To make the task of cooking simpler, I have given a comparison of English and American weights and measurements of some solid and liquid food ingredients, normally used by most homemakers in their kitchen.
3 Teaspoonfuls equal 1 tablespoon. The average English teacup is ¼ pint or 1 gill. The average English breakfast cup is ½ pint or 2 gills.
When cups are mentioned in recipes, they refer to a B.S.I. measuring cup, which holds ½ pint or 10 fluid ounces. The B.S.I. standard tablespoon measures 1 fluid ounce.
In case it is wished to translate any of the weights and measures into their American, Canadian or French counterparts, the following tables give a comparison
Solid measure
English- American
1 lb. Butter or other fat – 2 cups
1 lb. Flour – 4 cups
1 lb. Granulated or Caster Sugar – 2 cups
1 lb. Icing or Confectioners’ Sugar – 3 Cups
1 lb. Brown (moist) Sugar – 2 ½ cups
1 lb. Golden Syrup or Treacle – 1 Cup
1 lb. Rice – 2 cups
1 lb. Dried Fruit – 2 cups
1 ib. Chopped Meat (finely packed) – 2 cups
1 lb. Lentils or Split Peas – 2 cups
½ oz. Flour – 1 level tablespoon
1 oz. Flour – 1 heaped tablespoon
1 oz. Sugar – 1 level tablespoon
½ oz. Butter – 1 level tablespoon smoothed off
1 oz. Syrup or Treacle – 1 level tablespoon
1 oz. Jam or Jelly – 1 level tablespoon
Liquid measure
The most important difference to be noted is that the American and Canadian pint is 16 fluid ounces, as opposed to the British Imperial pint, which is 20 fluid ounces. The American ½ -pint-measuring cup is therefore actually equivalent to two-fifth of a British pint.
Metric Weight and Measures
It is difficult to convert to Metric measures with absolute accuracy, but 1 oz. is equal to approximately 30 grammas, 2 lb. 3 oz. to 1 kilogram me. For liquid measure, approximately 1 ¾ English pints may be regarded as equal 10 1 liter; 1 demilitre is half a liter, and 1 decilitre is one-tenth of a litre.
