Converters

Converters

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to figure out the right size to buy or learning to cook with converted measures, this section should give you a head start.

A handy download, Convert.zip, 152kb converter utility for Windows.

Cooking

Food Ingredient Equivalents

Different names, same thing. Some foods in Britain have a different name to what it’s called in the US, here are the most common confusing foods.

Food Equivalents, Substitutions, and Common Measurements

British	American
aubergine	eggplant
beef, Rump Steak	beef, Top Round
bicarbonate of soda	baking soda
caster sugar	granulated sugar
clotted cream	no equivalent
coriander	cilantro
cornflour	cornstarch
courgette	zucchini
cream, clotted	no equivalent
cream, double	heavy cream
cream, single	half and half cream
digestive biscuits	Graham crackers or other crackers
emethaler	swiss cheese
flank steak	London broil
flour, strong	bread flour
flour, wholemeal	flour, wholewheat
gelatine	gelatin
glucose syrup	light corn syrup
golden syrup	corn syrup
icing sugar	confectioners' sugar
madras curry powder	curry powder
mince "meats"	ground "meats"
pastry case	pie shell
pine kernel	pine nut
plain flour	all purpose flour
polenta	cornmeal
salad onion	spring onion, scallion
self raising (SR) flour	use all purpose flour adding a raising agent
swede	rutebega
tomato puree	tomato paste
vanilla essence	vanilla extract
whipping cream	heavy cream

Butter/Margarine

1 pound/ 450grams	2 cups
4 ounces	1/2 cup
2 ounces	1/4 cup
1/2 ounce	1 Tablespoon

Flour

1 pound/ 450grams	4 cups
8 ounces / 250 grams	2 cups
4 ounces / 125 grams	1 cup
2 ounces	1/2 cup
1 ounce	1/4 cup

Sugar (Granulated/Caster)

1 pound/ 450grams	2 cups
8 ounces	1 cup
4 ounces	1/2 cup
2 ounces	1/4 cup
1/2 ounce	1 Tablespoon

Equivalent Measures

To aid you in your kitchen, this area includes the most common cooking conversions and tips such as dry measure, spoons, liquid measures, and metric equivalents.

Spoons - British Tablespoons vary slightly, UK holds 17.7ml while the US version holds 14.2 ml.

UK	US
1 teaspoon	1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon	1 tablespoon
2 tablespoons	3 tablespoons
3.5 tablespoons	4 tablespoons
4 tablespoons	5 tablespoons

Metric Conversion - US to Metric

Capacity		Weight
¹/5 teaspoon	1 milliliter	1 oz	28 grams
1 teaspoon	5 ml	1 pound	454 grams
1 tablespoon	15 ml
1 fluid oz	30 ml
¹/5 cup	47 ml
1 cup	237 ml
2 cups (1 pint)	473 ml
4 cups (1 quart)	.95 liter
4 quarts (1 gal.)	3.8 liters

Oven Temperatures - Farenheit, Celsius, and Gas Marks

degrees F	degrees C	Gas Mark
150	70
175	80
200	100
225	110	1/4
250	120	1/2
275	140	1
300	150	2
325	160	3
350	180	4
375	190	5
400	200	6
425	220	7
450	230	8
475	240	9

Liquid - British Pints differ to US Pints, UK pint measures 20 fluid ounces while the US pint holds 16 fluid ounces.

UK	US
1/4 pint	2/3 cup
1/2 pint	1 1/4 cups
3/4 pint	2 cups
1 pint	2 1/2 cups
1 1/2 pints	3 3/4 cups
2 pints	5 cups (2 1/2 pints)

Metric Conversion - Metric to US

Capacity		Weight
1 milliliter	¹/5 teaspoon	1 gram	.035 ounce
5 ml	1 teaspoon	100 grams	3.5 ounces
15 ml	1 tablespoon	500 grams	1.10 pounds
100 ml	3.4 fluid oz	1 kilogram	2.205 pounds 35 oz
240 ml	1 cup
1 liter	34 fluid oz 4.2 cups 2.1 pints 1.06 quarts 0.26 gallon

