5 ms·

I always fail at converting measurements from US recipes because it looks like there are many different varieties of "cups" :) What is the best known conversion

I always fail at converting measurements from US recipes because it looks like there are many different varieties of "cups" :) What is the best known conversion table fore recipes? (I live in Europe, usually ingredients are measured in grams and millilitres depending if they are dry or liquid).

bbrazil 11y ago
I usually use Google (or for things like oz, switch the units on my kitchen scales).
- cmsmith 11y ago
  You probably know this, but given the context (GP was talking about measuring cups) it's important to know that ounces can refer to a unit of volume (1/128th of a gallon) or a unit of weight (1/16th of a pound). They are equivalent for water, almost equivalent for most liquids, and not equivalent for most solids. It's just like if we had one word that meant both liters and kilograms.
  - Havoc 11y ago
    >ounces can refer to a unit of volume (1/128th of a gallon) or a unit of weight (1/16th of a pound) Unbelievable. Surely at some point someone must have realised thats a terrible idea?
    - Frondo 11y ago
      That's why you'll hear the phrase "fluid ounces".
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
  - jimktrains2 11y ago
    Well, that's a bad way to look at it. A fluid Oz is 1/16 of a pint. An oz of weight is 1/16 of a pound. A pint of water weights 1 pound ("A Pint's a Pound, the World Around"). Aside: I actually like the customary system for fluid measurements; it's based on halves and as such is divisible by eye, not requiring graduations.
  - dragonwriter 11y ago
    > or a unit of weight (1/16th of a pound). Or 1/12 of a pound, though, to be fair, I don't think anyone uses troy ounces in recipes. > They are equivalent for water, almost equivalent for most liquids, and not equivalent for most solids. Even solid foods are often right around the same density of water, so its often quite close for solid foods. (And, usually, if volume is intended rather than weight, listings will specify fluid ounces.)
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  I use the windows calculator's "convert" functionality. :/
skyyler 11y ago
There aren't really different varieties of "cups". 1 cup is 8 fluid ounces, or ~237 mL.
- pdwetz 11y ago
  I think the one exception is a cup of coffee, which is 6 oz. And to make it more confusing, if mentioned in a recipe, it could actually mean 8 oz!
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    Phrasing seems off here. Can you identify a recipe that uses "1 cup coffee" to mean 6 oz? I'd expect, very strongly, that "1 cup coffee" in a recipe would refer to 1 cup, and 6 oz would be indicated as "3/4 cup".
    - ianferrel 11y ago
      Any coffee-maker will be measured in 6 oz "cups". A bag of coffee will say "X Tablespoons makes Y cups", and mean 6 oz cups.
      - thaumasiotes 11y ago
        Those are not recipes. Also, the second example is measuring the coffee in tablespoons.
        ianferrel 11y ago
        "Mix X T of coffee with Y cups of hot water" is a recipe, and measures something in 6 oz cups.
        thaumasiotes 11y ago
        This is just an error on your part. Y cups of hot water measures 8 oz cups. In trying to back up your claim for you, I checked three brands of instant coffee: Folgers, Nescafe, and Maxwell House (chosen because they were the brands I saw when searching Amazon for "instant coffee"). Folgers provides a website full of coffee-related recipes. Here are a few: http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffee/instant http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffe... "How to make coffee" tells us that a single-serve coffee packet should be added to "6 fluid ounces" of water (or optionally, milk). http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffee/coffee-maker http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffe... "How to make coffee (in a coffee maker)" tells us that a "serving size" is "6 fluid ounces", and that however much water you put in to the coffee maker, you should add about 1 tablespoon of coffee per 6 oz water for mild coffee and double that for strong coffee. http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-measure-coffee http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-measure-co... "How to measure coffee" makes no particular recommendation on serving sizes, but implies that natural measurement amounts are "6 fluid ounces", "30 fluid ounces", and "60 fluid ounces" of water. http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-drink-recipes/vanilla-latte http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-drink-recipes/vanilla-la... "Vanilla Latte", a recipe which includes brewed coffee as an ingredient, calls for "1/2 cup milk" and "1/4 cup" brewed coffee. If we assume they're still thinking that 6 oz is a natural serving size, then 1/4 cup of brewed coffee is, according to the folgers people, 2 fluid ounces. In fact, they have several different recipes under different categories ("latte", "mocha", "cappuccino"...) all of which call for (1) 1/2 cup milk; (2) 1/4 cup either water or brewed coffee; and (3) a generous dollop of flavoring, usually syrup. I didn't find any single-serving recipes for Nescafe or Maxwell House (or Kraft, which owns Maxwell House), so I looked at the packaging: http://www.amazon.com/Maxwell-House-Roast-Ground-Coffee/dp/B00I8GC9E8/ http://www.amazon.com/Maxwell-House-Roast-Ground-Coffee/dp/B... Maxwell House helpfully informs us that coffee should be mixed one tablespoon of coffee to one "serving" of water, or 8 tablespoons of coffee to ten "servings" of water. They also note, "1 serving of water is 6 fl oz (3/4 cup)". http://www.amazon.com/Nescafe-Classic-Instant-Coffee-Ounce/dp/B00CREY3AA/ http://www.amazon.com/Nescafe-Classic-Instant-Coffee-Ounce/d... Nescafe says "Use 1 heaping teaspoon of coffee per cup". However, it is immediately apparent that "cup" is not a measurement, because step 2 is "Pour 6 oz hot water over coffee". But wait! I did find a coffee recipe ("Pumpkin spice latte") on Kraft. It's multiple-serving, which is the ideal case for an instruction of the form "Mix X T of coffee with Y cups of hot water". But here are the relevant ingredients: 1. "1/2 cup GEVALIA House Blend" 2. "1 qt. (4 cups) water" There's no way to interpret those cups as being 6 ounces, since 4 of them make a quart. In sum, you have no clue what you're talking about. Where did you get this idea, and why are you polluting the comments with it?
VLM 11y ago
Measure dry by volume, otherwise you'll have fun making density corrections. A liter is about a quart and there's 4 cups per quart so figure a cup is about 250 mL volume. Or a half cup would be about 125 mL, etc. WRT liquid most medical types like to think a teaspoon is about 5 mL and a tablespoon is three teaspoons aka 15 mL. Good luck with pastry and cake recipes, those require real precision. Everything else, just get the ratios about right and you'll be fine.
- lfowles 11y ago
  Measure compactible dry by weight*. A "cup" of flour can be anywhere from 4-8oz, but is commonly 4oz when a cup is called for in a recipe.
  - thaumasiotes 11y ago
    Yeah... I hate recipes calling for "X amount brown sugar (packed)"...
    - lfowles 11y ago
      I have several boxes of brown sugar handed down to me from my parents years ago.... I just get out a serrated knife and cut out X amount packed! ;)
rwmj 11y ago
I bought a cheap set of measuring cups online so I can make US recipes. It was something similar to this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Stainless-Steel-Measuring/dp/B007JWKY26/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Stainless-Steel-Measuri...
thaumasiotes 11y ago
> I always fail at converting measurements from US recipes because it looks like there are many different varieties of "cups" American; never heard of such a thing. There's a unit of volume called "cup", and it's the same (~237 mL) everywhere. We measure spices by volume, not weight: 1 cup = 16 tablespoons ("tbsp"); 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons ("tsp").
- tjl 11y ago
  In Canada, my measuring cup is 250 mL.

