September 8, 2006
Conversions & Equivalents
Americans typically measure ingredients by volume, while the French measure them by weight. Being a bit of a transatlantic cook myself, I own a set of measuring cups and spoons (somewhat worn by years of dishwasher abuse) as well as a digital scale. I feel comfortable with both philosophies, but I prefer the gram/kilo system because it introduces very little human error bias -- the most eloquent illustration is found in the measurement of flour, which can vary considerably depending on the quality of the flour, how much you pack into the cup, and the humidity of the air.
Personal preferences aside, the recipes in my book had to be written using the cup/spoon system, since the initial publication will be on the US market. I do know that more and more American cooks are adding scales to their kitchen equipment -- especially those who are serious about baking, and those who have an interest in foreign recipes -- and I would have loved to include both systems in the book (as I do on this blog), but this is still too timid a trend to justify double measurements, which tend to clog up the printed page.
But, while I was testing my recipes, I made numerous notes on ingredients and their volume-to-weight equivalents. I will have them ready for when a publisher decides to translate and adapt my book for another market (knock on wood for me, will you?), and in the meantime, I have updated the list of conversions and equivalents that has been sitting around here since October of 2003 -- as we say in French, ça ne nous rajeunit pas. The new list below will now be linked to in the "features" section on the left-hand side. See it, right there? Nope, scroll up a bit, yes, you got it, that's where it is.
And if you need the conversion information for an ingredient that is not here, please don't hesitate to ask -- I will update the list every once in a while.
Note: Some of the conversions are ever-so-slightly rounded, to minimize the headache side effect.
Volume
1 cup = 240 mL (milliliter)
1/2 cup = 120 mL
1/3 cup = 80 mL
1/4 cup = 60 mL = 4 tablespoons
1 tablespoon = 15 mL (= une cuillérée à soupe or cs in French) = 3 teaspoons
1 teaspoon = 5 mL (= une cuillérée à café or cc in French)
1 fluid ounce = 30 mL
1 US quart = 0.946 liter ~=1 liter
Weight
1 ounce = 28 grams
1 pound = 16 ounces = 454 grams
Length
1 inch = 2.54 centimeters
1 foot = 12 inches = 30 centimeters
Temperature
400° F = 200° C = gas mark (France) 7
350° F = 180° C = gas mark (France) 6
300° F = 150° C = gas mark (France) 5
(See equivalents for UK gas marks.)
Volume-to-weight conversions
Note: Since the volume measurement of an ingredient depends on how you pack the measuring cup/spoon and on the ingredient itself (how it is cut, its density, its water content), the volume-to-weight conversions are not absolute: they are simply a reflection of my own experience.
Dairy
Butter: 1/2 cup = 1 stick = 4 ounces = 113 grams
Butter: 1 tablespoon = 14 grams
Comté cheese, grated: 1 cup = 100 grams
Crème fraîche: 1 cup = 240 grams
Fresh cheese: 1 cup = 240 grams
Greek-style yogurt: 1 cup = 280 grams
Gruyère cheese, grated: 1 cup = 100 grams
Heavy cream: 1 cup = 240 grams
Light cream: 1 cup = 240 grams
Milk: 1 cup = 240 mL
Parmesan cheese, grated: 1 cup = 110 grams
Ricotta: 1 cup = 250 grams
Yogurt: 1 cup = 250 grams
Nuts etc.
