USA weights and measures

[samuelcat]

Hi,I have been given an old cook book which has some american recipes in it.
The quantities are in cups. Can any one tell me what that cup size is based on or the weight of a measured cup.
Thanks

[foxyferret]

Had a quick look in a cookery book, found some bits which may be helpful. One american cup is equal to 8oz fluid on a pyrex jug. The american pint is 16 fluid oz as opposed to our 20 fl oz. The american tablespoon is 14.2 ml, ours is 17.7 ml. Teaspoon is the same in both countries. Could not find anything about dry weights though for things like flour. Maybe if it says 1 cup of flour, you put the equivalent amount of flour in a pyrex jug up to 8 fluid ounces, but this is just a guess so no knowing for sure.

[samuelcat]

WOW. Great answers. Thankyou both.

[maggiefoodie]

hiya, it is easy to convert liquids from cups to metric/imperial, but can be tricky with dry ingredients b/c obviously a cup of flour weighs less than, say, a cup of sugar.

re tablespoons and teaspoons - you do not have to worry about converting these. if a u.s. recipe calls for 1 tablespoon, you can use 1 tablespoon and vice versa. so don't worry about this.

something helpful to remember is that there are 16 tablespoons in 1 american cup. it might be a bit fussy, but it is a great way to convert dry ingredients without doing a lot of maths! so if a recipe calls for 1/2 cup of flour, you can indeed measure 8 tablespoons of flour with perfect results. some quick conversions:

1 cup = 16 tbsp
3/4 cup = 12 tbsp
1/2 cup = 8 tbsp
1/3 cup = 5 tbsp + 1 tsp
1/4 cup = 4 tbsp
1/8 cup = 2 tbsp

1 cup flour = 125g
1 cup sugar = 200g
1 cup butter = 225g
1 cup golden syrup / honey = 350g
1 cup chopped nuts = 120g

hope this helps!

[samuelcat]

thanks maggiefoodie. surprised to get an answer after all this time thanks for the interest.

[maggiefoodie]

i should also add that in american recipes using cups, the traditional way to measure flour is by using the 'spoon and sweep' method. This sounds fussy, but it really the only way to measure if you are baking and want great results. so, as the previous poster said - all measures (tbsp, cups) should be level. but with cups, you should measure flour by 'spooning and sweeping' - which means that you lightly spoon the flour into the measuring cup till it is heaping, and then level off the flour with a knife. if you simply stick your measuring cup into the flour and then shake to level it off, you will indeed be using more flour than if you spoon and sweep - thus altering the recipe and possibly ruining your results.

remember - spoon and sweep is only for measuring flour in cups. don't worry about measuring other ingredients, like sugar.

[pastafreak]

As an American living here in the UK for 20 years....I have stuck with using only American recipes when it comes to cakes. I have never used the 'spoon and sweep' method as mentioned by maggie...yet my cakes are always light.
It should also be mentioned that whatever method of either weighing or measuring you use for baking in particular..never switch between the two in a recipe...then you will definitely run into trouble.

[samuelcat]

thankyou