bbrazil 11y ago

I usually use Google (or for things like oz, switch the units on my kitchen scales).

cmsmith 11y ago
You probably know this, but given the context (GP was talking about measuring cups) it's important to know that ounces can refer to a unit of volume (1/128th of a gallon) or a unit of weight (1/16th of a pound). They are equivalent for water, almost equivalent for most liquids, and not equivalent for most solids. It's just like if we had one word that meant both liters and kilograms.
- Havoc 11y ago
  >ounces can refer to a unit of volume (1/128th of a gallon) or a unit of weight (1/16th of a pound) Unbelievable. Surely at some point someone must have realised thats a terrible idea?
  - Frondo 11y ago
    That's why you'll hear the phrase "fluid ounces".
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- jimktrains2 11y ago
  Well, that's a bad way to look at it. A fluid Oz is 1/16 of a pint. An oz of weight is 1/16 of a pound. A pint of water weights 1 pound ("A Pint's a Pound, the World Around"). Aside: I actually like the customary system for fluid measurements; it's based on halves and as such is divisible by eye, not requiring graduations.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  > or a unit of weight (1/16th of a pound). Or 1/12 of a pound, though, to be fair, I don't think anyone uses troy ounces in recipes. > They are equivalent for water, almost equivalent for most liquids, and not equivalent for most solids. Even solid foods are often right around the same density of water, so its often quite close for solid foods. (And, usually, if volume is intended rather than weight, listings will specify fluid ounces.)
thaumasiotes 11y ago
I use the windows calculator's "convert" functionality. :/

skyyler 11y ago

There aren't really different varieties of "cups". 1 cup is 8 fluid ounces, or ~237 mL.

