Cooking weights and measures

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This article is part
of the Cuisine series

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United States measures

Note that the measurements in this section are in U.S. customary units.

Measures are classified as either dry measures or fluid measures. Some of the fluid and dry measures have similar names, but the actual measured volume is quite different. A recipe will generally specify which measurement is required. U.S. recipes are commonly in terms of fluid measures.

Fluid Measures
Unit	Abrev.	Defined	fl oz	ml
drop	–	1/12 dash	1/576	0.05
dash	ds.	1/8 tsp.	1/48	0.62
teaspoon	tsp. or t.	1/3 tbsp.	1/6	4.93
tablespoon	tbsp. or T.	1/2 fl.oz.	1/2	14.79
fluid ounce	fl.oz. or oz.	1/128 gal.	1	29.57
jigger	—	1 1/2 fl.oz.	1.5	44.36
gill	gi.	1/2 cup	4	118.29
cup	C	1/2 pint	8	236.59
pint	pt.	1/2 quart	16	473.18
fifth¹	—	1/5 gal.	25.36	750
quart	qt.	1/4 gal.	32	946.35
gallon	gal.	231 cu.in.	128	3,785.41
Dry Measures
Unit	Abrev.	Defined	cu.in.	ml
pinch	–	1/2 dash	0.02	0.31
pint, dry	pt.	1/2 dry qt.	33.60	550.61
quart, dry	qt.	1/8 peck	67.20	1,101.22
peck	pk.	1/4 bushel	537.61	8,809.77
bushel	bu.	—²	2,150.42	35,239.07

¹The “fifth,” originally exactly one-fifth-gallon (25.6 fl.oz.) was adjusted slightly to make it exactly 750 ml (25.36 fl.oz.).

²All of the above are based on the U.S. gallon (legally defined as 231 cubic inches) and the U.S. bushel (legally defined as an 8 inch tall cylinder 18.5 inches in diameter).

In domestic cooking, bulk solids, notably flour and sugar, are measured by volume, often cups, though they are sold by weight at retail. Weight measures are used for meat and butter; butter is sold by weight but in packages marked to facilitate common divisions by eye. (As a sub-packaged unit, a stick of butter, at 1/4 lb, is a de facto measure in the U.S.)

Cookbooks in Canada use the same system, although pints and gallons would be taken as their Imperial quantities unless specified otherwise. Following the popularization of the metric system, recipies in Canada are frequently published with metric conversions.

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British (Imperial) measures

Note that measurements in this section are in Imperial units

Traditional British measures distinguish between weight and volume.

Weight is measured in ounces and pounds (16 oz = 1 lb = 0.4545 kg)
Volume is measured in fluid ounces and pints (20 fl.oz = 1 pt = 568 ml)

The "cup" is little used as a measure in the UK, although the practised cook will be aware of it from reading American recipes. Older recipes may well give measurements in cups; in so far as a standard cup was used, it was usually half a pint (sometimes a third of a pint), but if the recipe is one that has been handed down in a family, it is just as likely to refer to someone's favourite kitchen cup as to that standard.

American cooks using British recipes, and vice versa, need to be careful with pints and fluid ounces. A US pint is 473 ml, while a UK pint is 568 ml, a fifth larger. A US fluid ounce is 1/16 of a US pint (29.6 ml); a UK fluid ounce is 1/20th of a UK pint (28.4 ml).

On a larger scale, perhaps for institutional cookery, it must be noted that an imperial gallon is eight 20 imperial fl oz pints (4.54 liters) whereas the US gallon is eight 16 US fl oz pints (3.79 liters).

The Metric system was officially adopted in the UK for most purposes, some decades ago, and both taught in schools and used in books. It is now mandatory for the sale of food. However, many people continue to use Imperial measures. Some modern cookery books give ingredients in both units, although it is now common for new cookery books to use metric measures only.

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Metric measures

In the rest of the world, recipes use the metric system of litres (l) and millilitres (ml), grams (g) and kilograms (kg), and degrees Celsius (°C).

In addition to these, some measures are often redefined in terms of metric units. Most countries use the following units:

1 teaspoon (t. or tsp.) = 5 millilitres

1 dessertspoon (D) = 2 teaspoons = 10 millilitres

1 tablespoon (T or tbsp.) = 3 teaspoons = 15 millilitres

1 cup (c) = 250 millilitres

However, Australian recipes use a 15 ml dessertspoon and a 20 ml tablespoon. And in New Zealand, at least, a pint may be approximated as 600 ml.

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Special instructions

Some recipes include additional instructions for measuring the correct amount of an ingredient. For example, a recipe might call for "1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed", or "2 heaping cups flour." A few of the more common special measuring methods:

Firmly Packed

With a spatula, a spoon, or by hand, the ingredient is pressed as tightly as possible into the measuring device.

Lightly Packed

The ingredient is pressed lightly into the measuring device, only tightly enough to ensure no air pockets.

Even / Level

A precise measure of an ingredient, discarding all of the ingredient that rises above the rim of the measuring device. Sweeping across the top of the measure with the back of a straight knife or the blade of a spatula are common leveling methods.

Rounded

Allowing a measure of an ingredient to pile up above the rim of the measuring device naturally, into a soft, rounded shape.

Heaping / Heaped

The maximum amount of an ingredient which will stay on the measuring device.

Sifted

This instruction may be seen in two different ways, with two different meanings: before the ingredient, as "1 cup sifted flour", indicates the ingredient should be sifted into the measuring device (and normally leveled), while after the ingredient, as "1 cup flour, sifted", denotes the sifting should occur after measurement.

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