UK Cooking Measurements: Cups, Spoons, Grams and Gas Marks
Quick answer: UK recipes measure dry ingredients in grams, liquids in millilitres and oven heat in °C or gas marks. A UK tablespoon is 15 ml and a teaspoon 5 ml; an American cup is about 240 ml. Gas mark 4 is 180°C (350°F), and a fan oven needs about 20°C less than a conventional one.
This section helps you follow any recipe in a British kitchen, whether it was written in grams, ounces, American cups or Fahrenheit, and explains the measuring habits that make bakes turn out as intended.
What units do UK recipes use?
Modern British recipes weigh dry ingredients in grams and measure liquids in millilitres. Small amounts use measuring spoons, and oven temperatures are given in degrees Celsius, often with a fan setting and a gas mark alongside. Packaging uses the same units, so a recipe asking for 250 g of butter matches a standard UK block.
Older family recipes and many classic cookbooks are written in ounces, pounds, pints and fluid ounces. American recipes use cups, sticks of butter and Fahrenheit. Each system works on its own terms; problems start when they are mixed or converted with the wrong factors. Weighing is the most reliable method, because a cup of flour can vary by 20 g or more depending on how it is filled. For the underlying conversions, see weight conversions and volume conversions.
What are gas marks in °C and °F?
Gas mark 4 is 180°C or 350°F, and each step up adds roughly 10 to 20°C. Gas marks are a British scale for gas ovens. Published charts differ by a few degrees at the cool end, but the figures below are the ones most UK recipes follow. Fan ovens circulate hot air and cook faster, so the usual advice is to set them about 20°C lower than a conventional electric or gas oven; check your oven manual, as models vary.
| Gas mark | Conventional °C | Fan °C | °F | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ¼ | 110°C | 90°C | 225°F | Very cool |
| ½ | 120 to 130°C | 100 to 110°C | 250°F | Very cool |
| 1 | 140°C | 120°C | 275°F | Cool |
| 2 | 150°C | 130°C | 300°F | Cool |
| 3 | 170°C | 150°C | 325°F | Moderate |
| 4 | 180°C | 160°C | 350°F | Moderate |
| 5 | 190°C | 170°C | 375°F | Moderately hot |
| 6 | 200°C | 180°C | 400°F | Hot |
| 7 | 220°C | 200°C | 425°F | Hot |
| 8 | 230°C | 210°C | 450°F | Very hot |
| 9 | 240°C | 220°C | 475°F | Very hot |
To convert an American Fahrenheit temperature yourself, subtract 32 and multiply by 5/9: 350°F becomes (350 − 32) × 5 ÷ 9 = 176.7°C, which recipes round to 180°C. The Fahrenheit to Celsius converter and Celsius to Fahrenheit converter do the sum for any value.
How many millilitres are in a UK tablespoon and teaspoon?
A UK tablespoon is 15 ml, a dessertspoon is 10 ml and a teaspoon is 5 ml. Three teaspoons make one tablespoon. These are measuring-spoon sizes, levelled off with a knife, not the cutlery in your drawer, which can hold noticeably more or less. A US tablespoon is about 14.8 ml, close enough to make no difference in cooking, but an Australian tablespoon is 20 ml, so recipes from Australia need a little care.
| Measure | Millilitres | Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| ¼ teaspoon | 1.25 ml | Quarter of a 5 ml spoon |
| ½ teaspoon | 2.5 ml | Half a 5 ml spoon |
| 1 teaspoon (tsp) | 5 ml | Standard medicine spoon |
| 1 dessertspoon (dsp) | 10 ml | 2 teaspoons |
| 1 tablespoon (tbsp) | 15 ml | 3 teaspoons |
| 4 tablespoons | 60 ml | About ¼ US cup |
How many grams are in a cup?
It depends on the ingredient: a US cup holds about 125 g of plain flour but about 200 g of granulated sugar. A cup is a measure of volume, roughly 240 ml, and ingredients have different densities. The figures below are typical values for a spooned and levelled US cup; packed or sifted ingredients will weigh more or less, so use scales when accuracy matters.
| Ingredient (1 US cup) | Approximate grams | Approximate ounces |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 237 g | 8.4 oz |
| Plain or self-raising flour | 120 to 130 g | 4.2 to 4.6 oz |
| Granulated or caster sugar | 200 g | 7 oz |
| Soft brown sugar, packed | 220 g | 7.8 oz |
| Butter | 227 g (2 US sticks) | 8 oz |
| Honey or golden syrup | 340 g | 12 oz |
There is no official UK cup. When British recipes use cups they normally mean the US cup (about 240 ml) or the 250 ml metric cup used in Australia and New Zealand. The cooking converter converts cups and spoons for common ingredients, and the guide to measuring 100 g of flour without scales shows how to get close using spoons.
How do you convert an old British recipe from ounces?
