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I am making cookies in bulk. The problem is, every version of the recipe I am making uses the measurement "one inch balls". Given the number of cookies I am making, I'm not really looking to eyeball this.

Does anyone know what size disher corresponds to a "one inch ball"?

Edit: To be clear - I am looking for terms of disher size (#40, #50, etc) or volume (1.5 tsp, 2 tsp, etc).

Matthew
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    what's a disher ? – Max Dec 21 '17 at 16:07
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    @Max A scoop like you use for cookie dough or ice cream, with the lever and bit in the scoop to help you get stuff out after scooping. For example [all these](https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=disher). – Cascabel Dec 21 '17 at 16:23

2 Answers2

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Well, a one-inch diameter sphere has a volume of 1.74 teaspoons, or 0.58 tablespoons.

It looks like the numbered sizes are in fractions of a quart, so if you could have any size you wanted, that'd be a a #110 disher. I assume that means you'll probably want a #100, which is 0.64 tablespoons, surely close enough for cookies. (From that same link, it looks like the sizes aren't that consistent to begin with, with examples often a few percent off.)

Note that this is based on the assumption that you care about volume, i.e. the amount of cookie dough per cookie. That seems right, but if you ever cared about the width of the scoop (something that doesn't spread, I guess) you'd need a larger scoop.

For general reading on scoops for cookies, this King Arthur blog post is good. They indeed suggest a #100 for smaller (2" to 2-1/4") cookies, where the recipe suggests a "teaspoonful" of dough - presumably a heaping teaspoon. For "tablespoonful" they suggest a #40 (4 teaspoons). They also mention using #30 and #16 for large cookies, but those don't correspond to common recipe instructions.

(The King Arthur scoops are also a great demonstration of the variation in size - they say their #40 is 4 teaspoons, when a #40 is nominally 4.8 tablespoons.)

For what it's worth, I took a list of standard sizes and did the same calculation as above to figure out what size sphere is equivalent to their nominal volume:

        Volume            Sphere diameter
        Tbsp    mL        in    cm
#4      16      236.59    3.02  7.67
#5      12.8    189.27    2.80  7.12
#6      10.7    158.22    2.64  6.70
#8      8       118.29    2.40  6.09
#10     6.4     94.64     2.23  5.65
#12     5.33    78.81     2.09  5.32
#16     4       59.15     1.90  4.83
#20     3.2     47.32     1.77  4.49
#24     2.67    39.48     1.66  4.22
#30     2.13    31.50     1.54  3.92
#40     1.6     23.66     1.40  3.56
#50     1.28    18.93     1.30  3.31
#60     1.07    15.82     1.22  3.11
#70     0.914   13.52     1.16  2.96
#100    0.64    9.46      1.03  2.62

Given the variability in scoop size across manufacturers, and the fact that you can scoop anywhere from level to heaping to full rounded spheres with the same scoop, this should probably just be a starting point.

Cascabel
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  • what, no metric? Here's the mL at least: http://www.chefs-resources.com/culinary-conversions-calculators-and-capacities/scoop-disher-sizes/ – Joe Dec 21 '17 at 19:55
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    @Joe I was about to add it but the OP was clearly asking about teaspoons and US sizes, and I wasn't sure that metric locales would actually use these sizes. I guess it's potentially useful for recipes written in metric, though, so I added mL and cm to the table. – Cascabel Dec 21 '17 at 20:03
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    thank you for that chart, I just copied it for my own use. – FuzzyChef Dec 21 '17 at 20:08
  • Thank you so much for this chart! If you have a blog, you really may want to create a copy for yourself to get some traffic. I spent a few days trying to find this info, and I know I'm not the only OCD cook out there :) – Matthew Dec 23 '17 at 14:55
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I would use a 1-inch disher, in other words, a disher which is one inch across. A slightly heaping scoop with one of these will give you one inch balls of dough. If you fill the disher level each time you may be a tiny bit more consistent since you won't be eyeballing anything, but your cookie may also be slightly smaller than intended (and therefore bake perhaps just a little quicker).

senschen
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  • I appreciate that, but I was looking more for a response in terms of "use a #50 disher" or "1 inch indicates 1.5 tsp". – Matthew Dec 21 '17 at 18:32
  • I'm pretty sure dishers are usually hemisphere-shaped, so if you want a 1-inch ball from a 1-inch disher, then you need to scoop a full ball/sphere. I'm not sure I'd describe that as "slightly heaping". Similarly if you scoop level, then you'll have half the amount of a full sphere, and I'm not sure I'd call that "slightly smaller". – Cascabel Dec 21 '17 at 18:48
  • @Cascabel: I suspect that they're a little bit larger than 1/2 a sphere, as you'd need space to secure the axle of the sweeping mechanism. But then, you'd also lose a little of volume for the sweep itself, and some don't always sweep out everything cleanly. – Joe Dec 21 '17 at 19:57
  • @Joe Sure, I approximated a bit :) Whatever the details, you can imagine a full sphere in a scoop, and it's a pretty big "heap". – Cascabel Dec 21 '17 at 20:38