Measurements and Conversions (Temperature and Recipe)

📏 Kitchen Measurements & Conversion Guide

This reference page helps cooks quickly convert ingredients, scale recipes, and adjust between imperial and metric units. Whether you’re preparing for a feast or modifying a modern dish, this chart simplifies your kitchen math.

Need spice conversions by weight?
Visit the full guide: Ounces to Tablespoons FAQ.

Need to substitute one spice for another?
Check out our Spice Substitution Chart.

Looking for a quick conversion?
Click on any section below to expand and view standard U.S. kitchen measurements, converted to ounces and cups for easy reference. Great for cooks, feast stewards, and anyone scaling recipes up or down!

🔯 Dry Measure Conversions

American Standard	Equivalent	Ounces
Smidgen	1/2 pinch	1/32 tsp
2 Smidgens	1 Dash
Pinch	1/16 tsp
Dash	1/8 tsp
8 Dashes	1 tsp
1 Tbsp	3 tsp	0.5 oz
1/8 cup	2 tbsp	1 oz
1/4 cup	4 tbsp	2 oz
1/3 cup	5 tbsp + 1 tsp	2.6 oz
1/2 cup	8 tbsp	4 oz
2/3 cup	10 tbsp + 2 tsp	5.3 oz
3/4 cup	12 tbsp	6 oz
1 cup	16 tbsp	8 oz

🧪 Liquid Measure Conversions

American Standard	Equivalent	Ounces
1 pint	2 cups / 32 tbsp	16 oz
1 quart	2 pints / 4 cups	32 oz
1 gallon	4 quarts / 16 cups	128 oz
8 quarts	1 peck
4 pecks	1 bushel

🔥 Oven Temperatures (Traditional Terms)

Traditional Term	Fahrenheit	Celsius	Notes
Cool Oven	200–250°F	93–121°C	Used for slow baking or drying
Slow Oven	300–325°F	149–163°C	Breads and low-temp roasting
Moderate Oven	350–375°F	177–191°C	Most cakes, cookies, general baking
Hot Oven	400–450°F	204–232°C	Quick roasting, pies
Very Hot Oven	475–500°F	246–260°C	Flash cooking, puff pastry

🍬 Candy Stage Temperatures (Detailed)

Stage	Fahrenheit	Celsius	Description
Smooth	215–220°	102–104°C	Used for crystallizing creams, gum goods, and liqueurs
Thread	230–235°	110–112°C	Forms threads between finger and thumb, used for liqueurs
Pearl	226°	108°C	Longer threads form, finger and thumb separate fully
Blow	230°	110°C	Small air bubbles appear when blowing through skimmer
Feather	240–245°	115–118°C	More bubbles appear, used for fondants and rich creams
Soft Ball	240°	116°C	Forms soft ball in water
Hard Ball	248°	120°C	Forms firm ball that sticks to teeth
Ball	250–255°	121–124°C	Used for coconut candies and grain sugar
Soft Crack	252°	122°C	Cracks under pressure but reforms
Crack	260°	127°C	Cracks easily and doesn’t reform
Hard Crack	290°	143°C	Snaps like eggshells, used for clear goods and machine drops
Crack (High)	310–315°	154–157°C	Used for taffy, clear drops, stick candies

⚕️ Apothecary Weights & Measures

Unit	Symbol	Equivalent
Grain	gr	1/7000 lb
Scruple	ƒ (scruple)	20 grains
Dram	ʒ (dram)	3 scruples (60 grains)
Ounce	§ (ounce)	8 drams
Pound	℔ (lb)	12 ounces (5760 grains)

📦 Volume Conversions (US)

Volume	Equals
3 tsp	1 tbsp
2 tbsp	1 fl oz
4 tbsp	1/4 cup
1 cup	8 fl oz
2 cups	1 pint
4 cups	1 quart
4 quarts	1 gallon

🌡️ Temperature Conversion

• Fahrenheit to Celsius: Subtract 32, multiply by 5, then divide by 9.
• Celsius to Fahrenheit: Multiply by 9, divide by 5, then add 32.

🔁 Recipe Scaling

To scale a recipe up or down:

• Determine the number of servings you want.
• Divide by the recipe’s original servings to get a conversion factor.
• Multiply every ingredient by this factor.

Example: If a recipe serves 6 and you need 12, use a factor of 2. If it serves 12 but you want 8, use 0.66.

⚖️ Common Weight ⇄ Volume Estimates

Ingredient	1 Cup ≈ Grams
All-purpose flour	120g
Granulated sugar	200g
Brown sugar (packed)	220g
Butter	227g (or 2 sticks)
Salt	300g

🔢 Quick Conversion Math

• 1 lb = 16 oz
• 1 qt = 32 fl oz
• 1 cup = 16 tbsp
• 1 cup = 8 fl oz
• 1 tbsp = 3 tsp
• 1 gal = 4 qt = 16 cups

🧠 Kitchen Abbreviation Key

• tsp = teaspoon
• tbsp = tablespoon
• oz = ounce
• lb = pound
• pt = pint
• qt = quart
• g = gram, kg = kilogram
• ml = milliliter, l = liter

More detailed breakdown? Download this Culinary Measurement Guide PDF.