Cups To Grams

by J. Bird

Question: Hi, Can you give me the conversions from cup to grams etc. There are lots of differing conversions could you point me in the right direction?

Regards,

J. Bird

Answer: Hello, Thanks for writing in with your question.

When it comes to cooking, using weight measurements is not only more accurate, it is easier. All you need is a small, digital scale and you can quickly measure your ingredients (right in the mixing bowl for some recipes). Weight measurements, given in grams, are typically used in French recipes.

However, the system of cups, tablespoons, and teaspoons is still used by many English speaking home cooks. To add to the confusion, there are several different versions of this volume system. A cup in Australia does not mean the same thing as a cup in the United States.

I have written the recipes you find on Easy French Food using the typical system of volume measure used in the United States.

Cups to Milliliters

Converting cups to metric volumes is the same for all ingredients because they are both measures of volume.

In the US system (the one used on this website):

• One cup = 237 ml


• One tablespoon = 15 ml


• One teaspoon = 5 ml

Cups to Grams

But you of course have asked about grams.

Unfortunately there is no simple formula for converting cups to grams. This is because the first is a measure of volume and the second a measure of weight. One cup of one thing might weigh more or less than one cup of something else.

Here are a few basic conversions from the US system of volume to the metric system of weight that you can use with my recipes. I have kept the figures round on purpose.

All Purpose Flour

• one cup - 150 grams


• one tablespoon - 10 grams

(Note that flour can be tricky, because different types will be more or less dense.)

Granulated Sugar

• one cup - 200 grams


• one tablespoon - 12 grams


• one teaspoon - 4 grams

Many Liquids (water, milk, juice, but not something like honey which is much denser and weighs more for an equivalent volume)

• one cup - 240 grams


• one tablespoon - 15 grams


• one teaspoon - 5 grams

Butter

• one cup - 225 grams


• one tablespoon - 14 grams

Ounces to Grams

Converting ounces to grams is easier. Each ounce weighs approximately 28 grams. (To be more precise: 28.3495231 grams)

Fluid Ounces

Do be careful though with fluid ounces (which I do not use on this website). Most recipes when they refer to a fluid ounce are not using a weight measurement at all. Rather they are referring to a volume measurement.

And guess what? That volume is different in different measuring systems!

One fluid ounce measures 29.6 ml in the US system and 28.4 ml in the Imperial system.

Conclusion

Ok, are you as confused as I am? And to think I have barely touched on the complexity of the issue. Little wonder that you have had problems getting accurate conversions.
If you are using the metric system and cooking by weight, more power to you. We all would be if we had any sense!

In the meantime, as far as my recipes go, you can use the conversions given above. If you have a problem with a particular recipe, I can also try to help you with the conversion.

Kind Regards,

Kim