BRITISH
COOKERY EQUIVALENTS
It is certainly possible to convert
US cups and spoons to a weight, but it is not always a sensible
thing to do as the equivalent weight will depend on the type
of ingredient used. For instance, a cup of brown sugar may weigh
8 ounces (about 225gm), but a cup of plain flour may weigh only
4 ounces (about 115gm). A rough guide to some key ingredients
is given in the table below, but it's better to use a measuring
jug or "cup" measures and go by the original recipe.
It's also important to realize
that when an American recipe calls for "1 cup of flour",
there is an assumption in how this is measured. Scooping out
of a bag will compress the flour, and a cup can easily end up
containing an extra quarter or even half an ounce, and this could
make a big difference to the results. Instead, the "official"
measuring technique is to stir the flour with a spoon to "aerate"
it, then pour it into the measuring cup and level it off with
a straight edge. Don't pat it down, or tap the cup on the workbench
to level it off.
However, this only applies to
very powdery dry ingredients, like flour. Other ingredients,
like rice, brown sugar or fats, should be packed firmly in the
measuring cup to avoid air gaps. The exact same principle applies when
using measuring spoons.
But, if you'd really rather not
go through this, the following table gives some approximate weights
(in grams) for the most common dry ingredients. The equivalent
weights should be taken as approximations only, but they should
be within about 5 grams. I should add that these figures are
based on official figures issued by the US Department of Agriculture
in 1996 and assume that ingredients like flour are "stirred"
first, but that sugars etc are "packed".
Approximate
Equivalents:
|
Ingredient |
1
cup |
1
tablespoon |
1
teaspoon |
| White
Flour |
125
gm |
7.8
gm |
2.6
gm |
| Whole
Wheat Flour |
120
gm |
7.5
gm |
2.5
gm |
| Strong
White Flour |
140
gm |
8.75
gm |
2.9
gm |
| Rye
Flour |
100
gm |
6.25
gm |
2.1
gm |
| Granulated
Sugar |
200
gm |
12.5
gm |
4.2
gm |
| Brown
Sugar |
220
gm |
13.75
gm |
4.6
gm |
| Icing
Sugar |
120
gm |
7.5
gm |
2.5
gm |
| Long-grain
Rice |
185
gm |
11.5
gm |
3.9
gm |
| Short-grain
Rice |
200
gm |
12.5
gm |
4.2
gm |
| Wild
Rice |
160
gm |
10
gm |
3.3
gm |
| Egg
Noodles; dried |
38
gm |
2.4
gm |
0.8gm |
| Peas;
Frozen & Fresh |
144
gm |
9
gm |
3
gm |
| Table
Salt |
290
gm |
18
gm |
6
gm |
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