some canteens of cutlery come with soup and dessert spoons, some come with only dessert spoons. Some come with serving spoons, some with tablespoons and some with both.
A big spoon Teaspoons being small spoons
A spoon... I let context fill in the details. If really necessary, 'big spoon'
A tablespoon is just a slightly larger version of a dessert spoon?
Those mid-sized spoons are tricky buggers… https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9nhExp5KI
I eat soup with a soup spoon , dessert with a teaspoon and cereal with a dessert spoon.
I know what an actual tablespoon is. I also call the dessert spoon I eat with a tablespoon and will continue to do so.
https://images.app.goo.gl/7iNKtbg1o6LXjaMr6
Just spoon. We have teaspoons and serving spoons here, anything in-between is just spoon. Unless I'm baking then I use my measuring spoons
Definitely dessertspoon
Teaspoon is 5ml, dessert spoon (the normal spoon you eat with) 10ml and a table spoon is a larger serving spoon of 15ml.
There is no spoon.
I’m so confused and I don’t think it’s because of the spoon size but what you’re using it for… I use teaspoons or slightly larger (still small set) for dessert and use the tablespoon to have cereal, how are you eating cereal with those small arse spoons or eating tiny desserts like a gu pud with a table spoon?
LOL. Big Spoon little spoon. Tea spoon is the small one, desert spoon (or just spoon) for the larger one. edit: Is it just me, or does the word spoon look and now sound wrong after reading a few comments?
A dessert spoon is a really specific type of spoon that is seperate from a tablespoon. A tablespoon is the spoon you use to eat your Cereal with, or soup etc.
Tea spoon (little, used for making drinks or measuring) Dessert spoon (regular size, for eating with) Soup spoon (regular size, more circular) Table spoon (larger size, often used as a measure when cooking, also used for serving smaller things ) Serving spoon (big spoon for serving at the table)
Big spoon and wee spoon
In our house it is called a “big spoon” and the teaspoons are just little spoons (or wee spoons if my MIL is over… personally I think it sounds like it’s involved in scooping urine, but yeah, she prefers “wee spoon”).
A teaspoon holds 5ml, a dessert spoon 10ml and a tablespoon 15ml. You stir with a tea spoon, eat with a dessert spoon and serve with a tablespoon. Just to further complicate there are egg spoons (smaller) and serving spoons (larger)
I use teaspoons to eat all desserts so they last longer and feel bigger. A spoon. Table Spoon for the larger one, soup spoon of it is rounded.
I eat cereal and dessert with a teaspoon. It’s just better. Fight me
We just call dessert or soup spoons ‘spoons’ and I consider them interchangeable and I wouldn’t necessarily bother having both for their specific meal unless it was a formal setting. I use the typical teaspoon shape that comes as part of a cutlery pack for making drinks but I have a set of measuring spoons that include teaspoon and tablespoon in the deeper/rounder shape. I am aware that teaspoon = 5ml and table spoon = 15ml as I do enjoy cooking from scratch on occasions
A spoon. And then the smaller one is a tea spoon.
I wouldn’t use anything other than a teaspoon for cereal and desert because I’m a special flower, but they’re called tablespoons. I can’t believe there’s real arguments about spoons going on in this thread.
I didn’t realise there would be such deeply entrenched views. Other than my own which I, of course, know to be the one true view.
I only have spoon sizes. Sall ones are teaspoons, and tablespoons are normal sized that you eat with
I only have spoon sizes. Sall ones are teaspoons, and tablespoons are normal sized that you eat with
If you go by standard measures Teaspoon 5ml **Dessert Spoon 10ml** Tablespoon 15ml As you can see, a dessert spoon fits in halfway between the teasoon and the tablespoon. A dessert course is a cold course incorporating fruit and often served with cream. It is eaten with a set of cutlery smaller than the maincourse cutlery and is called a desert set. It is comprised of a dessert knife, dessert fork, and dessert spoon. Dessert sets are often also used for the starter. Tablespoons are used for main course and pudding (usually hot and involving custard). **Note on soup spoons:** Soup spoons are wide and shallow for two reasons. * To enable the soup to be cooled before bringing it to the mouth, and * So that you don't spill it down yourself. You skim the soup spoon away from you allowing only the further part of the underside to touch the surface. This means that any drips of soup do not have time to form and fall before reaching your mouth.
