Baking Measurements Glossary
This glossary explains the words recipes use for measuring — cup, tablespoon, packed, sifted, tare and density — in plain language, so a conversion chart or a foreign recipe reads the same way to every cook.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| US cup | The standard cup in American recipes, holding 236.588 millilitres. All of GramChef's weights are based on this cup. |
| Metric cup | A cup of 250 millilitres used in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa and marked on most metric measuring jugs. It is about 5.7 percent larger than a US cup. |
| Tablespoon (US) | A volume measure equal to one sixteenth of a US cup, or about 14.8 millilitres. Three teaspoons make one tablespoon. |
| Teaspoon (US) | A volume measure equal to one forty-eighth of a US cup, or about 4.9 millilitres. Three teaspoons make one tablespoon. |
| Fluid ounce | A unit of volume, not weight. One US fluid ounce is about 29.6 millilitres, and eight fluid ounces make one US cup. |
| Ounce (weight) | A unit of weight equal to about 28.35 grams. It is a different measure from the fluid ounce, which describes volume. |
| Gram | The basic metric unit of weight used in most baking recipes outside the United States. GramChef converts cup measures into grams for accuracy. |
| Kilogram | One thousand grams. Larger amounts of flour, sugar and liquids in metric recipes are often given in kilograms or fractions of one. |
| Millilitre | A metric unit of volume; one thousand millilitres make a litre. One millilitre of water weighs one gram, but other liquids weigh more or less. |
| Spoon-and-level | A method for measuring dry ingredients: spoon the ingredient into the cup until it heaps, then level the top with a straight edge. It is the method behind GramChef's flour weights. |
| Packed | Pressed firmly into the measuring cup, as brown sugar usually is. A packed cup of brown sugar weighs 213 g; the same sugar measured loose would weigh less. |
| Sifted | Passed through a sieve to remove lumps and add air. Sifted flour weighs less per cup than unsifted, and recipe wording states whether to sift before or after measuring. |
| Tare | The scale function that zeroes out the weight of the bowl or container, so only the ingredient being added is weighed. It is also called zeroing the scale. |
| Density | How much weight fits into a given volume. Density explains why a cup of honey, at 340 g, weighs nearly three times as much as a cup of flour at 120 g. |
| Grams per cup | The weight of one standard cup of an ingredient, the figure that makes cup-to-gram conversion possible. Every ingredient has its own value, from 96 g for almond flour to 340 g for honey. |
| Stick of butter | A standard US portion of butter weighing 113 g, equal to half a cup or eight tablespoons. Four sticks make one pound. |
| Leavening | Anything that makes a batter or dough rise, including baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, yeast and air beaten into eggs or batter. Leavening is usually measured in small, precise amounts. |
| Proof | In baking, letting a mixed or shaped dough rest and rise before it is baked, usually somewhere warm. Proof also describes testing yeast in warm liquid to check that it is still active. |
| Scale (kitchen) | A flat digital or mechanical balance used to weigh ingredients, usually in grams and ounces. A scale is the most accurate way to follow a recipe written in weights. |
| Conversion chart | A table listing equivalent measures of ingredients across systems — cups beside grams, for example — so a recipe can be followed accurately with different equipment. |
Why the words matter
Most conversion mistakes are vocabulary mistakes. A recipe that says "1 cup flour, sifted" and one that says "1 cup sifted flour" are asking for different weights; a scale set to ounces instead of grams is off by a factor of 28; and "packed" in front of brown sugar changes the cup by tens of grams. Reading the terms the way the recipe writer meant them is most of what accurate converting is.
Where a term has a number attached — the US cup at 236.588 ml, the tablespoon at 14.79 ml, the stick at 113.5 grams — this site uses those exact definitions everywhere, and the methodology page lists the assumptions behind every value we publish.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a fluid ounce and an ounce?
A fluid ounce measures volume and an ounce measures weight. The two coincide only for water-like liquids; a fluid ounce of honey weighs about 42 g, well over one ounce, because honey is much denser than water.
Why does GramChef use the US cup?
Most recipes written in cups come from the United States, so GramChef's weights use the US cup of 236.588 ml as the standard. Metric cup weights are found by multiplying any GramChef value by 1.057.
What does grams per cup mean?
It is the weight of one level cup of an ingredient. Because ingredients pack differently, the figure varies widely — 96 g for almond flour, 198 g for granulated sugar and 340 g for honey.
Is a tablespoon the same size everywhere?
No. A US tablespoon holds about 14.8 ml, while an Australian tablespoon holds 20 ml. GramChef's conversions always use the US tablespoon.