Methodology
Every density on this site comes from a named primary source with a live link, and we publish the disagreement rather than averaging it away. Where published figures differ, we pick one, say which one, and show you the range. Where we could not find an acceptable source, the ingredient is left out.
Density is the only stored number
Each ingredient stores exactly one figure: density in grams per millilitre. Everything else is derived when the page is built:
That matters because there are three tablespoons in circulation — US at 14.7868 ml, metric at 15 ml and Australian at 20 ml. Storing three separate weights per ingredient would let them drift apart the moment one was edited. Deriving all three from one density makes that impossible.
An Australian tablespoon holds 35.3% more volume than a US one, so the same weight of an ingredient needs 26.1% fewer Australian tablespoons.
Which sources we accept
These four, and nothing else:
- FAO/INFOODS Density Database v2.0
- USDA FoodData Central
- NIST Office of Weights and Measures
- King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart
We do not cite unnamed "culinary institute standards" or "professional test kitchens". If a figure cannot be traced to a live URL at one of the sources above, it does not go on the site.
The flour problem is measuring method, not disagreement
Conversion sites disagree about flour by around 14%. They are not contradicting each other — they are documenting different ways of filling a cup. King Arthur Baking measured the same flour at 120 g per cup spooned and levelled, and up to 160 g scooped straight from the bag: a 33% swing on identical flour.
On this site, 20 g of all-purpose flour is 2.67 tablespoons spooned and levelled, but 2.00 tablespoons scooped. We default to the King Arthur spooned figure of 120 g per cup and give you a toggle to switch. The ingredients with a measuring-method toggle are:
- All-Purpose Flour — Spooned & levelled at 7.50 g/tbsp, Scooped from bag at 10.0 g/tbsp
- Brown Sugar — Packed at 13.7 g/tbsp, Spooned in loosely at 9.06 g/tbsp
Every density, with its source
All 24 ingredients, showing what one tablespoon weighs under each convention. Expand a row for the published range and how we chose.
| Ingredient | g/ml | US | Metric | AU | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-Purpose Flour | 0.5072 | 7.50 g | 7.61 g | 10.1 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Bread Flour | 0.5072 | 7.50 g | 7.61 g | 10.1 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Cake Flour | 0.5072 | 7.50 g | 7.61 g | 10.1 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Almond Flour | 0.4058 | 6.00 g | 6.09 g | 8.12 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Wholewheat Flour | 0.4776 | 7.06 g | 7.16 g | 9.55 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Cornstarch | 0.4734 | 7.00 g | 7.10 g | 9.47 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Cornflour | 0.4734 | 7.00 g | 7.10 g | 9.47 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Granulated Sugar | 0.8453 | 12.5 g | 12.7 g | 16.9 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Brown Sugar | 0.9299 | 13.7 g | 13.9 g | 18.6 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Powdered Sugar | 0.5072 | 7.50 g | 7.61 g | 10.1 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Honey | 1.4202 | 21.0 g | 21.3 g | 28.4 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Maple Syrup | 1.3314 | 19.7 g | 20.0 g | 26.6 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Butter | 0.9603 | 14.2 g | 14.4 g | 19.2 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Olive Oil | 0.9130 | 13.5 g | 13.7 g | 18.3 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Vegetable Oil | 0.9214 | 13.6 g | 13.8 g | 18.4 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Water | 1.0000 | 14.8 g | 15.0 g | 20.0 g | nist.gov |
