As a new blogger, I was checking (OK, obsessing over) my reader stats, and noticed that I have a few in Australia, Canada, Malaysia (thanks, kids) and other places outside the United States. On a scrapbooking board, I used to participate in recipe exchanges with scrappers from New Zealand, Australia and elsewhere. I made the following guide to converting recipes.
Converting to/from American recipes; more than just metrics!
For Americans using recipes from other countries, and visa
versa, disaster can ensue without the following key information:
The U.S. does not follow the metric system (although many
U.S. recipes and measuring instruments do include metric equivalents).
Not only that, but U.S. fluid measures different from those
of their British cousins; to convert U.S. fluid ounces to British multiply by
1.04; to convert U.S. pints to British pints, multiply by 0.83.
Further complicating the conversion, America measures dry
ingredients differently from the rest of the world; flour, sugar, rice, etc.
are measured by volume, where cooks in other countries measure by weight. In the U.S., 1 cup is 1 cup no matter what
you’re measuring; but it could be 125 grams of white flour, 120 grams of whole
wheat flour, 100 grams of rye flour, 200 grams of white flour, 220 grams of
brown sugar, etc. So consult a scale or
equivalent chart (see below) when converting dry ingredients.
One final thing to keep in mind: in the U.S., butter is sold
and measured in “sticks.” One stick of
butter equals one-quarter pound (4 ounces) or one-half cup.
Here are some helpful references for converting recipes:
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