Baking Basics: Measurements & Conversions
In the past week, I came across an e-cookbook from New Zealand published in 1914. Inside the cookbook, the recipes used old measurements such as breakfastcups and teacups. This prompted me to find out more about the sizes of these old measurements as well as different units of measurement used in different countries. Since different countries use different sets of cups and spoons measure, and older cookbooks use imperial measures, I thought it will be useful to list out the differences and their conversions so it will be an easy reference to use when dealing with cookbooks published in different countries.
In the course of the search, I came across this site with very good explanations of all the terms for Units of Measurement which I found very useful. As we are dealing with cooking and baking only in this blog, I will try to summarize some of the common units of measurement for cooking and baking here as a quick reference.
Click the following country to go straight to the measurements for cookbooks published in that country:
Britain
Commonwealth Countries
USA
Japan
For all countries:
1 ounce (oz) = 28.3495 grams (g)
1 pound (lb) = 16 oz = 453.59237 g (sometimes rounded to 450 g or 500 g)
British Imperial Measurements
1 (imperial) fluid ounce (fl oz) = 28.413 mililitres (ml)
1 (imperial) gill (gi) = 5 (imperial) fl oz = 142.056 ml
1 (imperial) pint (pt) = 20 (imperial) fl oz = 568.26 ml
1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 ml
1 tablespoon (tbsp) = ranges from ½ to 5/8 (imperial) fl oz = 14.2 to 17.76 ml (but now more or less standardized at 15 ml)
1 teacup = 1 (imperial) gi = 142.056 ml
1 breakfastcup* = ½ (imperial) pt = 10 (imperial) fl oz = 284.13 ml
* In Britain, 1 breakfastcup is also sometimes referred to as 1 cup.
Commonwealth Countries’ Measurements
Australia
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 4 tsp = 20 ml
1 cup = 12½ tbsp = 250 ml
Some useful conversions for Australian recipes:
1 cup plain/self-raising flour = 150g
1 cup cornflour/other starches = 120g
1 cup cocoa powder = 100g
1 cup desiccated coconut = 90g
1 cup caster sugar = 220g
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed) = 180g
1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed) = 150g
1 cup icing sugar = 150g
1 cup butter = 250g
1 cup jam = 330g
1 cup golden syrup/honey = 360g
Canada
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml
1 cup = 8 (imperial) fl oz = 227.3 ml
Malaysia / Singapore
1 tahil* (tael) = 37.8 g
1 kati** (catty) = 1 1/3 lb = 16 tahil = 604.8 g (usually rounded to 600 g)
* tahil is equivalent to liang (両) of old China. Recipe books from Taiwan still use this traditional liang measurement.
** kati is equivalent to jin (斤) of old China. Recipe books from Taiwan still use this traditional jin measurement.
(In modern mainland China, recipe books now use the metric unit of 1 斤 = 500 g; 1 両 = 50 g)
New Zealand
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml
1 cup = ? ml (can’t find any references for this, but I would assume 250 ml?)
US Measurements
1 (US) fl oz = 29.5735 ml
1 (US) gi = 4 (US) fl oz = 118.3 ml
1 (US) liquid pt = 16 (US) fl oz = 473.176 ml
1 tsp = 1/6 (US) fl oz = 4.929 ml (usually rounded to 5 ml)
1 tbsp = ½ (US) fl oz = 3 tsp = 14.8 ml (usually rounded to 15 ml)
1 typical coffeecup = 5 (US) fl oz = 147.9 ml (or approximately 150 ml)
1 cup = ½ (US) liquid pt = 8 (US) fl oz = 16 tbsp = 236.59 ml (usually rounded to 240 ml)
Japanese Measurements
1 cup = 200 ml
Some Taiwanese recipes also use this volume measure.
Oven Temperature Conversion
°C = 5/9 (°F – 32)
°F = 9/5 (°C + 32)
In the course of the search, I came across this site with very good explanations of all the terms for Units of Measurement which I found very useful. As we are dealing with cooking and baking only in this blog, I will try to summarize some of the common units of measurement for cooking and baking here as a quick reference.
Click the following country to go straight to the measurements for cookbooks published in that country:
Britain
Commonwealth Countries
USA
Japan
For all countries:
1 ounce (oz) = 28.3495 grams (g)
1 pound (lb) = 16 oz = 453.59237 g (sometimes rounded to 450 g or 500 g)
British Imperial Measurements
1 (imperial) fluid ounce (fl oz) = 28.413 mililitres (ml)
1 (imperial) gill (gi) = 5 (imperial) fl oz = 142.056 ml
1 (imperial) pint (pt) = 20 (imperial) fl oz = 568.26 ml
1 teaspoon (tsp) = 5 ml
1 tablespoon (tbsp) = ranges from ½ to 5/8 (imperial) fl oz = 14.2 to 17.76 ml (but now more or less standardized at 15 ml)
1 teacup = 1 (imperial) gi = 142.056 ml
1 breakfastcup* = ½ (imperial) pt = 10 (imperial) fl oz = 284.13 ml
* In Britain, 1 breakfastcup is also sometimes referred to as 1 cup.