| Milk | 1.0313 | 15.2 g | 15.5 g | 20.6 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Table Salt | 1.2173 | 18.0 g | 18.3 g | 24.3 g | fdc.nal.usda.gov |
| Baking Powder | 0.8115 | 12.0 g | 12.2 g | 16.2 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Baking Soda | 1.2173 | 18.0 g | 18.3 g | 24.3 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Instant Yeast | 0.6087 | 9.00 g | 9.13 g | 12.2 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Cocoa Powder | 0.3550 | 5.25 g | 5.33 g | 7.10 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| Peanut Butter | 1.1412 | 16.9 g | 17.1 g | 22.8 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
| White Rice | 0.8369 | 12.4 g | 12.6 g | 16.7 g | kingarthurbaking.com |
How each figure was chosen
All-Purpose Flour
Published values span 7.5-8.9 g/tbsp. The spread is measuring method, not source disagreement: King Arthur spoons & levels to 120 g/cup (7.50 g/tbsp), USDA SR Legacy records 125 g/cup (7.81 g/tbsp), and King Arthur measured a scooped cup at up to 160 g (10.00 g/tbsp) — a 33% swing on identical flour. Site default is King Arthur 120 g/cup.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 cup = 120 g (spooned & levelled) View source
Bread Flour
King Arthur weighs bread flour the same as all-purpose at 120 g/cup. The same spooned-vs-scooped spread applies; see /methodology/.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 cup bread flour = 120 g View source
Cake Flour
King Arthur lists its Unbleached Cake Flour at 120 g/cup, the same as all-purpose. Some other brands mill cake flour finer and publish a lighter cup; if a recipe names a brand, prefer that brand's own figure.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 cup Unbleached Cake Flour = 120 g View source
Almond Flour
King Arthur 96 g/cup. Almond flour compacts easily; blanched vs natural grinds vary.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 cup almond flour = 96 g View source
Wholewheat Flour
King Arthur 113 g/cup, lighter per cup than its all-purpose at 120 g/cup.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 cup Premium 100% Whole Wheat Flour = 113 g View source
Cornstarch
Sources disagree: King Arthur 112 g/cup (7.00 g/tbsp) against USDA SR Legacy 128 g/cup (8.00 g/tbsp) — a 14% gap. Site uses King Arthur because it measures the way a baker spoons cornstarch into a cup. USDA record: fdcId 169698. OWNER REVIEW SETTLED: King Arthur confirmed, because it measures the way a cook measures and keeps this ingredient comparable with the others on the same chart.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/4 cup cornstarch = 28 g, i.e. 112 g/cup View source
Cornflour
IMPORTANT: in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand "cornflour" means cornstarch — the white thickening starch — and that is what this entry is. US "corn flour" is finely ground cornmeal, a different, yellower ingredient with a different weight. GSC shows "20g cornflour in tablespoons" at position 11.3, so the searchers are using the UK sense. Same figure as cornstarch: King Arthur 112 g/cup, USDA 128 g/cup. OWNER REVIEW SETTLED: King Arthur confirmed, because it measures the way a cook measures and keeps this ingredient comparable with the others on the same chart.
Source: Cornflour is the UK/Australian name for cornstarch. King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/4 cup cornstarch = 28 g, i.e. 112 g/cup View source
Granulated Sugar
Published 12.375-12.5 g/tbsp. USDA gives 200 g/cup (12.50 g/tbsp); King Arthur gives 198 g/cup (12.375 g/tbsp). Site uses USDA 200 g/cup, which makes 100 g exactly 8 tbsp.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Sugars, granulated" (fdcId 169655): 1 cup = 200 g View source
Brown Sugar
Packing method changes this by 52%: USDA records the same cup at 220 g packed and 145 g unpacked. Recipes almost always mean packed, so packed is the default. King Arthur gives 213 g/cup packed (13.31 g/tbsp).