Almonds, shelled, whole, blanched: 1 cup = 125 grams
Almonds, sliced: 1 cup = 70 grams
Almond meal (a.k.a. ground almonds): 1 cup = 100 grams
Almond butter/purée: 1 cup = 240 grams
Cashews, shelled, whole: 1 cup = 130 grams
Chestnuts, shelled, cooked: 1 cup = 130 grams
Hazelnuts, shelled, whole: 1 cup = 120 grams
Macadamia nuts, shelled, whole: 1 cup = 125 grams
Nut butter: 1 cup = 240 grams
Pistachios: 1 cup = 125 grams
Poppy seeds: 1 cup = 145 grams
Walnuts, shelled, halves: 1 cup = 100 grams
Baking
Agave syrup: 1/3 cup = 100 grams
Baking powder (levure chimique or alsacienne): 1 standard French sachet = 11 grams = 1 tablespoon
Cacao nibs: 1 cup = 120 grams
Chocolate chips: 1 cup = 160 grams
Cocoa powder: 1 cup = 120 grams
Honey: 1 cup = 300 grams
Honey: 1 tablespoon = 18 grams
Salt, fine: 1 teaspoon = 5 grams
Sugar, brown: 1 cup (packed) = 170 grams
Sugar, confectioner's: 1 cup = 130 grams
Sugar, granulated: 1 cup = 200 grams
Sugar, granulated: 1 tablespoon = 12.5 grams
Molasses: 1 cup = 280 grams
Flour, grains, etc.
Bulgur: 1 cup = 190 grams
Chickpeas (dried, raw): 1 cup = 190 grams
Cornmeal: 1 cup = 165 grams
Dried beans: 1 cup = 180 grams
Elbow macaroni: 1 cup = 150 grams
Flour, all-purpose or whole wheat: 1 cup = 120 grams
Polenta: 1 cup = 160 grams
Quinoa: 1 cup = 190 grams
Rice, basmati: 1 cup = 180 grams
Rice, short-grain: 1 cup = 195 grams
Rolled oats: 1 cup = 100 grams
Fruits, vegetables, herbs
Baby spinach leaves: 1 cup (packed) = 30 grams
Basil: 1 cup (packed) = 20 grams
Blueberries: 1 cup = 190 grams
Carrots, grated: 1 cup (loosely packed) = 90 grams
Fava beans, shelled: 1 cup = 120 grams
Green peas, shelled: 1 cup = 145 grams
Hibiscus flowers, dried, semi-crushed, lightly packed: 1 cup = 40 grams
Mâche: 1 cup (packed) = 20 grams
Raisins: 1 cup = 150 grams
Raspberries: 1 cup = 125 grams
Rocket: 1 cup (packed) = 25 grams
Strawberries: 1 cup (small strawberries, or large strawberries, sliced) = 125 grams
Young salad greens: 1 cup (packed) = 20 grams
Other
Agar-agar: 1 teaspoon = 2 grams
Baby shrimp, shelled, cooked: 1 cup = 100 grams
Capers: 1 cup = 120 grams
Dried bread crumbs: 1 cup = 100 grams
Hibiscus flowers: 1/3 cup = 15 grams
Oil: 1 tablespoon = 9 grams
Olives: 1 cup = 180 grams
Pans and dishes
10-inch tart or cake pan = 25-centimeter tart or cake pan
9-inch cake pan = 22-centimeter cake pan
4-inch tartlet mold = 10-centimeter tartlet mold
9-by-13-inches baking dish = 22-by-33-centimeter baking dish
8-by-8-inches baking dish = 20-by-20-centimeter baking dish
6-ounce ramekin = 180-mL ramekin
9-by-5-inches loaf pan = 23-by-12-centimeter loaf pan = 8 cups or 2 liters in capacity
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thanks for these very necessary conversions
Oh my god: THANK YOU!!! J' ai reçu mon livre sur les cupcakes qui est en anglais, et toutes ces mesures, même préparée, m' ont effrayée!! Il y a bien les conversions à la fin du livre, mais les tiennes sont plus complètes et claires, merci !!
Merci Merci Merci !!!
Très utile...j'utile en partie le système métrique et en partie le système anglsi...quelques fois ça devient compliqué de se retrouver.....
As an American in Cambridge, UK, this is a gift. Once again, Clotilde, you've shared something priceless. Thank you!
Not only have I been looking for conversions such as this (thank you!), but since I teach cooking at several places I have to develop a serious weekly grocery list.
For instance, 30 recipes a week times 30 kids.