Bakeware Sizes - Equivalents

1 Round Cake Tin	1 Square Pan 1 inch smaller
800ml/1-1/2pint pudding basin	14cm/ 5-1/2 inch round deep cake tin
1.2 litre/2 pint pudding basin (UK Pint)	15cm/6inch round deep cake tin or 12.5 cm/5inch square deep tin
1kg/2lb loaf tin	18cm/7inch square shallow cake tin or a 33 x 23 cm/13 x 9 inch Swiss roll tin

Women's Clothing

Size	6	8/Small	10/Small	12/Med.	14/Med.	16/Lg	18/Lg	20
Bust	31-1/4"	32-1/4"	34-1/4"	36-1/4"	38-1/4"	40-1/4"	42-1/4"	44-1/4"
	79.5cm	82cm	87cm	92cm	97cm	102cm	107cm	112cm
Waist	23-1/4"	24-1/4"	26-1/2"	28-1/2"	30-1/2"	32-1/2"	34-1/2"	36-1/2"
	59.5cm	62cm	67cm	72cm	77cm	82cm	87cm	92cm
Hips	33-1/4"	34-1/4"	36-1/4"	38-1/4"	40-1/4"	42-1/4"	44-1/4"	46-1/4"
	84.5cm	87cm	92cm	97cm	102cm	107cm	112cm	117cm

Shoes

Women's Shoes
USA	5	5-1/2	6	6-1/2	7	7-1/2	8	8-1/2	9	9-1/2	10	10-1/2	11	11-1/2	12
UK	3-1/2	4	4-1/2	5	5-1/2	6	6-1/2	7	7-1/2	8	8-1/2	9	9-1/2	10	10-1/2
Men's Shoes
USA	7	7-1/2	8	8-1/2	9	9-1/2	10	10-1/2	11	11-1/2	12	12-1/2	13	14	15
UK	6-1/2	7	7-1/2	8	8-1/2	9	9-1/2	10	10-1/2	11	11-1/2	12	12-1/2	13	14
Children's Shoes
USA	6-6.5	7	7.5	8	8-8.5	9	10.5	11.5	12-12.5	13-13.5	1-1.2	2-2.5
UK	5	6	7	8	8.5	9	10	10.5	11.5	12	13	1
Continent	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33

Ovens - Many/most ovens are fan ovens (aka convection) and temperatures are indicated in Celsius, to make things easy for myself, in converting from Farenheit to Celsius, I generally halve the F temperature. It's not exact but it's worked well for me. Also, with fan ovens you must either reduce the C temperature by 20-25 degrees or reduce the cooking time by 10-15 minutes. Most foods have instructions for both types of ovens on their packaging. My own oven manual has these temperature at the right. (I have also added Gas Mark equivalences though I have no experience with them.)

degrees F	degrees C	Gas Mark
150	70
175	80
200	100
225	110	1/4
250	120	1/2
275	140	1
300	150	2
325	160	3
350	180	4
375	190	5
400	200	6
425	220	7
450	230	8
475	240	9

Body Temp

F	98.6	99	99.5	100	100.5	101	101.5	102	102.5	103	103.5	104	104.5	105
C	37	37.2	37.5	37.8	38.1	38.3	38.6	38.9	39.2	39.4	39.7	40	40.3	40.6

Room & Weather Temps

C	-25	-20	-15	-10	-5	0	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45
F	-13	-4	5	14	23	32	41	50	59	68	77	86	95	104	113

Comments:

You may login to edit this page.Leave a comment on this page by filling in the form. Note that questions will be answered more quickly if you post on the Forum. (Comment numbers are page anchors so that you may link directly to a comment, Right Click and Copy shortcut.)

Add your comments -

C	-25	-20	-15	-10	-5	0	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45
F	-13	-4	5	14	23	32	41	50	59	68	77	86	95	104	113

C	-25	-20	-15	-10	-5	0	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45
F	-13	-4	5	14	23	32	41	50	59	68	77	86	95	104	113

C	-25	-20	-15	-10	-5	0	5	10	15	20	25	30	35	40	45
F	-13	-4	5	14	23	32	41	50	59	68	77	86	95	104	113