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Sugars, brown" (fdcId 168833): 1 cup packed = 220 g View source
Powdered Sugar
Sifting matters: USDA records 120 g/cup unsifted against 100 g/cup sifted (7.50 vs 6.25 g/tbsp). King Arthur gives 113 g/cup unsifted (7.06 g/tbsp). Site uses USDA unsifted, since most recipes sift after measuring.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Sugars, powdered" (fdcId 169656): 1 cup unsifted = 120 g View source
Honey
Published 20-21 g/tbsp. USDA and King Arthur agree at 21 g/tbsp, so that is used. Honey is dense enough that most small amounts fall below a workable spoon fraction — under a quarter teaspoon the site tells you to use a scale rather than guess.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Honey" (fdcId 169640): 1 tbsp = 21 g. King Arthur independently gives 21 g/tbsp. View source
Maple Syrup
Published 19.5-20 g/tbsp. USDA gives 315 g/cup (19.69 g/tbsp) and separately rounds 1 tbsp to 20 g; King Arthur gives 312 g/cup (19.50 g/tbsp). Site derives from the USDA cup figure.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Syrups, maple" (fdcId 169661): 1 cup = 315 g View source
Butter
Published 14.13-14.2 g/tbsp. USDA gives 14.2 g/tbsp; King Arthur gives a 113 g half-cup stick, i.e. 14.125 g/tbsp. The gap is under half a percent. Butter is usually easier to cut from a marked stick than to spoon.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Butter, salted" (fdcId 173410): 1 tbsp = 14.2 g View source
Olive Oil
USDA 216 g/cup (13.50 g/tbsp), internally consistent with its own 13.5 g/tbsp figure and with a true oil density near 0.91 g/ml. King Arthur lists 50 g per quarter cup (200 g/cup, 12.50 g/tbsp), which is lighter than olive oil physically is; site uses USDA.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Oil, olive, salad or cooking" (fdcId 171413): 1 cup = 216 g, 1 tbsp = 13.5 g View source
Vegetable Oil
USDA 218 g/cup (13.63 g/tbsp), consistent with a true oil density near 0.92 g/ml. King Arthur lists 198 g/cup (12.375 g/tbsp), which implies 0.84 g/ml — lighter than any culinary oil actually is — so USDA is used.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Oil, vegetable, soybean, refined" (fdcId 172370): 1 cup = 218 g, 1 tbsp = 13.6 g View source
Water
Water is the one ingredient with no measuring-method ambiguity: 1 ml weighs 1 g, so 1 US tbsp (14.7868 ml) is 14.79 g. King Arthur's 227 g/cup comes from treating a cup as 8 weight-ounces rather than 236.6 ml, so it is not used here.
Source: NIST Office of Weights and Measures, Metric Kitchen: "the density of water is about 1 g per mL" View source
Milk
USDA 244 g/cup (15.25 g/tbsp) for whole milk, i.e. slightly denser than water at about 1.03 g/ml. Skimmed milk is marginally denser than whole. King Arthur's 227 g/cup uses the 8-weight-ounce convention rather than true volume.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D" (fdcId 171265): 1 cup = 244 g View source
Table Salt
Published 15-18 g/tbsp. USDA and King Arthur agree at 18 g/tbsp for fine table salt, so that is used. Coarser salts weigh far less per spoon: King Arthur measures Morton kosher at 16 g/tbsp and Diamond Crystal kosher at just 8 g/tbsp. Never swap salts by volume.