Depending on their age, the kids make between 3 and 6 recipes each, daily.
I am seeking a book that would help me to convert things like, a bottle of dried thyme is say 12 ounces and that converts to how many Tablespoons, or the recipe is written in cups of butter, now convert the total kids in class X the number recipes = total amount of butter required. A cup of Mozzarella weighs how many ounces vs. a cup of cheddar cheese or a cup of parmesan. You see the dilemma?
It has been vexing me for weeks!
Thanks so much. I trade recipes with a friend in the UK and I'm always scrambling to try and figure out what I'm supposed to be using!
Merci pour ces infos bien précieuses!
Thanks for such a thorough list! I am a big believer in weighing most ingredients, but I think I'm still in the minority. Very few recipes are presented with volume measures, so I've just committed to memory some basic equivalents. By the way, I have those same measurers! Although, mine are so worn that I can barely read the numbers.
Hi Clotilde,
I am fascinated by your blog and by the fact that you are getting a cook book published in the U.S. I am about to finish reading My Life in France by Julia Child and a great part of the book deals with the writing of her book on French cooking and her, and her co-authors', struggles to get it published. I'm going to Paris next week and I am looking forward to good food and other delights. How is the weather in Paris these days? Are the nights cool and the days warm like here in Washington, D.C.?
That is a lot of convertin' you did there!!
I'm more of an eyeballer than a measurer, so this is immensely helpful for those times (baking) when I really do need to measure. I too have exchanged measuring spoons/cups with friends in the UK, because when cookbooks offer conversions, they are often inexact. Merci!
This is helpful! Thanks!
Clotilde, thank you for a great tool for my kitchen. I feel confident (knock, knock) that your book will be picked up for translation so keep you table ready.
My best to you and Maxence.
yeay! now i have another reference for converting metric into imperial... because i think in the former but things are all imperial here in the us... i have quite a lot of confusion trying to follow recipes! but it's all fun... =C)
Excellent resource, thanks. The persistence of "English" (i.e. non-metric) measurements is maddening to me, though I grew up with them in the US. "A pint's a pound the world around," Americans chant happily, except in England, where--because of something called the Imperial Gallon--"A pint of pure water weighs a pound and a quarter" (it rhymes to the English), and in the whole rest of the world which adopted the metric system long ago. Aargh.
Is there any way we might effectively change the minds of editors in the USA? The patronizing fear of the ignorance & stupidity of the general public is frustrating. People looking to an author to tell them how to cook are going to buy Betty Crocker, or if they're a little more informed, Mark Bittman, or Reichl's Gourmet. While they're not your target, anyway, most people who buy cookbooks rarely use them anyway. Serious home cooks who delight in cookbooks are easy to convert to weights and I am sure the NPR crowd or the hip young French majors from Berkeley & Smith that your publisher is hoping to snag would be happy to do something European and techno-scientific with a gizmo since it just makes more sense. I remember looking perplexed at a kitchen scale a friend gave me on my birthday years ago; when it broke, I replaced it with a gorgeous, sleek thing that I use almost every day, gr vs. oz when recipe specifies. It's maddening when you're told "4 medium tomatoes" and a joy when you're given their weight. Approximately 2 1/2 cups worth isn't as precise. Cut into what size pieces? And for baking, there's no comparison.
THANK YOU!!! This is such a fantastic resource!!
Thank you so much for this wonderfully useful tool, Clotilde! I recently invested in a nifty digital scale and I can't wait to use it!
A suggestion: perhaps you could also add what "un sachet de levure chimique" and "un sachet de sucre vanillé" are equivalent to, for those of us who live in places where these ingredients are only available in large boxes?
Very cool, and thanks! By the way, there is a great conversion tool available for free here. I use it all the time for weights, measures, etc. It doesn't do Gruyère cheese though!
Thk you so much. My pb is always with butter : sticks and spoons are difficult. Now it will be easier !
