Some say cooking is a science and an art. We would say that geography has a hand in it, too. Flour milled in the United Kingdom and elsewhere will feel and taste different from flour milled in the United States. So we cannot promise that the loaf of bread you bake in Canada or England will taste the same as a loaf baked in the States, but we can offer guidelines for converting weights and measures. We also recommend that you rely on your instincts when making our recipes. Refer to the visual cues provided. If the bread dough hasn’t “come together in a ball,” as described, you may need to add more flour—even if the recipe doesn’t tell you to. You be the judge.
The recipes in this book were developed using standard U.S. measures following U.S. government guidelines. The charts below offer equivalents for U.S., metric, and imperial (U.K.) measures. All conversions are approximate and have been rounded up or down to the nearest whole number.
EXAMPLE:
|
1 teaspoon |
= 4.9292 milliliters, rounded up to 5 milliliters |
|
1 ounce |
= 28.3495 grams, rounded down to 28 grams |
VOLUME CONVERSIONS (U.S. to Metric)
1 teaspoon = 5 milliliters
2 teaspoons = 10 milliliters
1 tablespoon = 15 milliliters
2 tablespoons = 30 milliliters
¼ cup = 59 milliliters
⅓ cup = 79 milliliters
½ cup = 118 milliliters
¾ cup = 177 milliliters
1 cup = 237 milliliters
1¼ cups = 296 milliliters
1½ cups = 355 milliliters
2 cups (1 pint) = 473 milliliters
2½ cups = 592 milliliters
3 cups = 710 milliliters
4 cups (1 quart) = 0.946 liter
1.06 quarts = 1 liter
4 quarts (1 gallon) = 3.8 liters
WEIGHT CONVERSIONS
½ ounces = 14 grams
¾ ounces = 21 grams
1 ounce - 28 grams
1½ ounces = 43 grams
2 ounces = 57 grams
2½ ounces = 71 grams
3 ounces = 85 grams
3½ ounces = 99 grams
4 ounces = 113 grams
4½ ounces = 128 grams
5 ounces = 142 grams
6 ounces = 170 grams
7 ounces = 198 grams
8 ounces = 227 grams
9 ounces = 255 grams
10 ounces = 283 grams
12 ounces = 340 grams
16 ounces (1 pound) = 454 grams
CONVERSIONS FOR INGREDIENTS COMMONLY USED IN BAKING
Baking is an exacting science. Because measuring by weight is far more accurate than measuring by -volume, and thus more likely to achieve reliable results, in our recipes we provide ounce measures in addition to cup measures for many ingredients. Refer to the chart below to convert these measures into grams.
1 Cup All-Purpose Flour* = 5 ounces = 142 grams
1 Cup Whole-Wheat Flour = 5½ ounces = 156 grams
1 Cup Granulated (white) Sugar = 7 ounces = 198 grams
1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar (light or dark) = 7 ounces = 198 grams
1 Cup Confectioners’ Sugar = 4 ounces = 113 grams
1 Cup Cocoa Powder = 3 ounces = 85 grams
Butter †
4 Tablespoons (½ stick, or ¼ cup) = 2 ounces = 57 grams
8 Tablespoons (1 stick, or ½ cup) = 4 ounces = 113 grams
16 Tablespoons (2 sticks, or 1 cup) = 8 ounces = 227 grams
* U.S. all-purpose flour, the most frequently used flour in this book, does not contain leaveners, as some European flours do. These leavened flours are called self-rising or self-raising. If you are using self--rising flour, take this into consideration before adding leavening to a recipe.
† In the United States, butter is sold both salted and unsalted. We generally recommend unsalted butter. If you are using salted butter, take this into consideration before adding salt to a recipe.
Oven Temperatures
225 Fahrenheit = 105 Celcius = ¼ Gas Mark (Imperial)
250 Fahrenheit = 120 Celcius = ½ Gas Mark (Imperial)
275 Fahrenheit = 130 Celcius = 1 Gas Mark (Imperial)
300 Fahrenheit = 150 Celcius = 2 Gas Mark (Imperial)
325 Fahrenheit = 165 Celcius = 3 Gas Mark (Imperial)
350 Fahrenheit = 180 Celcius = 4 Gas Mark (Imperial)
375 Fahrenheit = 190 Celcius = 5 Gas Mark (Imperial)
400 Fahrenheit = 200 Celcius = 6 Gas Mark (Imperial)
425 Fahrenheit = 220 Celcius = 7 Gas Mark (Imperial)
450 Fahrenheit = 230 Celcius = 8 Gas Mark (Imperial)
475 Fahrenheit = 245 Celcius = 9 Gas Mark (Imperial)
CONVERTING TEMPERATURES FROM AN INSTANT-READ THERMOMETER
We include doneness temperatures in many of the recipes in this book. We recommend an instant-read thermometer for the job. Refer to the above table to convert Fahrenheit degrees to Celsius. Or, for temperatures not represented in the chart, use this simple formula:
Subtract 32 degrees from the Fahrenheit reading, then divide the result by 1.8 to find the Celsius reading.
EXAMPLE:
“Roast chicken until thighs register 175 degrees.”
To convert:
175°F – 32 = 143°
143° ÷ 1.8 = 79.44°C, rounded down to 79°C