Cooking in foreign lands with foreign recipes and ingredients can have its little challenges. In this section you will find useful conversion tables for oven temperatures, weights for dry ingredients, liquid measures and tablespoon conversions for the Europe, US and Australia.
As a general rule, Europeans and Australians follow the metric measurement system and Americans follow the imperial system. The conversions listed here are approximate for imperial.
Weight conversions for dry ingredients
Metric | Imperial |
7g | 1/4 oz |
15g | 1/2 oz |
30g | 1 oz |
60g | 2 oz |
85g | 3 oz |
110g | 4 oz |
140g | 5 oz |
170g | 6 oz |
200g | 7 oz |
225g | 8 oz |
255g | 9 oz |
280g | 10 oz |
310g | 11 oz |
340g | 12 oz |
370g | 13 oz |
400g | 14 oz |
425g | 15 oz |
450g | 1 lb (16 oz) |
500g | 1 lb 2 oz |
1000g (1Kg) | 2 lb 4 oz (2 ¼ lb) |
Conversions for Liquid measures
Metric | Imperial | Australia | US |
25ml | 1fl oz | ||
50ml | 2fl oz | ¼ cup | ¼ cup |
75ml | 3fl oz | ||
100ml | 3½fl oz | ||
120ml | 4fl oz | ½ cup | ½ cup |
150ml | 5fl oz | ||
175ml | 6fl oz | ¾ cup | ¾ cup |
200ml | 7fl oz | ||
250ml | 8fl oz | 1 cup | 1 cup |
300ml | 10fl oz/½ pint | ½ pint | 1¼ cups |
360ml | 12fl oz | ||
400ml | 14fl oz | ||
450ml | 15fl oz | 2 cups | 2 cups/1 pint |
500ml | 17fl oz | ||
600ml | 1 pint (16fl oz) | 1 pint | 2½ cups |
750ml | 1¼ pints | ||
900ml | 1½ pints | ||
1 litre | 1¾ pints | 1¾ pints | 1 quart |
1.2 litres | 2 pints | ||
1.4 litres | 2½ pints | ||
1.5 litres | 2¾ pints | ||
1.7 litres | 3 pints | ||
2 litres | 3½ pints | ||
3 litres | 5¼ pints |
There’s a small difference between Australian (metric) cups and US cups. A standard metric cup holds 250ml of liquid whereas a US cup holds slightly less at 240ml. With most recipes, this slight difference won’t affect the final result.
Conversion for US cup measures to grams
Many US recipes give ingredients measured in cups. Cups workwell for measuring volume but converting cup measurements to grams is difficult as the equivalent weight depends on the ingredient. For example, a cup of sugar will weigh around 225gm, but a cup of flour may weigh only about 150gm.
US cups | grams |
1 cup grated cheese | 110g |
1 cup ground almonds | 110g |
1 stick butter | 113g |
1 cup icing sugar | 125g |
1 cup currants | 150g |
1 cup flour | 150g |
1 cup brown sugar | 200g |
1 cup sultanas/raisins | 200g |
1 cup uncooked rice | 200g |
1 cup butter/margarine/lard | 225g |
1 cup caster/granulated sugar | 225g |
Conversion for Spoon measurements to grams
1 dessertspoon = 2 teaspoons
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon /15ml in UK
4 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon /20ml in Australia
Spoons | ml |
1 teaspoon | 5ml |
2 teaspoons | 10ml |
1 tablespoon | 15ml |
2 tablespoons | 30ml |
3 tablespoons | 45ml |
4 tablespoons | 60ml |
5 tablespoons | 75ml |
6 tablespoons | 90ml |
7 tablespoons | 105ml |
Conversion of Oven temperatures
European recipes usually give oven temperatures in Celsius. US recipes usually give oven temperatures in degree Fahrenheit. Older UK recipe books may also show Gas mark. Use the table below to find the UK equivalent. With fan-assisted ovens, remember to reduce the temperature by 20 degrees as shown below.
Description | Gas and Conventional Electric °C | Gas and Conventional Electric °F | Gas mark | Electric °C Fan | |
Very cool | 110 | 225 | 90 | ||
Very cool | 120 | 250 | 100 | ||
Cool | 140 | 275 | 1 | 120 | |
Cool | 150 | 300 | 2 | 130 | |
Warm | 160 | 325 | 3 | 140 | |
Moderate | 180 | 350 | 4 | 160 | |
Moderately hot | 190 | 375 | 5 | 170 | |
Fairly hot | 200 | 400 | 6 | 180 | |
Hot | 220 | 425 | 7 | 200 | |
Very hot | 230 | 450 | 8 | 210 | |
Very hot | 240 | 475 | 9 | 220 | |
Very hot | 250 | 500 | 230 |