So useful!! thanks Clotilde. Conversions are a pain especially when websites keep telling you that a cup of flour is the same than a cup of flour...your version is far more precise and I will refer to it often, no doubt! touching wood for you and the book, but I am sure other editions will follow soon
Ooooh, those are the exact same measuring spoons I have!!!
Why is it that in some countries (e.g. South Africa), a measuring cup is 250ml, but in the USA a cup is just under 240ml?
You'd think at least a cup would be standard? (Tablespoon and teaspoons seem to be the same size no matter where you are...)
Thank you so much for this. I should have checked your blog a few days earlier. I could have used the conversion chart the other day. I have having to guess, or run back and forth from a metric conversion chart. This is getting laminated and posted on my fridge!
thanks so much for this! how very handy!
This is amazing! Thanks so much. Now I can convert to grams and weigh things out properly. I am especially thankful for the flour and sugar conversions.
That's funny, we've always called them soup spoons too. (except in recipes) Must be an unconscious part of my french heritage.
Thanks for the conversion resource... but If I may split hairs for a minute... I didn't think a liter is quite the same as a quart. - a quick google search confirmed a 10% difference, and eligtened me to the fact that theres a bigger difference between the british and american quart.... too crazy, maybe we should all go metric afterall - So much easier to double a batch of cookies!
All - I am so pleased that this list is useful to you as well!
Scott - I have 1 US quart = 0.946 liter, which I had rounded up to 1 liter. It's true there is a 5% difference. I'll update the list.
Thank you so much! No more mumbling as I pore over a spreadsheet trying to do all the conversions...copious gratitude from San Diego.
For Malaysian home cooking, especially Nyonya food, we hardly use measurement. Instead what we do is to "agak-agak" (it means "guesstimate" in Malaysian language). We believe that cooking is an expression of creavitity, and different people have different palate and expectations in terms of taste, so everything is "agak-agak." It was challenging initially, but now I really love it. Some days I like my food sweeter, so I throw in more sugar. Some days I like my food saltier, hence a couple more dashes of salt...it's quite intuitive and fun! :)
Knocking on wood, Clotilde! And thank you for this, it's essential.
Hey there Clothilde. Long time reader here with just a couple of non-food related questions. Where do you like to shop. In the few pictures I have seen of you, you always look so fabulously..well parisian and chic! And secondly what do you use on your skin, girl it is amazing! I am an Esthetician so this is a subject of great interest for me:) Thanks, you rock!
Thank you so much for this. I'm from the UK and often come across recipes on the web with American measures so this will be invaluable.
You're site is fantastic Clotilde. I've recently set up my very own food blog and your site is a real inspiration.
I just tried to make my own conversions after a little trip to the "Cupcake bakeshop" of the web... But 1 cup powdered sugar is not 1 cup white flour or 1 cup brown sugar. That's the problem with the "cups". Thank you for this great (and useful) reminder!
I have that same set of spoons! Two sets, actually. The colors have mostly rubbed off, though. I also have a digital scale, for measuring weights, but in the US it's somewhat hard to find recipes that use weights instead of volume.
Wow, this is wonderful! Now I will be able to get the recipes from my foreign SIL. She is an excellent cook.
Thanks alot!
i'm a bit of a stickler for measurements when it comes to baking. and since i often make more than 1 batch, sometimes, 2, 3 or 4 all at the same time, i prefer weighing the ingredients into a bowl.
i've been having some concerns when it comes to cinnamon. seems that they are lighter compared to other ground spices. do you have the figure for this? cocoa powder weighs the same as flour? i've always figured they were lighter, APF being a denser product.
stephane,
1 pound sifted powdered sugar is 4.5 cups, if i recall correctly.
btw, an australian tablespoon has 20ml, instead of 15ml as in the US and elsewhere. are there any other differences/variations aside from that one?
