Measurement Conversions
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I have read a lot of old recipes and come across some odd measurements and oven temperatures. This page contains some measurement conversions to help you make any of the recipes you find on my blog.
Oven Temperatures
Cool Oven: 200 degrees
Very Slow Oven: 250 degrees
Slow Oven: 300 – 325 degrees
Moderately Slow Oven: 325 – 350 degrees
Moderate Oven: 350 – 375 degrees
Moderately Hot Oven: 375 – 400 degrees
Hot Oven: 400 – 450 degrees
Very Hot Oven: 450 – 500 degrees
Fast Oven: 450 – 500 degrees
Cups and Spoons
Coffee Cup = 5 ounces or about 2/3 cup
Wineglass = 1/4 cup or 4 tablespoons per 1873 recipe book
A gill = 1/2 cup per 1873 recipe book – other measurements found online say 2/3 cup
Tea Cup = 1/2 cup per 1873 recipe book – other measurements found online say 2/3 cup
Tumbler = 1/2 pint or 1 cup per 1873 recipe book
Mush spoon = 1 tablespoon
Saltspoonful = 1/4 teaspoon
A pinch = 1/8 teaspoon
Quarts and Pints
1 quart = 4 cups
1 pint = 2 cups
Yeast
Yeast conversions are a little bit more tricky because a lot of recipes refer to a cake of yeast or compressed yeast. From reading recipes, 1 cake of yeast should work out to be 2 packets of dry yeast or 4 1/2 teaspoons. When I have made these old recipes, I have generally used dry yeast using the ratios below depending on how many cups of flour the recipe calls for.
4 cups of flour: 2 1/4 teaspoons which is equal to 1 packet of dry yeast
4 – 8 cups of flour: 4 1/2 teaspoons which is equal to 2 packets of dry yeast
8 – 12 cups of flour: 6 3/4 teaspoons which is equal to 3 packets of dry yeast
12 – 16 cups of flour: 9 teaspoons which is equal to 4 packets of dry yeast
Butter
Butter the size of an egg = 1/4 cup
Butter the size of a walnut = 2 tablespoons
Butter the size of a nutmeg = 1 1/2 tablespoons
Butter 1 pound = 1 quart per 1873 recipe book
Spices
1 whole nutmeg = 2 to 3 teaspoons ground nutmeg