pdwetz 11y ago
I think the one exception is a cup of coffee, which is 6 oz. And to make it more confusing, if mentioned in a recipe, it could actually mean 8 oz!
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  Phrasing seems off here. Can you identify a recipe that uses "1 cup coffee" to mean 6 oz? I'd expect, very strongly, that "1 cup coffee" in a recipe would refer to 1 cup, and 6 oz would be indicated as "3/4 cup".
  - ianferrel 11y ago
    Any coffee-maker will be measured in 6 oz "cups". A bag of coffee will say "X Tablespoons makes Y cups", and mean 6 oz cups.
    - thaumasiotes 11y ago
      Those are not recipes. Also, the second example is measuring the coffee in tablespoons.
      - ianferrel 11y ago
        "Mix X T of coffee with Y cups of hot water" is a recipe, and measures something in 6 oz cups.
        thaumasiotes 11y ago
        This is just an error on your part. Y cups of hot water measures 8 oz cups. In trying to back up your claim for you, I checked three brands of instant coffee: Folgers, Nescafe, and Maxwell House (chosen because they were the brands I saw when searching Amazon for "instant coffee"). Folgers provides a website full of coffee-related recipes. Here are a few: http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffee/instant http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffe... "How to make coffee" tells us that a single-serve coffee packet should be added to "6 fluid ounces" of water (or optionally, milk). http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffee/coffee-maker http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-make-coffe... "How to make coffee (in a coffee maker)" tells us that a "serving size" is "6 fluid ounces", and that however much water you put in to the coffee maker, you should add about 1 tablespoon of coffee per 6 oz water for mild coffee and double that for strong coffee. http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-measure-coffee http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-how-to/how-to-measure-co... "How to measure coffee" makes no particular recommendation on serving sizes, but implies that natural measurement amounts are "6 fluid ounces", "30 fluid ounces", and "60 fluid ounces" of water. http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-drink-recipes/vanilla-latte http://www.folgerscoffee.com/coffee-drink-recipes/vanilla-la... "Vanilla Latte", a recipe which includes brewed coffee as an ingredient, calls for "1/2 cup milk" and "1/4 cup" brewed coffee. If we assume they're still thinking that 6 oz is a natural serving size, then 1/4 cup of brewed coffee is, according to the folgers people, 2 fluid ounces. In fact, they have several different recipes under different categories ("latte", "mocha", "cappuccino"...) all of which call for (1) 1/2 cup milk; (2) 1/4 cup either water or brewed coffee; and (3) a generous dollop of flavoring, usually syrup. I didn't find any single-serving recipes for Nescafe or Maxwell House (or Kraft, which owns Maxwell House), so I looked at the packaging: http://www.amazon.com/Maxwell-House-Roast-Ground-Coffee/dp/B00I8GC9E8/ http://www.amazon.com/Maxwell-House-Roast-Ground-Coffee/dp/B... Maxwell House helpfully informs us that coffee should be mixed one tablespoon of coffee to one "serving" of water, or 8 tablespoons of coffee to ten "servings" of water. They also note, "1 serving of water is 6 fl oz (3/4 cup)". http://www.amazon.com/Nescafe-Classic-Instant-Coffee-Ounce/dp/B00CREY3AA/ http://www.amazon.com/Nescafe-Classic-Instant-Coffee-Ounce/d... Nescafe says "Use 1 heaping teaspoon of coffee per cup". However, it is immediately apparent that "cup" is not a measurement, because step 2 is "Pour 6 oz hot water over coffee". But wait! I did find a coffee recipe ("Pumpkin spice latte") on Kraft. It's multiple-serving, which is the ideal case for an instruction of the form "Mix X T of coffee with Y cups of hot water". But here are the relevant ingredients: 1. "1/2 cup GEVALIA House Blend" 2. "1 qt. (4 cups) water" There's no way to interpret those cups as being 6 ounces, since 4 of them make a quart. In sum, you have no clue what you're talking about. Where did you get this idea, and why are you polluting the comments with it?

VLM 11y ago

Measure dry by volume, otherwise you'll have fun making density corrections. A liter is about a quart and there's 4 cups per quart so figure a cup is about 250 mL volume. Or a half cup would be about 125 mL, etc. WRT liquid most medical types like to think a teaspoon is about 5 mL and a tablespoon is three teaspoons aka 15 mL. Good luck with pastry and cake recipes, those require real precision. Everything else, just get the ratios about right and you'll be fine.

lfowles 11y ago
Measure compactible dry by weight*. A "cup" of flour can be anywhere from 4-8oz, but is commonly 4oz when a cup is called for in a recipe.
- thaumasiotes 11y ago
  Yeah... I hate recipes calling for "X amount brown sugar (packed)"...
  - lfowles 11y ago
    I have several boxes of brown sugar handed down to me from my parents years ago.... I just get out a serrated knife and cut out X amount packed! ;)

rwmj 11y ago

I bought a cheap set of measuring cups online so I can make US recipes. It was something similar to this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Stainless-Steel-Measuring/dp/B007JWKY26/ http://www.amazon.co.uk/Andrew-James-Stainless-Steel-Measuri...

thaumasiotes 11y ago

> I always fail at converting measurements from US recipes because it looks like there are many different varieties of "cups" American; never heard of such a thing. There's a unit of volume called "cup", and it's the same (~237 mL) everywhere. We measure spices by volume, not weight: 1 cup = 16 tablespoons ("tbsp"); 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons ("tsp").

tjl 11y ago
In Canada, my measuring cup is 250 mL.