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Weights and Measures and Substitutes

United States Measures
Measures are classified as either dry measures or wet measures. Wet measures are measures of volume, while dry measures are measures of weight. Whether the ingredient you are measuring is dry or wet really doesn't matter, and will only confuse you. Simply use the measure that is required by the recipe. US recipes are almost always in terms of volume.

British (Imperial) measures
British measures distinguish between weight and volume.
Weight is measured in pounds and ounces (16oz = 1lb = 0.4545Kg).
Volume is measured in pints and fluid ounces (20fl.oz = 1pt = 568ml)
The "cup" is not used as a measure in the UK, although if you are a regular cook, you will be aware of it from reading American recipes.
Be careful with pints and fluid ounces. A US pint is 473 ml, while a UK pint is 568 ml, a fifth larger. A US fluid ounce is 1/16 of a US pint (29.4 ml); a UK fluid ounce is 1/20th of a UK pint (28.4 ml). On a larger scale, perhaps for institutional cookery, it must be noted that a UK gallon is eight 20oz pints (4.54 liters) whereas the US gallon is eight 16oz pints (3.78 liters).

The Metric system was officially adopted in the UK some decades ago, and both taught in schools and used in books, but a very large part of the population continues to use Imperial measures. Most modern cookery books give ingredients in both units.

Australia/NewZealand Measures
Australian recipes use a 15 ml dessertspoon and a 20 ml tablespoon. And in New Zealand, at least, a pint may be approximated as 600 ml.

Wet Measures:
1 drop = 1/76 teaspoon
1 dash = 6 drops
1 teaspoon = 76 drops = 1/3 tablespoon = 4.93 ml
1 tablespoon = 1/16 cup or 1/2 fluid ounce = 3 teaspoons = 14.79 ml
1 fluid ounce = 1/16 pint = 29.57 ml
1 jigger = 1 1/2 fluid ounces = 44.36 ml
1 gill = 4 fluid ounces = 118 ml
1 cup = 8 fluid ounces = 16 tablespoons = 237 ml
1 pint = 16 fluid ounces = 2 cups = 473 ml
1 fifth = 25.6 fluid ounces = 757 ml
1 quart = 32 fluid ounces = 2 pints = 4 cups = 946 ml
1 gallon = 128 fluid ounces = 4 quarts
1 peck = 8 quarts = 2 gallons

Dry Measures:
Pinch = approx. 1/8 teaspoon
1 ounce = 16 drams = 1/16 pound = 28.35 g
1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons
1/4 cup = 4 tablespoons
1/3 cup = 5 1/3 tablespoons
1/2 cup = 8 tablespoons
2/3 cup = 10 2/3 tablespoons
3/4 cup = 12 tablespoons
1 cup = 16 tablespoons = 48 teaspoons
1 pound = 16 ounces = 453.6 g
1 peck = 8 quarts = 2 gallons = 1/4 bushel
1 bushel = 4 pecks

Note that often no difference is made between fluids and solids, and so a cup may very well be used to measure flour.

Converting Between Standard English and Metric Units

Metric measures
Apart from the US and the UK, most of the rest of the world's recipes use the metric system of litres (l) and millilitres (ml), grams (g) and kilograms (kg), and degrees celsius (°C).

In addition to these, some measures are often redefined in terms of metric units. Most countries use the following units:

1 teaspoon = 5 millilitres
1 dessertspoon = 2 teaspoons = 10 millilitres
1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons = 15 millilitres
1 cup = 250 millilitres

Weight
1 ounce = 28.35 grams
1 pound = 453.59 grams
1 gram = 0.035 ounce
100 grams = 3.5 ounces
1000 grams = 2.2 pounds
1 kilogram = 35 ounces
1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds

Volume
1 millilitre = 1/5 teaspoon
1 millilitre = 0.03 fluid ounce
1 teaspoon = 5 millilitres
1 tablespoon = 15 millilitres
1 fluid ounce = 30 millilitres
1 fluid cup = 236.6 millilitres
1 quart = 946.4 millilitres
1 litre (1000 millilitres) = 34 fluid ounces
1 litre (1000 millilitres) = 4.2 cups
1 litre (1000 millilitres) = 2.1 fluid pints
1 litre (1000 millilitres) = 1.06 fluid quarts
1 litre (1000 millilitres) = 0.26 gallon
1 gallon = 3.8 litres

Temperature
Conversion formulas:
°C = (°F - 32) X 5/9
°F = (°C X 9/5) + 32
Conversions
32°F = 0°C
40°F = 4.4°C
100°F = 37.7°C
200°F = 93.3°C
225°F = 107.2°C
250°F = 121.1°C
275°F = 135°C
300°F = 148.9°C
325°F = 162.8°C
350°F = 176.7°C
375°F = 190.6°C
400°F = 204.4°C
425°F = 218.3°C
450°F = 232.2°C
475°F = 246.1°C
500°F = 260°C