Commonwealth Countries’ Measurements
Australia
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 4 tsp = 20 ml
1 cup = 12½ tbsp = 250 ml
Some useful conversions for Australian recipes:
1 cup plain/self-raising flour = 150g
1 cup cornflour/other starches = 120g
1 cup cocoa powder = 100g
1 cup desiccated coconut = 90g
1 cup caster sugar = 220g
1 cup brown sugar (firmly packed) = 180g
1 cup brown sugar (lightly packed) = 150g
1 cup icing sugar = 150g
1 cup butter = 250g
1 cup jam = 330g
1 cup golden syrup/honey = 360g
Canada
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml
1 cup = 8 (imperial) fl oz = 227.3 ml
Malaysia / Singapore
1 tahil* (tael) = 37.8 g
1 kati** (catty) = 1 1/3 lb = 16 tahil = 604.8 g (usually rounded to 600 g)
* tahil is equivalent to liang (両) of old China. Recipe books from Taiwan still use this traditional liang measurement.
** kati is equivalent to jin (斤) of old China. Recipe books from Taiwan still use this traditional jin measurement.
(In modern mainland China, recipe books now use the metric unit of 1 斤 = 500 g; 1 両 = 50 g)
New Zealand
1 tsp = 5 ml
1 tbsp = 3 tsp = 15 ml
1 cup = ? ml (can’t find any references for this, but I would assume 250 ml?)
US Measurements
1 (US) fl oz = 29.5735 ml
1 (US) gi = 4 (US) fl oz = 118.3 ml
1 (US) liquid pt = 16 (US) fl oz = 473.176 ml
1 tsp = 1/6 (US) fl oz = 4.929 ml (usually rounded to 5 ml)
1 tbsp = ½ (US) fl oz = 3 tsp = 14.8 ml (usually rounded to 15 ml)
1 typical coffeecup = 5 (US) fl oz = 147.9 ml (or approximately 150 ml)
1 cup = ½ (US) liquid pt = 8 (US) fl oz = 16 tbsp = 236.59 ml (usually rounded to 240 ml)
Japanese Measurements
1 cup = 200 ml
Some Taiwanese recipes also use this volume measure.
Oven Temperature Conversion
°C = 5/9 (°F – 32)
°F = 9/5 (°C + 32)
posted by SeaDragon @ 3.5.07
11 Comments:
hi,
i would like to inform the viewers of melb. that The Where House in Richmond was closed down cos i went there last wk & was not opened so i rang up the next day & found out that it's no longer operating.
rgds
yoke
yoke
Yoke,
Thanks for the info, I will delete the address for The Where House in the 'Where to Find...' post.
This is a very helpful post. Thanks!
Hi SD,
Oh dear - I cant seem 2b able to copy ur recipes from ur website anymore , just the pics? Have u done somethin to the website to prevent copying? I hope not! Please advise!
Lissa
Lissa,
Yes, unfortunately I've to disable the copy-&-paste function because I've discovered peoples are copying and pasting my recipes onto their blogs without my permission even though I've requested that they've to seek my permission if they want to do so.
I wouldn't have minded if they have the courtesy to ask first but they didn't so I'm finally fed up with it and have to do this to prevent further copying-&-pasting.
Hope you understand.
Lee Ping,
You're welcome :)
Hi SD,
Oh dear - so sorry to hear tht! I know now n then, theres a big hoohah abt ppl hijacking other's recipes n pics in the past n not giving the original person the credit.
Sigh! Wht a bummer - Im so use to copy n paste ur recipes, then printing them out to try. Now, I will have to write down ur recipes by hand. Its gonna take me ages n I have really horrible handwriting tht even I will have difficulty to decipher later!
Will u not please please re-consider, SD so tht ppl like me can still enjoy easily trying out ur many wonderful recipes!
Very Sincerely,
Lissa
Hi SeaDragon!
I needed a recipe to bake cheesecake for this Mother's Day and I found your recipe for Japanese Souffle Cheesecake. Thank you, thank you! It turned out very successful even though this is the first time I bake a cake :D
I really like all the recipes for chinese savoury dessert you have here. I'm adding your link to my blog. Thanks again! My mom absolutely enjoyed the cheesecake.
I have photos of the cake in my post here:
http://gastronomicdiary.wordpress.com/2007/05/13/happy-mothers-day/
Lissa,
I think I will keep the situation as it is for the moment, sorry. You can still print the recipe straight from the web page though, so you don't need to hand-copy the recipe.
durianberry,
You're welcome, will pop over and have a look.
i came across a blog a few days ago which states clearly the conversion table, the different types of flour and other ingredients in english and chinese. very useful! BUT i have forgotten to save it and now i cant find it! :-(
yoki,
That's a shame :( Hope you can find it again.
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