Cooking Converter

How many grams are in one cup?

It depends entirely on the ingredient. One US cup holds about 125 g of plain flour, 200 g of white sugar, 227 g of butter and 340 g of honey. There is no single answer, which is why this converter asks what you are measuring before giving a weight.

How many grams of flour in a cup?

About 125 g for a US cup and 132 g for an Australian 250 mL cup, assuming the flour is spooned in and levelled. Scooping straight from the bag compacts it and can give 140 g or more, which is why weighing is more reliable for baking.

What is the difference between US and Australian cups?

An Australian cup is 250 mL and a US cup is 236.588 mL, so the Australian one is about 5.4% larger. Across several cups of flour that difference becomes noticeable in baking, so it is worth setting the right one in the converter.

How many tablespoons are in a cup?

Sixteen US tablespoons make a US cup, exactly. With Australian measures it is 12.5, because the 20 mL Australian tablespoon is larger while the cup is only slightly bigger. Mixing the two systems is a common source of error.

How many teaspoons are in a tablespoon?

Four in Australia, where the tablespoon is 20 mL and the teaspoon 5 mL. Three everywhere else, since most tablespoons are 15 mL. This is the single most consequential difference between Australian and international recipes.

How many mL in a cup?

250 mL for an Australian or metric cup, 236.588 mL for a US cup, and 284.131 mL for the historical UK imperial cup. US nutrition labels use a 240 mL legal cup, which appears on packaging but not usually in recipes.

Why do grams change for different ingredients?

Because cups measure volume and grams measure mass, and the two are linked by density. Flour is light and airy at about 0.53 g/mL while honey is dense at 1.44, so the same cup holds nearly three times the mass of honey. Density is the missing piece in any volume-to-weight conversion.

How do I convert butter from cups to grams?

One US cup of butter is about 227 g, which is why American recipes often call for two sticks — each stick is a quarter pound, or 113 g. An Australian 250 mL cup holds about 240 g. Australian butter is usually sold in 250 g blocks, which makes the arithmetic convenient.

Should I weigh or measure for baking?

Weigh, wherever you can. The same cup of flour ranges from about 115 g sifted to 160 g scooped and tapped, and nothing in a recipe tells you which the author intended. Scales remove that uncertainty and make results repeatable.

How do I scale a recipe?

Multiply every ingredient by the same factor, then think separately about tin size, baking time and oven temperature — those do not scale linearly. Strong flavourings such as chilli and garlic usually need less than the full multiple, so start at about 1.5× when doubling and adjust.

How do I halve a recipe with three eggs?

Beat one egg thoroughly, weigh it, and use half that weight. A large egg is roughly 50 g out of the shell, so 25 g is a reasonable half. Trying to judge half an egg by eye is unreliable, and eggs matter structurally in baking.

What is the difference between fluid ounces and ounces?

Fluid ounces measure volume and ounces measure mass. They are numerically close for water by historical accident, but not for anything else — 8 fl oz of honey weighs about 340 g rather than 227 g. Note too that a US fluid ounce is 29.57 mL while a UK one is 28.41 mL.

How do professional kitchens measure?

By weight, almost always, and often as baker's percentages where every ingredient is expressed relative to the flour. Weighing is faster at volume, more consistent between cooks, and scales without error — which matters when a recipe is made hundreds of times.

Why is my cake different when I follow the recipe exactly?

Cup measurement is the usual culprit. Two people measuring "one cup of flour" can differ by 20%, which changes the flour-to-liquid ratio and with it the texture. Oven calibration and tin size account for most of the rest. Weighing the dry ingredients removes the largest variable.

Do liquid and dry cups differ?

The volume is the same; the vessels differ for practical reasons. Liquid measuring jugs have a spout and headroom so you can carry them without spilling, and are read at eye level. Dry cups are filled to the brim and levelled off. Using a jug for flour makes levelling difficult, which adds error.

Can I use a dinner spoon instead of a measuring spoon?

Not reliably. Cutlery varies enormously — a dinner spoon from the drawer holds anywhere from 10 to 18 mL against a measuring tablespoon’s 20 mL in Australia. For salt, spices or raising agents that difference changes the result, so a cheap set of measuring spoons is worth having.

What are baker’s percentages?

A way of writing recipes where every ingredient is a percentage of the flour weight. Five hundred grams of flour at 70% hydration means 350 g of water. It makes recipes scale exactly and lets you compare doughs directly, but it only works in weight — percentages of a cup are meaningless.

Are these ingredient weights exact?

They are averages from published baking references, not constants. Brand, humidity, storage and how firmly you pack the cup all shift them, and flour alone ranges about 20% between sifted and scooped. Treat them as dependable starting points and weigh directly when precision matters.

How do I measure sticky ingredients like honey?

Weigh them if you can — a good deal of honey or golden syrup stays behind in a measuring cup, so the amount that reaches the bowl is less than measured. If you must use volume, oil or spray the cup first, or warm it slightly so the syrup releases cleanly.