This post is great! Since I am an American living overseas, I find myself converting recipes all the time when I share them or receive them! I use both volume measurement and weight and my wonderful digital scale (my absolute favorite kitchen gadget I think!) converts from ounces to grams at the touch of a button. But it's always nice to have a good conversion chart like the one you produced. Thanks :-)
But what are you doing for chocolate day?
BTW: great post
O, Thank you Clotilde!
Translating cups into grams takes always so much of my time!
I already have a little list with conversions, but yours is so conveniently arranged and extensive,
I will print it out and keep it right by my cookbooks! =)
Great!
Thank you so much! Just today I tried finding the weight to volume ratio for heavy cream. I recently discovered the joy of using a scale and can't bear to dirty up a measuring cup.
Do you have the weight for oil?
Thanks!
Aww.. I was actually looking forward to an Engilsh C&Z book with both US and European measurments.
Clotilde, I liked how you once said to an agressive commenter that you are writing to an international audience and therefore will be using both systems. This was a major selling point for me as an Anglo in Paris. I guess we're a negligible demographic ang not the market you are targeting, but if it's not too late I'd like to cast my vote for a book that features both systems.
Thank you! Thank you. Thank you! What a great resource!
Astrid - I haven't included the volume-to-weight conversion for oil because the French way of measuring oil and other liquids is by volume, too, though in milliliters and centiliters.
N - What I said that one time was that I am writing to an international audience on this blog (hence the double measurements in the recipes I post here). When you work with a publisher however, there are his own market and production requirements to consider. But there is a good chance that there will be a UK edition, and this one will have metric measurements...
Thank you so much Clotilde! Now I can go back to the American cookbooks I had assigned to the back of the cupboard with a bit more confidence in what the outcome might be. Especially helpful is the "stick" of butter, this has thrown me out more times that I care to remember. I figured that a stick had to be about half a normal pack (250grams) but I've been using too much which killed the cakes I had tried.
thanks
Gregg
When do you think the French will start measuring the way we do in America. It seems so silly to weigh everything, do you think the French will ever catch up with the Ameeican way?
Lovely blog.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I printed it out right away!
Wow, this is awesome!! Did you do all this math yourself?! Yikes. But seriously, thank you soo much. I have this giant Spanish cookbook that for years has been collecting dust because the last time I used it by conversions were definitely not right.
Hi Clotilde,
I've been told that American flour differs from French flour--is somehow more strong... do you have any knowledge you can share about this? How does it affect the conversions, or is it taken into consideration?
Many thanks.
Beth
French and American flours are based on different types of wheat. They differ in gluten content, among other things.
When using French flour for American recipes (muffins, pancakes, brownies, baking powder biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, etc. anything considered a "quick bread", that is a recipe which uses baking soda and baking powder as leavening) my best results were with a 50-50 mix of type 55 and type 80 flours ("T 55" and "T 80" on the label). Both types are usually found on the shelves of most decent supermarkets in France.
Jennifer
In late response to "Deleilan on September 8," "un sachet de levure chimique" and "un sachet de sucre vanillé" are each exactly a tablespoon (American), at least according to my six months of Parisian cooking experience.
Can I add another spoon (or cup!) to the pot? The New Zealand and Australian cup measurement is actually 250ml...makes for even more confusing conversions!
Thank you for this much helpful list, Clotilde! I am a Brazilian that enjoys american food, and always had to calculate everything before trying a new recipe. Thanks to you, my cooking adventures will be a lot easier!
I have also found these two websites with translations and conversions. They also have much more on temperature conversions. Although not perfect, they can help...
http://www.provencebeyond.com/food/
http://www.ffcook.com/pages/frenchwords.htm
There is a site that provides online weight/volume conversion for various cooking ingredients. Of course, they all are only approximations, but can be handy: http://www.convert-me.com/en/convert/cooking
I'm glad you have this, it helps me understand the correlation between the two measurements easier.
Thanks for the post. I was searching for a wt for molasses, and there you go. I am slowly converting all my recipes to wt. I'll be back.