Multiply ounces by 28.35 for an exact figure, or by 25 or 30 for a rounded one, but use the same factor for every ingredient. Many British cookbooks rounded 1 oz to 25 g, so a classic sponge of 4 oz each of butter, sugar and flour became 100 g each, rather than the exact 113 g. Either version works, because the proportions stay the same. Problems only start when some ingredients are converted exactly and others are rounded.
Liquids in older recipes are given in pints and fluid ounces. Remember that a British pint is 20 fl oz (568 ml), while an American pint is 16 US fl oz (473 ml). Half a pint of milk in a British recipe is 284 ml; a “gill”, occasionally seen in very old books, is a quarter of a pint, or 142 ml.
| Imperial | Exact metric | Common recipe rounding |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 25 g or 30 g |
| 4 oz (¼ lb) | 113.4 g | 100 g or 110 g |
| 8 oz (½ lb) | 226.8 g | 225 g |
| 1 lb | 453.6 g | 450 g |
| 5 fl oz (¼ pint) | 142 ml | 150 ml |
| 10 fl oz (½ pint) | 284 ml | 300 ml |
| 1 pint (20 fl oz) | 568 ml | 600 ml |
What temperatures matter for food safety?
Cook food until it is steaming hot all the way through, keep the fridge between 0 and 5°C and the freezer at around −18°C. Food Standards Agency guidance for caterers gives examples of safe core temperature and time combinations, such as 75°C for at least 30 seconds or 70°C for at least 2 minutes. A probe thermometer is the only reliable way to check the centre of a joint, a pie or reheated leftovers.
Oven dials and fridge settings are not always accurate, so an inexpensive oven or fridge thermometer is worth having. If you are cooking for babies, older people, pregnant women or anyone who is unwell, follow the NHS and Food Standards Agency advice on higher-risk foods.
What mistakes should you avoid when converting recipes?
- Forgetting the fan adjustment. A recipe written for a conventional oven at 200°C needs about 180°C in a fan oven.
- Scooping flour straight from the bag. Packing a cup this way can add 20 to 30 g. Spoon flour into the cup and level it, or better, weigh it.
- Mixing UK and US pints. An American “pint of cream” is 473 ml, not 568 ml.
- Measuring a sticky ingredient by volume. Syrup and honey cling to spoons. Weighing them straight into the bowl on zeroed scales is more accurate.
Cooking guides and converters in this section
Kitchen measuring guides
- How to measure a frying pan: why pans are sold by rim diameter and how to check the base.
- How to measure pasta without scales: portion sizes using cups, jars and your hand.
- How to measure 100 g of flour without scales: spoon and cup methods that get close.
Kitchen converters
- Cooking converter: cups, spoons, grams and millilitres for common ingredients.
- Temperature converter: Celsius, Fahrenheit and kelvin.
- Ml to fl oz converter: for recipes written in UK or US fluid ounces.
Latest cooking and baking measurement guides
- How to Measure Rice Without Scales: UK Portion Guide
- How to Measure Butter Without Scales (UK Guide)
- Stick of Butter in Grams: US to UK Conversion
- Cups to Grams Butter: US Cups, Sticks and Blocks
- Cups to Grams Sugar: UK Conversion Chart
- Cups to Grams UK Flour Chart: Plain, SR and More
- How to Convert American Recipes to UK Measurements
- Celsius to Fahrenheit Oven Temperatures Chart
- Fan Oven Temperature Conversion Chart (UK)
- Gas Mark 4 in Celsius: Fan and Conventional Settings
- Gas Mark to Celsius Chart: Conventional and Fan
Related sections
The units of measurement guide explains the metric and imperial systems behind every recipe. For the maths of grams and ounces, see weight conversions; for pints, millilitres and fluid ounces, see volume and capacity conversions.
Frequently asked questions
What is gas mark 4 in Celsius?
Gas mark 4 is 180°C in a conventional oven, about 160°C in a fan oven, and 350°F.
How many ml is a UK tablespoon?
A UK tablespoon is 15 ml and a teaspoon is 5 ml, so three teaspoons make one tablespoon. Use level measuring spoons rather than cutlery.
How many grams of flour are in a cup?
A spooned and levelled US cup of plain flour weighs about 120 to 130 g. The weight varies with how the cup is filled, so weighing is more accurate.
What temperature should a fan oven be instead of 200°C?
Set a fan oven to about 180°C when a recipe says 200°C for a conventional oven. Check your oven manual, as some models need a smaller adjustment.
Is there a standard UK cup measure?
No. British recipes normally use grams and millilitres. Recipes that use cups usually mean the US cup of about 240 ml or the 250 ml metric cup.
Sources
- Safer food, better business: cooking safely, Food Standards Agency
- How to chill, freeze and defrost food safely, Food Standards Agency on GOV.UK
- Weights and Measures Act 1985, definitions of the ounce, pound and pint, legislation.gov.uk
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), US customary cup and spoon definitions