Common Cooking Measurement Reference
| Measurement | tsp | tbsp | fl oz | ml |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 1 | ⅓ | ⅙ | 4.93 |
| 1 tablespoon | 3 | 1 | ½ | 14.79 |
| ¼ cup | 12 | 4 | 2 | 59.15 |
| ½ cup | 24 | 8 | 4 | 118.3 |
| 1 cup (US) | 48 | 16 | 8 | 236.6 |
| 1 pint | 96 | 32 | 16 | 473.2 |
| 1 quart | 192 | 64 | 32 | 946.4 |
| 1 litre | 202.9 | 67.6 | 33.8 | 1000 |
Kitchen Measurement Conversions Explained
Cooking measurements vary significantly between countries and recipe traditions. American recipes use cups, teaspoons, and tablespoons; European recipes (especially baking) predominantly use grams and millilitres; and some older British recipes still reference pints and fluid ounces. This cooking unit converter handles all major volume and weight measurements used in home and professional kitchens.
US vs Metric Cooking Measures
The US customary measurement system uses volume-based measurements even for dry ingredients (1 cup of flour, 1 cup of sugar), while metric baking recipes specify weight in grams. The metric approach is more precise because the density of different ingredients varies: 1 cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 125g, while 1 cup of granulated sugar weighs about 200g.
Why Volume-to-Weight Conversion Needs Density
This converter handles volume-to-volume and weight-to-weight conversions directly. Converting between volume and weight (e.g., cups of flour to grams) is not possible without knowing the ingredient's density. For this reason, a density conversion message is shown when you attempt a cross-type conversion — use a dedicated ingredient density table for those conversions.
Baking Precision Tips
- For most baked goods, use a digital kitchen scale for dry ingredients. Weight measurements are not affected by how tightly you pack a cup.
- For liquids, cups and ml are roughly interchangeable with a simple multiplier (1 cup US = 236.6 ml).
- The US tablespoon (14.8 ml) is slightly larger than the UK tablespoon (17.7 ml) and the Australian tablespoon (20 ml).