Cooking Measures and Grams

Turns tablespoons, teaspoons and cups into a volume, then into grams using the density of the ingredient. One tablespoon is 15 g of water but 9 g of sugar or flour and 18 g of soy sauce or salt. Rough densities: water 1, soy sauce 1.2, sugar and flour 0.6, salt 1.2, oil 0.8.

This turns a spoon or cup measure into a volume, then into grams using the density of the ingredient.

1 tablespoon=15 mL,1 teaspoon=5 mL,1 cup=200 mL1\ \text{tablespoon} = 15\ \text{mL}, \quad 1\ \text{teaspoon} = 5\ \text{mL}, \quad 1\ \text{cup} = 200\ \text{mL}

Densities are quoted against water at 1, so multiplying the millilitres by the density gives grams.

The same spoonful weighs different amounts

A measuring spoon measures volume, not weight. One tablespoon is 15 g of water, but 9 g of sugar or flour, 18 g of soy sauce or salt and 12 g of oil. Powders trap air between their grains and come out light, while soy sauce and salt carry dissolved solids heavier than water.

Rough densities

Water and vinegar 1, soy sauce, mirin and salt 1.2, white sugar and flour 0.6, oil 0.8, honey about 1.4.

Example

A tablespoon of flour is 15 mL, which is three teaspoons or 0.075 of a cup. At a density of 0.6 it weighs 9 g.

The cup is 200 mL, the rice cup 180

A cooking cup holds 200 mL, but the cup supplied with a rice cooker holds 180. That is close to one gou, 180.39 mL, without being the same. Mixing them up costs a tenth of the quantity.

Notes

How a powder is scooped changes the weight by around a tenth. Where accuracy matters, as in baking, weigh it on scales.