Introduction: No Mess Way to EASILY and ACCURATELY Measure Solid Shortening, Butter, or Margarine

About: I'm "retired", and now have time for all the creative things I've done since I was a child. I especially like anything with texture.....fabric, wood, glass, stones....even rusty objects. I have a LARGE fabric…

You know what a mess you can have trying to measure out soft, greasy stuff like solid shortening, or margarine. Not to mention you might not get an accurate measurement. You might be leaving behind a lot of your ingredient.

This is a quick, easy, LESS messy way to measure.

Step 1: Step 1: Utensils.....Nothing Special

Have your recipe. How much shortening (or margarine etc) do you need?

Glass measuring cup (used for liquids)

Shortening (or margarine etc) that you wish to measure

Spoon to scoop shortening

Step 2: Step 2: Do a Little Math

For this Instructable I'm going to measure out 1/4 Cup of shortening.

In my liquid measuring cup (Glass) I'll put 3/4 Cup of cold tap water

NOTE:  The math is that 1/4 C + 3/4 C = 1 Cup

I will add solid shortening to the 3/4 C of water until the level of the water shows 1 cup.  The shortening has displaced the water.

NOTE:  The shortening must be submerged in the water

Step 3: Step 3: Drain the Water

Next you'll drain off the water, and use the shortening in your recipe. There is very little left in the cup, making clean-up easier, and you get to utilize more of the shortening in your recipe.


Just to show that this works I scooped out the shortening and put it into a 1/4 C measure