Distance
1 inch = 2.5 centimetres
1 foot = 30 centimetres
1 millimetre = 0.04 inch
1 centimetre = 0.4 inch
1 metre = 3.3 feet

Abbreviations

Standard English
cup = C
fluid cup = fl C
fluid ounce = fl oz
fluid quart = fl qt
foot = ft
gallon = gal
inch = in
ounce = oz
pint = pt
pound = lb
quart = qt
tablespoon = T or Tbsp
teaspoon = t or tsp
yard = yd

Metric
millimetre = mm
centimetre = cm
metre = m
kilometre = km
millilitre = mL
litre = L
milligram = mg
gram = g
kilogram = kg

Unusual Weights and Measures
1 bit = 2 pinches
1 smidgen = 4 bits
1 dollop = 2 smidgens
1 gaggle = 3 dollops
1 gaggle = 2 glugs
1 blanket = 2 glugs
1 smothering = 3 blankets

Special Instructions
Some recipes have instructions like, "1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed" which probably mean nothing to you as a person, but if you are a cook, then they mean:

• Firmly Packed – using a spoon, spatula or clean hands, firmly press the ingredient into a measuring cup until no more fits in.

• Lightly Packed – put the ingredient into a measuring cup but don’t press on it. Remove air pockets by tapping the base of the cup on the bench a few times.

• Even / Level – the ingredient in the measuring cup has to have a flat top. Swiping the excess ingredient from the top of the cup with the back of a straight knife is a useful way to get a level measure.

• Rounded – the opposite to level. Allow the ingredient to pile above the rim of the measuring cup so the top is rounded, sort of like a little hill.

• Heaping / Heaped - pile as much of the ingredient on top of the measure as you can.

• Sifted - sift before measuring to ensure ingredient is not compacted.

Note: if you don’t have a measuring cup, any cup will do, so long as you use the same cup for the whole recipe.

Substitutions

Substitutions can be made for some ingredients if you just don't have them in the cupboard, or to reduce the fat content of some recipes. Don't forget, some ingredients are absolutely essential and without them the recipe will taste or look nothing like what you imagine it should. For instance, it is better not to substitute reduced-fat margarine or corn oil spreads for regular butter unless a recipe has been specifically developed for their use. Their increased water content (and other nasty oily bits) can make a substantial difference in the food's taste, appearance and texture.

Sour cream substitutes:

• Plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese blended with 1 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• Fat-free sour cream

Whipped cream substitutes:

• Chilled, whipped evaporated skim milk

Cream substitutes:

• Evaporated skim milk
• Whole milk (as a beverage or in recipes) substitutes:
• Skim, 1 percent or 2 percent milk
• Full-fat cheese substitutes:
• Low-fat, skim-milk cheese
• Cheese with less than 5 grams of fat per ounce
• Fat-free cheese

Ricotta cheese substitutes:

• Low-fat or fat-free cottage cheese
• Non-fat or low-fat ricotta cheese

Ice cream substitutes:

• Low-fat or non-fat ice cream
• Frozen low-fat or non-fat yogurt
• Frozen fruit juice products
• Sorbet

Ground beef substitutes:

• Extra lean ground beef
• Lean ground turkey or chicken

Bacon substitutes:

• Tempe (soybeans)
• Prosciutto
• Lean ham

Sausage substitutes:

• Lean ground turkey
• fat-free sausages (but what is the point really?)

Whole egg substitutes:

• Two egg whites
• 1/4 cup cholesterol-free liquid egg product (arrrgh, what's that)
• 1 egg white plus 2 tsp. oil
• One egg yolk = One egg white
• One egg (as thickener) = 1 tablespoon flour

Mayonnaise substitutes:

• Low-fat or fat-free mayonnaise
• Whipped salad dressing
• Plain low-fat yogurt combined with low-fat cottage cheese

Salad dressing substitutes:

• Low-calorie dressings (read the label & note sugar/sodium levels are not too high)
• Homemade dressing made with a good quality oil, water, and vinegar or lemon juice

Cream soup substitutes:

• Broth-based or skim milk-based soups

Nut substitutes:

• Dried fruit such as raisins, chopped dried apricots or dried cranberries

Chocolate substitutes:

• 1 ounce baking chocolate = 3 tablespoons cocoa powder and 1 tablespoon oil
• roasted carob beans

Butter, lard, and other saturated fat (coconut oil, palm oil) substitutes:

• Olive, corn, cottonseed, rapeseed (canola), safflower, sesame, avocado, rice bran, soybean or sunflower oil
• Margarine (we have listed this because it exists but would not recommend using it - find out how it is made and we bet you will never eat it again)

References:
The American Dietetic Association's Complete Food & Nutrition Guide by Roberta Larson Duyff.
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooking_weights_and_measures