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British Recipe Conversion
American Cooking Weights and Measures
Therefore, when confronted with an American recipe, a British
cook will usually see unfamiliar ingredients, given in cups, teaspoons
and tablespoons. Occasionally there may be references to pounds, ounces,
pints or fluid ounces, but they're not that common. So, what's a British
cook to do? The first point to remember in cooking is that pints and fluid ounces
are different, and so American measures will need to be converted to British
pints and fluid ounces. Fortunately, the British fluid ounce is only very
slightly adrift and, except for the most critical cooking, they can be
considered the same. However, the American pint is quite a bit smaller.
So: To convert US fluid ounces to British fluid ounces - multiply by 1.04 Of course, some US recipes do give the measurements in metric ml, in
which case no conversion is needed. Cups and Spoons This table gives the equivalents (with an accuracy slightly greater than
is practical for measuring). Although these measurements work just fine for liquids, dry ingredients
are also measured in cups and spoons and this creates a further problem:
British cooks are used to flour, sugar and so on being measured by weight. It's also important to realise that when an American recipe calls for
"1 cup of flour", there is an assumption in how this is measured.
Scooping out of a bag will compress the flour, and a cup can easily end
up containing an extra quarter or even half an ounce, and this could make
a big difference to the results. Instead, the "official" measuring
technique is to stir the flour with a spoon to "aerate" it,
then pour it into the measuring cup and level it off with a straight edge.
Don't pat it down, or tap the cup on the workbench to level it off. However, this only applies to very powdery dry ingredients, like flour.
Other ingredients, like rice, brown sugar or fats, should be packed firmly
in the measuring cup to avoid air gaps. Exactly the same principle applies when using spoons. But, if you'd really rather not go through this, the following table
gives some approximate weights (in gm) for the most common dry ingredients.
The equivalent weights should be taken as approximations only, but they
should be within about 5gm. I should add that these figures are based
on official figures issued by the US Department of Agriculture in 1996
and assume that ingredients like flour are "stirred" first,
but that sugars etc are "packed".
US recipes always give oven temperatures in Fahrenheit. The table below
gives the approximate Centigrade and Gas Mark equivalents - there
are considerable variations in different references when it comes to the
"gas mark" equivalents. Note that cooking temperatures in fan-assisted
or "circotherm" type ovens will usually differ from those given
in the recipe (see the manufacturer's information for specific details
as it varies), but the temperature conversion still works, of course.
When a US recipe calls for "half a stick of butter", it is referring
to the fact that butter and other fats are sold in "sticks".
You normally buy butter in packs of a pound, consisting of four sticks,
and they're usually marked in quarters (sometimes in eighths), making
it easy to measure off, say, 2oz of butter, or "half a stick".
Flour Self-raising flour in Britain is self-rising flour in America
(that's a tough one to remember!), and British wholemeal flour
in America is called whole-wheat flour. Sugars and syrups But sweet syrups are rather more difficult. Basically the only sweet
syrup in Britain, Golden Syrup (made by Tate & Lyle), is not
normally available in America. However, a number of supermarkets (particularly
in areas with a significant British presence) do stock it in their British
or "ethnic" section!. Sweet syrup in America is mainly corn syrup and is a very common
ingredient in American cooking and eating. Karo Syrup is a clear or dark corn syrup that is nowhere near
as sweet as Golden Syrup. It is used for sweet pies, such as Pecan
Pie, and is particularly common in the southern states. It can be bought
at a handful of specialist stores in Britain and online, but is otherwise
quite difficult to substitute. But by far the most common syrup in America is the pouring syrup used
for pancakes and so on (sometimes just known as pancake syrup).
This is usually a brown corn syrup, often flavoured with caramel, vanilla,
maple syrup etc, comes in squeezable containers, and is found on many
an American breakfast table. While Maple Syrup might be a suitable
alternative, it is expensive, much sweeter, and simply not the same. Brands
such as Aunt Jemima's Syrup and Mrs Butterworth's are available
through stores catering to American residents in Britain, and also online. There is another syrup, this time made from sugar, that is used largely
in bars and coffee houses for sweetening drinks. Not surprisingly, it's
often called bar syrup, and is nothing more than a highly saturated
sugar solution (there's also Gomme syrup, which is an even more
saturated version). Substituting these syrups is simply a matter of putting
sugar and water (two parts sugar to one part water, by volume) into a
pan and boiling until the sugar is dissolved and the liquid starts to
turn like a syrup. Fruit, vegetables and herbs 
* Coriander is known in America, but is usually used to refer to the seeds (used as a spice), whereas Coriander leaves (as an herb) are called Cilantro. 
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When it comes to measuring for cooking, the Americans steadfastly stick to a system based on cups and spoons.
Recipes usually give dry measures in cups, and liquid measures in a mixture
of cups and pints. Spoons are also used, and occasionally you'll see butter
measured in fractions of a "stick", since butter in the US comes
in long 4oz blocks, conveniently marked in quarters.
It is certainly possible to convert US cups and spoons to a weight, but
it is not always a sensible thing to do as the equivalent weight will
depend on the type of ingredient used. For instance, a cup of brown sugar
may weigh 8oz (about 225gm), but a cup of plain flour may weigh only 4oz
(about 115gm). A rough guide to some key ingredients is given in the table
below, but it's better to use the given measurements and use a measuring
jug or a "cup" measure.