Cheers.
mac
Arrg! Please tell that publisher in the U.S.A. that more and more people here (in the U.S.A.) actually do care enough about cooking to own a frakking scale!
I am terribly sad that your book (which will have much baking, I'm sure) will only be cups and teaspoons and such. It is silly and a turnoff to avid cooks to not have measures by weight as well.
Grrrrrr.
That said, I am so excited that you'll have a book at all! Congrats!
Bananna - The UK edition will have weight measurements, both in grams and in ounces. Perhaps you can order that one?
Just another thank you from an a Swiss resident who has mostly American recipes!!!
Recently,I have been printing recipes from the web,several from the USA using cups.I have trawled through many sites looking for a conversion chart i.e US to UK.Most give flour or sugar,but what about all the other ingredients used in cooking?!!
What a thrill when I found this site,it must be the only one.
Many thanks,well done.
Thanks so much. I'm an American who used to live in Oz, and used your conversions then. Now I'm happily cooking in the States with recipes from everywhere, and still use your table of conversions. You made it so much easier!
i usually read your blog just to look at the pretty pictures and imagine whipping up something.
i finally moved in to a place with an oven, so tonight, i decided to make some banana bread. after standing in the supermarket for quite a while puzzling over levure chimique, i googled it when i got home and to my surprise... you're not just a pretty blog. had to say thanks!
I found this from an online conversion forum, found it useful.
butter = 230 grams/cup
100 grams is slightly less than 1/2 cup. Use stick butter and read the package. 100 grams is just about 1 stick.
powdered sugar is 130 grams/cup.
100 grams is about 4/5 of a cup.
U.S. all purpose flour is 100 grams/cup
100 grams = 1 cup
Hi and thanks for the conversions. Just one request - I recently used shortening in a recipe for the first time and I took a guess that it converted similarly to butter but as the recipe has turned out I think it may weigh lighter (I can really taste the greasy shortening and think I must have used too much). Do you have a conversion for vegetable shortening please? Also lard and yeast might be helpful too. Thanks! xx
Thanks for this! Always useful to have a good conversion guide.
I noticed, though, that your gas mark conversions differ significantly from the ones I'm familiar with. Most sources I've seen give 300°F/150°C as equivalent to gas mark 2, not 5. Are gas settings in France different from in the UK?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_mark
BTW, made the apple cake from your book this weekend. Absolutely delicious. Thanks again!
Niba - Thank you for alerting me to this: the gas marks I indicated are indeed the French ones, and I hadn't realized they used an entirely different scale from the British gas marks. I've specified this and linked to the Wikipedia page you provided.
Ma belle-fille, très bonne cuisinière, a suivi mon fils aux US et depuis elle se débat désespérément entre les volumes et les poids. C'est vraiment très sympa de votre part d'avoir publié vos notes à ce sujet. Bravo et merci !
Katherine
Dear Clotilde,
thank you for your lovely recipes (many of which I've adopted) and tasty writing. One quick question about conversions: for flour, when you provide a volume measurement, do you mean SIFTED flour or the packed cup that you will sift after translating into grams?
Thanks,
Anna
Anna - The flour equivalent is for unsifted flour measured using the "spoon and sweep" method, as described here: "Fluff up the flour in the bag or container, and lightly spoon it into the cup while held over a sheet of waxed paper or the flour canister. Let the flour heap up and overflow. Do not pack the it into the cup. Do not tap or shake the cup to level it. When the flour is over the top, use the flat side of a knife or spatula (or even you finger) to sweep off the excess flour so it is level with the top of the cup."
Hi Clothide,
I only use dried yeast. So what is the equivalent of '30grammes de levure du boulanger"
Also what is '30 cl d’eau' in cup measurement?
Thank you so much
Micheline
Hello and thank you so much for the conversions! When traveling abroad they are necessary. In my case in the weight of a stick of butter was the key!
Thanks Again!
- Joslyn
Fantastic - weight of tsp of Agar Agar!!! Love it & exactly what I needed... thank you