If you’re anything like me, there’s nothing worse than finding a great looking recipe, only to discover that all the measurements are in US cups!! Even if you don’t like the metric system, it’s not that difficult to convert, since most scales or measuring jugs will have oz/grammes or fluid oz/millilitres as options.
Cooking measurements come in two basic forms: dry weight and fluid weight. In metric, this is so easy I could dance! Basically, everything is in divisions of either 10, 100 or 1000. Moreover, 1 gramme (g) is exactly the same as 1 millilitre (ml)! How easy is that? Once you get to grips with metric, I absolutely promise you you’ll never ever turn back!
But in the meantime, let’s look at various ways food is measured
Teaspoons/tablespoons
A bugbear of mine! If you see a recipe that calls for half a teaspoon of salt, what is your initial reaction? Head to the cutlery drawer and pull out something you stir your tea with, right?? Well not every single teaspoon ever made is going to be the same size! So the teaspoon in your drawer is very likely to have a different measurement to the one in mine! The answer is to buy little measuring spoons for a couple of pounds such as:
Alternatively, you can use this simple conversion table:
tsp=teaspoon, tbsp=tablespoon
1 tablespoon (tbsp) = 3 teaspoons (tsp)
| Spoon size | Grammes | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4tsp | 1g | 1ml |
| 1/2tsp | 2.5g | 2.5ml |
| 1tsp | 5g | 5ml |
| 2tsp | 10g | 10ml |
| 3tsp/1tbsp | 15g | 15ml |
Cups
Cups are an even bigger nightmare because they measure volume, not weight! I’ve never understood how you can measure a cup of butter or a cup of broccoli? I don’t get it. So I don’t try. There are plenty of online tools that will help you convert, but be aware, you need one that converts the food substance as everything has a different weight. Remember, cups measure volume, not weight – an odd concept for us who use scales or a jug to measure all ingredients. So for something as accurate as you can be, try something like this, which uses the USDA National Nutrient Database:
