How much is "one cup"?

July 23, 2005 7:32 AM

How much is "one cup", as referenced in North American recipes?

I'm a Brit, and am wondering if there is a standard "cup" size, as used in North American cooking / baking? I've got a recipe I'd like to give a try, but to be honest I find the "cup" measurement a little vague.

posted by coach_mcguirk to Food & Drink (20 answers total)

250ml
posted by Mitheral at 7:34 AM on July 23, 2005

Here's a handy trick.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:37 AM on July 23, 2005

It's also 8 fluid oz.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:38 AM on July 23, 2005

If this wasn't googleable, I don't know what is.

But to be helpful, this site is one of the web's most useful ever.
posted by CunningLinguist at 7:39 AM on July 23, 2005

i'm not sure american fl oz are the same as british ones, so be careful about the fl oz value. hmmm. according to this the difference is pretty small.
posted by andrew cooke at 7:44 AM on July 23, 2005

so anyway, it's 237 ml.
posted by andrew cooke at 7:45 AM on July 23, 2005

236.588237 ml, really.
posted by cmonkey at 8:17 AM on July 23, 2005

you can buy American size cups at John Lewis (and probably at other department stores) - I bought some after I was given an American recipe book. They're handy. Conversion can be a headache, as cup measurements are used for solids and liquids of different densities.
posted by altolinguistic at 8:22 AM on July 23, 2005

Wowza. This explains why some of the recipes in my (British) vegetarian Indian cookbook seemed a bit off--good, but not quite right somehow. [off to look for British measuring cups]
posted by Tuwa at 8:37 AM on July 23, 2005

Response by poster: CunningLinguist : Sorry - I just couldn't parse the question quite right to get a firm answer via google. Apologies.

altolinguistic : That's very useful to know - many thanks.

Thanks to everyone else too.
posted by coach_mcguirk at 10:14 AM on July 23, 2005

It's also 16 tablespoons in case you have those around.
posted by jessamyn at 11:27 AM on July 23, 2005

It's also about half a coffee mug fwiw.
posted by Popular Ethics at 1:29 PM on July 23, 2005

It's also half a pint, if you have some device which measures pints. Or a quarter quart. Or 16 tablespoons.
posted by majick at 1:48 PM on July 23, 2005

Don't forget Google Calculator: "1 cup in ml".
posted by ldenneau at 2:23 PM on July 23, 2005

again, a pint in the usa isn't the same as a pint in the uk (and the difference is larger than the difference in fl oz, according to the link i gave aboce, since a uk pint is 20 fl oz and a us pint is 16).

does that mean a pint of beer in the usa is less? huh.
posted by andrew cooke at 2:26 PM on July 23, 2005

It does mean that, andrew cooke -- which is why some microbrews and English-themed bars will serve the lovely "Imperial pint".
posted by Miko at 2:29 PM on July 23, 2005

Cup measurements in recipes are usually in "liquid measure" (even if the ingredients are actually dry, like flour), but there is also a "dry measure" which shows up sometimes, just to be confusing, and the two are not the same.

See here for details.
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 2:51 PM on July 23, 2005

1 US gallon ~ 3.8l. Worth remembering when doing petrol price conversions.

On point: definitely get some American measuring cups for American recipes, rather than trying to do the conversion. You will not regret the outlay. (And, conversely, get a kitchen scale for British recipes.)
posted by holgate at 3:18 PM on July 23, 2005

One other place where you can buy cup measures for US recipes is Amy's Houseware, which has branches all over the UK. It's worth having them around, especially if you cook quite a bit.
posted by yellowcandy at 7:10 PM on July 23, 2005

Huh! Guess this explains why a bunch of the cookbooks I have express measurements in grams instead of cups - all grammes are equal, but cups (it now appears) are not. Thanks ask.mefi!
posted by coriolisdave at 4:19 PM on July 24, 2005