Measurements and Equivalents

Whenever you’ve read recipes in the past, did you ever come across abbreviations that you couldn’t quite decipher? What about measurements that just didn’t make any sense?

I can remember many times in the past when I’ve stumbled through baking recipes that seemed to be drowning in silly little phrases and measurements. With the helpful list below, hopefully you’ll never have an issue with abbreviations.

• T., Tbs., tbsp. = tablespoon
• t., tsp. = teaspoon (3 tsp. = 1 Tbs)
• oz. = ounce
• lb. = pound (16 ounces)
• c. = cup
• pt. = pint (2 cups)
• qt. = quart (4 cups)
• gal. = gallon (4 quarts)
• doz. = dozen
• pkg. = package
• sm. = small
• lg. = large (29 oz.)
• sq. = square
• approx. = approximately
• min. = minutes

Measurement Equivalents

Now that we have the easy stuff out of the way, it’s on to the tricky measurements. Whenever I’m baking, my measuring cups always seem to have wandered off, leaving me wondering how I will go about measuring the ingredient in a different way. With the measurement equivalents listed below, hopefully you will never have to find yourself guessing ever again…I know I won’t.

• 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon.
• 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
• 5 1/3 tablespoons = 1/3 cup
• 1- 2/3 tablespoons = 2/3 cup
• 12 tablespoons = 3/4 cup
• 16 tablespoons = 1 cup
• 1 tablespoon = 1/2 fluid oz.
• 1 cup = 8 fluid oz.
• 1 cup = 1/2 pint
• 2 cups = 1 pint
• 4 cups = 1 quart
• 2 pints = 1 quart
• 4 cups = 1 quart
• 2 pints = 1 quart
• 4 quarts = 1 gallon

Oven Temperature Equivalents

(In degrees) Sometimes I wander the aisles of Barnes & Nobles, scanning the cookbook aisles. After piling up tons of books in my arms, I head to the check out counter, purchase the books and leave the store very happy and excited to cook. Once I get home, I open up one of the books only to find out that it’s European. My immediate thought? “Fantastic.” (Sense the sarcasm?) My second thought? “It looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time online trying to figure out the correct oven temperature.” Well, hopefully this list of oven temperature equivalents will help…nothing beats having the information in one place.

• 250 F = 120 C
• 275 F = 140 C
• 300 F = 150 C
• 325 F = 180 C
• 375 F = 190 C
• 400 F = 200 C
• 425 F = 220 C
• 475 F = 240 C
• 500 F = 260 C

I hope these quick lists of equivalents help you out the next time you find yourself in a cooking conundrum!