The Tala Cooks Measure is an extremely useful piece of kitchen kit which I've had in my culinary arsenal for many years now and which has proved invaluable over the years.

Tala kitchen equipment has been around for decades and I'm sure most people will find that they own at least one piece of kitchenalia which carries that brand name. The range has a very 1950s retro look about it and products includes icing nozzles, muffin pans and pastry cutters all made out of sheet metal as well as the excellent Cooks Measure of this review.

On the outside of the conical shaped measure is the legend "Weights and measures at a glance" and that is exactly what this piece of equipment does.

The concept of this measure is simplicity itself. Inside the cone are divisions for practically every dry ingredient you can think of from oats, flour, sugar and rice to the more obscure tapioca, dessicated coconut and shredded suet. Within each division are horizontal lines marking graduations of weight up to 8 ounces or 250 grams. All the cook needs to do is pour the dry ingredient into the cone up to the line of whichever weight is required and then tap gently on the side of the cone to level out the ingredients for accuracy. Pour into the mixing bowl and move on to the next dry ingredient. My measure can also be used for liquids which, again, are in imperial fluid ounces or millilitres.

This measure has always proved very useful when using old recipes with measurements given in avoirdupois (pounds and ounces) or American recipes using cups, because these measures are also marked as well as the standard metric measures we're supposed to use now we're all Europeans. All in all, this handy kitchen gadget speeds up the measuring process and saves all that messing about with the kitchen scales.

There are a couple of drawbacks to the Tala measure however. Firstly, of course, it isn't absolutely accurate but most recipes, I'm sure, allow for a little leeway. This lack of accuracy has never bothered me particularly as I'm a rather slapdash cook anyway but if you take your cooking more seriously, you may not be quite as impressed by this measure as I am.

Another drawback is that this is only really for use with dry ingredients so won't be much use for fats. However, I've always found that it's pretty easy to guess the weight of fats such as butter and margarine and, in fact, some manufacturers put weight graduations on their wrappers, which solves that problem.

Although on my Tala it gives liquid measurements, I've never used it to measure liquids preferring to use a Pyrex jug because I assume that with prolonged contact with water the metal would begin to rust. I notice in the picture which is of a more up-to-date model than the one I own, it states "dry" measure so my theory about rust is probably borne out. It should also be noted that this equipment is not suitable for dishwashers.

The Tala Cooks Measure is universally available in most major department stores as well as the Lakeland shops where it retails for £7.49. The cheapest price is £5.99 from Argos or £6.49 from Amazon with free delivery.

Nowadays, there are several variations to the Tala Cooks Measure on the market, some of which are made of plastic which would certainly be easier to maintain but the Tala Cooks Measure, for me, is the original and the best.