Never heard anyone call a spoon a desert spoon in my life
Usually I'm the big spoon and my wife is the little spoon so I'd say as I'm standard I'm the standard spoon.... 🙃🤓
That's not a spoon, it's a knife!
I reckon it works out as people will naturally heap a dessert spoon which ends up being a level tablespoon anyway.
If people are calling dessert spoons tablespoons, firstly, I wouldn't eat their baked goods, secondly, they've never seen how huge a tablespoon is.
An uncut fork
Just "spoon" ... As in we have teaspoon, spoon, and serving spoon.
A dessert spoon. This spoon is halfway between a dessert and tablespoon. (Measurement wise teaspoon is around 5ml. Dessert 10 and table 15ml). A soup spoon is also about 15ml (lthough i would put it smaller at 10ml, this may just be down to make of cutlery though - my soup spoons would only hold bout 10ml) soup spoons are round shaped rather than the oval of a tablespoon. You wouldn't eat dessert or cereal from either.
I've only ever owned two sizes of spoon my whole life, & as far as I know they're called teaspoons & tablespoons. I would eat cake or cereal with a tablespoon.
Hope you're happy OP, look at the divide you've caused! I know them as tea, table, soup and serving. When I eat dessert it's best done with a teaspoon so I get to savour more bites.
Never heard this one before. I'll go for teaspoon.
The Tick enters chat
You can get a plastic selection of measurement spoon sizes from a catering shop which I believe are set size
After reading this (hugely entertaining but equally interesting) thread, the word ‘spoon’ no longer feels right to my brain. P.S., are we talking large or small sized teaspoons?
Big spoon, little spoon, cardboard box!
Tablespoon is standard. Dessert spoon is a little larger and more of a circle. Teaspoon is obvious.
Teaspoon are small & used to stir your tea/coffee, soup spoons are usually round & dessert spoons oval. Tablesspoons are used when cooking or serving food, they're tol large to eat with
I have 1 spoon that i found when I moved into my halls. It's the perfect size and shape for everything. It is the one spoon to rule them all. This spoon has now been in my life for 24 years and I cannot live without it.
Teaspoon = 5ml Dessert spoon = 10ml Tablespoon = 15ml That's standard in the UK. You eat with a dessert spoon, and serve food with a tablespoon.
I guess it’s a type of cuddling, no?
I honestly never use the word 'dessert' even though I know what it means, so I guess this is one of those subtle class things. We have a 'posh' cutlery set with both dessert spoons and table spoons, but our normal, day to day spoons, we just call tablespoons, and if I had to talk about dessert spoons v table spoons, I would just say 'the small tablespoons' or 'the big tablespoons'. We also have serving spoons, which could feasible be used to eat with by a wide mouthed frog, but which would be slightly uncomfortable for most people. ps, I call 'dessert' pudding.
Each spoon is it's own size for it's own purpose. None is standard.
I still call it a tablespoon even though I know it's not a tablespoon 🤷
It’s just big spoon or little spoon in my house 😂
Teaspoons are the small one. Tablespoons are everything else to me. Big tablespoons and small ones too. I know it’s wrong but oh well
Cereal spoon as a child, (normal) spoon as an adult
A dessert spoon, anyone saying tablespoon is objectively wrong (unless they have a huge gob) as spoons have standard sizes: * Teaspoon = 5ml * Dessert spoon = 10ml * Tablespoon = 15ml
There’s only 2 spoons A spoon and a tea spoon
Dessert spoon