Cooking Converter
Most converters pretend a cup of anything weighs the same. It doesn’t: a cup of flour is about 120 g, a cup of granulated sugar about 200 g, a cup of water 240 g. This tool asks which ingredient you mean and uses its real density, so a US recipe in cups turns into grams you can trust on a scale.
Common cup weights
| 1 US cup of… | Weighs about |
|---|---|
| Water | 240 g |
| Granulated sugar | 200 g |
| Brown sugar (packed) | 220 g |
| All-purpose flour | 120 g |
| Butter | 227 g (2 sticks) |
| Rolled oats | 90 g |
Why baking rewards a scale
Flour is the troublemaker. Scooped straight from the bag it packs down and a “cup” can be 140 g; spooned in and levelled it is nearer 110 g. That 25% swing is the difference between a tender cake and a dense one. Weighing in grams removes the guesswork, which is why almost every serious baking recipe now leads with weights. Volume-to-volume steps (cups to tablespoons to millilitres) don’t need density and are handled by the volume converter.
US cups, metric cups and sticks
A US cup is 240 ml; an Australian metric cup is 250 ml; a stick of US butter is 1/2 cup (113 g). If a recipe is British it may use imperial pints and ounces – convert those with the ounces to grams tool. For oven temperatures on the same recipe, the temperature converter covers gas marks to Celsius to Fahrenheit.
FAQ
Why do I have to pick an ingredient?
Because density varies. A cup of flour is about 120 g; a cup of sugar is about 200 g. Without the ingredient, a volume cannot be turned into a weight.
How much does a cup of flour weigh?
About 120 g for all-purpose flour spooned and levelled. Scooped and packed it can reach 140 g - one reason to weigh rather than scoop.
Are the density values exact?
No, they are averages from USDA data. Packing, humidity and brand shift them by 10-20%. For baking, a scale beats cup measures.
Can I convert cups to tablespoons here?
Yes. Volume-to-volume conversions do not need an ingredient - 1 cup is always 16 tablespoons or 48 teaspoons.
What is a stick of butter in grams?
113 g, which is 1/2 US cup or 8 tablespoons.