U.S. CUSTOMARY UNITS AND THEIR EQUIVALENTS

It is generally not a good idea to scale a recipe up or down by more than 3 or 4 times. All measurements presented on this page are in U.S. units.

LIQUID MEASUREMENTS

In the United States, liquid measurement is not only used for liquids such as water and milk, it is also used when measuring other ingredients such as flour, sugar, shortening, butter, and spices.

teaspoon tablespoon fluid
ounce
gill cup pint quart gallon
1 teaspoon = 1 1/3 1/6 1/24 - - - - - - - - - - - -
1 tablespoon = 3 1 1/2 1/8 1/16 - - - - - - - - -
1 fluid ounce = 6 2 1 1/4 1/8 1/16 - - - - - -
1 gill = 24 8 4 1 1/2 1/4 1/8 - - -
1 cup = 48 16 8 2 1 1/2 1/4 1/16
1 pint = 96 32 16 4 2 1 1/2 1/8
1 quart = 192 64 32 8 4 2 1 1/4
1 gallon = 768 256 128 32 16 8 4 1
1 firkin = 6912 2304 1152 288 144 72 36 9
1 hogshead = 48384 16128 8064 2016 1008 504 252 63
MISCELLANEOUS EQUIVALENT
1 pinch 1/8 teaspoon or less
1 teaspoon 60 drops

DRY MEASUREMENTS

Dry measurements are not typically used in U.S. recipes; dry measurements are used mainly for measuring fresh produce (e.g. berries are sold by the quart, apples by the bushel, or peck). Do not confuse dry measure with liquid measure, They are not the same!

Pint Quart Gallon Peck Bushel Cubic Feet
Pint 1 1/2 1/8 1/16 1/64 0.019445
Quart 2 1 1/4 1/8 1/32 0.03889
Gallon 8 4 1 1/2 1/8 0.15556
Peck 16 8 2 1 1/4 0.31111
Bushel 64 32 8 4 1 1.2445
Cubic Feet 51.428 25.714 6.4285 3.2143 0.80356 1

LIQUID MEASUREMENTS vs. DRY MEASUREMENT

The table below shows the differences between dry measurement and liquid measurement.

DRY UNIT LIQUID UNIT
1 pint, dry = 1.1636 pints, liquid
1 quart, dry = 1.1636 quarts, liquid
1 gallon, dry = 1.1636 gallons, liquid

WEIGHT

The two most commonly used units of weight measurement for cooking in the U.S. are the ounce and the pound. Do not confuse the ounce of weight with the fluid ounce, They are not the same. there is no standard conversion between weight and volume

Basic Cooking Rule:

16 ounces = 1 pound

COUNTING

Many foods are sold in quantities of dozen or gross.

1 Dozen = 12
1 Gross = 12 Dozen or 144
It is also very common to use the phrase "half dozen" to mean six.