Source: USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy, "Salt, table" (fdcId 173468): 1 tbsp = 18 g. King Arthur independently gives 18 g/tbsp. View source
Baking Powder
Sources disagree: King Arthur 4 g/tsp (12.00 g/tbsp) against USDA SR Legacy 4.6 g/tsp (13.80 g/tbsp), a 15% gap. Site uses King Arthur, since baking powder is dosed by measuring spoon in exactly the context King Arthur documents. USDA record: fdcId 172803. OWNER REVIEW SETTLED: King Arthur confirmed, because it measures the way a cook measures and keeps this ingredient comparable with the others on the same chart.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 teaspoon baking powder = 4 g, i.e. 12 g/tbsp View source
Baking Soda — awaiting owner review
The widest disagreement in this dataset: King Arthur 6 g/tsp (18.00 g/tbsp) against USDA SR Legacy 4.6 g/tsp (13.80 g/tbsp), a 30% gap. Site uses King Arthur for consistency with the other spoon-dosed leaveners, but this one genuinely needs owner sign-off. USDA record: fdcId 175040. STILL UNDER REVIEW: both figures are physically plausible (1.22 g/ml settled vs 0.93 g/ml aerated) and neither source states which it measured, so this one stays flagged.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda = 3 g, i.e. 6 g/tsp and 18 g/tbsp View source
Instant Yeast
King Arthur 9 g/tbsp, internally consistent with its own 2 tsp = 6 g entry. USDA lists active dry yeast at 12 g/tbsp, but that is a different product with a coarser grain, not a competing figure for instant yeast.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1 tablespoon instant yeast = 9 g View source
Cocoa Powder
Published 5.25-7.5 g/tbsp. King Arthur gives 84 g/cup (5.25 g/tbsp) and USDA SR Legacy gives 86 g/cup (5.375 g/tbsp, fdcId 169593) — close agreement. Cocoa packs down hard, so a scooped cup is materially heavier than a spooned one, but see variants_pending: no approved source publishes a scooped cocoa figure. OWNER REVIEW SETTLED: King Arthur confirmed, because it measures the way a cook measures and keeps this ingredient comparable with the others on the same chart.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa = 42 g, i.e. 84 g/cup View source
No method toggle yet: The build brief asks for a spooned-vs-scooped variant pair for cocoa, but neither King Arthur, USDA, NIST nor FAO/INFOODS publishes a scooped cocoa weight. Inventing one would breach HARD RULE 1.
Peanut Butter
King Arthur 270 g/cup (16.88 g/tbsp) against USDA SR Legacy 258 g/cup (16.13 g/tbsp, fdcId 172470), a 5% gap. Peanut butter is sticky enough that what stays in the spoon is the real variable.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/2 cup peanut butter = 135 g, i.e. 270 g/cup View source
White Rice
Uncooked long-grain rice. King Arthur 198 g/cup (12.375 g/tbsp) against USDA SR Legacy 185 g/cup (11.56 g/tbsp, fdcId 168877), a 7% gap. All figures here are for raw rice; cooked rice roughly triples in weight per cup.
Source: King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/2 cup dry long-grain rice = 99 g, i.e. 198 g/cup View source
Figures still under review
1 of the 24 densities are flagged for a second look by the site owner before we build pages that lean on them. They are published here rather than hidden, because a figure under review is still a sourced figure — it is the choice between competing sources that has not been settled.
- Baking Soda — King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart: 1/2 teaspoon baking soda = 3 g, i.e. 6 g/tsp and 18 g/tbsp
What we left out
sea salt — Could not be sourced. USDA FoodData Central has no sea salt record (only "Salt, table", fdcId 173468); the King Arthur chart lists table salt and two kosher salts but no sea salt; no FAO/INFOODS or NIST figure was reachable. Per HARD RULE 1 it is left out rather than estimated from table salt, whose fine grain packs very differently from flaked or coarse sea salt.
Rounding
Nobody measures 2.67 tablespoons, so every result is shown twice: the decimal, and the nearest fraction you can actually reach with a measuring spoon. Fractions snap to a fixed grid of eighths, quarters, thirds, halves, two-thirds and three-quarters — never to arbitrary ratios like 18/7.
- Results of one tablespoon or more show a tablespoon fraction.
- Results under one tablespoon switch to teaspoons, which are the spoon you would actually reach for.
- Anything below a quarter teaspoon shows no fraction at all, just "use a scale". Half a gram and one gram of honey both round to an eighth of a teaspoon, and printing the same fraction for a twofold difference would be worse than admitting the limit.
Decimals carry two places below 10 and one place at 10 and above.
Corrections
This site is compiled and maintained by one person — see about this site. If you can point to a figure from one of the four sources above that contradicts something here, tell us and we will change it and note the change on this page.