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Converting metric into imperial measurements for cooking
For the most part, once equipped with some basic skills and a cookbook, you can make anything. However, the units of measuring can be inconsistent from cookbook to cookbook. European instructions tend to measure everything by metric weight, and if you have a kitchen scale you’re set. Weight is a measure of how much gravity pulls on an object and is the most exact measure for dry and liquid ingredients.
Download our Kitchen Math guide for more conversions.
Common equivalents
In general, we measure things using imperial measures. We measure volume in quarts, cups, tablespoons and teaspoons, and measure weight in ounces and pounds. Our home economists have worked out some approximate equivalencies for some common food items:
- Chocolate chips: 12 oz package = 2 cups
- Butter: 1 stick = ½ cup = ¼ lb
- Instant yeast: 1 package = 7 g = 2 1/4 tsp
- Raisins: 1 lb = 4 cups
- Marshmallows: 400 g package = 54 regular marshmallows = 710 mini marshmallows
For more measurements, visit our Food Equivalents guide.