Flat lay of stainless steel measuring cups and spoons

chameleonseye/iStock/GettyImages

Teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, ounces, milliliters – the different ways recipes give measurements tin be baffling. Fifty-fifty experienced cooks and bakers sometimes forget an equivalent, and when measurements are in an unfamiliar system – similar the metric arrangement for Americans – all but professionals pull out their substitution charts.

Don't panic if you can't locate your 1/4 cup measure. There are several ways to measure using other tools. Just be sure you're converting identical forms of an ingredient.

Measuring Without the one/four Loving cup

When a recipe calls for 1/4 cup, 1/three cup, 1/2 cup or one cup of water or another ingredient, y'all simply pull out your measuring cups, right? But wait – the 1/8 loving cup is nesting inside the one/3 cup! Where did the one/4 cup go? Yous cheque the dishwasher, a few other drawers and the kids' play kitchen, simply it has disappeared.

That's OK. You can mensurate 1/iv cup several other ways:

  • Ii 1/8 cups = 1/four cup
  • Half of 1/2 cup = 1/4 cup. Although yous'll exist eyeballing what is half of the 1/two cup, being exact isn't as critical with h2o as long every bit you're close.
  • 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
  • 12 teaspoons = 1/four cup (iii teaspoons per tablespoon times 4 tablespoons = 12 teaspoons)

Converting Ounces to Milliliters and More than

Frequently, a recipe y'all want to try uses metric measurements instead of the standard U.S. organisation. It helps to keep a conversion table nearby so you can easily refer to it. In recipes, you volition virtually often need conversions of weights and liquids, such as:

  • oz to ml: 1 fluid ounce (fl oz) = 29.57353 milliliters (ml)
  • i gallon = 3.7854 liters (50)
  • 1 liter = 33.81 fl oz
  • one oz = 28.35 grams (g)

Converting Same Ingredients

It's of import to brand sure yous're converting ingredients that are identical or of the aforementioned form for the conversion to work successfully. When finding some other way to measure water, you lot're however measuring the same ingredients.

Substitute broth or hot sauce: If you decided that instead of h2o, you'd like to add together broth, that should exist fine because goop is mild just flavorful and acts the same equally h2o in a recipe. Y'all can melt in broth and use it in sauces and gravies and more. While it may add flavor, i/4 cup of broth won't change the recipe much. However, if y'all decide to utilise hot sauce instead of water, calculation i/four loving cup of hot sauce might make your dish also spicy.

Dried spices for fresh: Allow's say your recipe called for 1 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, simply you don't have it on hand, so you lot opt for dried rosemary instead. Dried spices are about iii times more potent than fresh, so in full general, it takes three times every bit much chopped, fresh spice than the same spice dried. And so, 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary – a pungent spice – might overpower your dish. The conversion for spices is: i tablespoon fresh spice = ane teaspoon dried spice.

Wondering Well-nigh Troy Ounces?

You may take heard of troy ounces and wondered, "What's the divergence between an ounce and a troy ounce?" Troy ounces are used internationally to measure out precious metals like gold and silver. So, unless you lot're cashing in investments while your dinner simmers, you tin concentrate but on converting standard ounces and forget about troy.

References

Writer Bio

Barbara Bean-Mellinger is a freelance writer who lives in the Washington, D.C. area and writes about food for eHow.com and leaf.idiot box. She started blistering on her own at age nine, creating appetizers at 10, and making family meals past fourteen. Barbara holds a B.S. from the Academy of Pittsburgh, where she often cooked elaborate meals and desserts for friends.

YOU MAY Too LIKE