Cooking measurement converter
In Estonian recipes a teaspoon is 5 millilitres, a tablespoon 15 millilitres and a decilitre exactly 100 millilitres. These are agreed definitions rather than measurements, so the conversion is exact. American spoons are slightly smaller — their tablespoon is 14.79 ml — and a cup is 236.6 ml, about 2.4 decilitres.
- millilitre (ml)
- 100
- decilitre (dl)
- 1
- litre (l)
- 0.1
- teaspoon (metric) (tl)
- 20
- teaspoon (US) (tsp (US))
- 20.2884
- tablespoon (US) (tbsp (US))
- 6.7628
- cup (US) (cup)
- 0.422675
Rates and thresholds
- 1 teaspoon (tsp)
- 5 ml
- 1 tablespoon (tbsp)
- 15 ml = 3 tsp
- 1 decilitre (dl)
- 100 ml = 6⅔ tbsp
- 1 US cup
- 236.59 ml ≈ 2.4 dl
- 1 US tablespoon
- 14.79 ml — not the same as the Estonian sl
- 1 glass (klaas)
- not standardised — see below
How many millilitres is a tablespoon?
The Estonian tablespoon is 15 millilitres and the teaspoon 5 millilitres, so a tablespoon is exactly three teaspoons. The American tablespoon is 14.79 ml and the teaspoon 4.93 ml, because they derive from the fluid ounce rather than from the metric system. On one spoonful the difference does not matter; by the tenth you are a couple of millilitres out.
How many grams is a decilitre of flour?
There is no single honest answer, which is why this converter does not convert to grams. The FAO/INFOODS density database — the international compilation such figures come from — gives four different values for wheat flour: 0.48, 0.52, 0.58 and 0.67 g/ml. That is 48 to 67 grams per decilitre, a spread of nearly 40%. The difference is not national but a matter of how the flour gets into the measure: sifted and spooned in it sits loose, scooped and tapped down it packs much tighter. Recipe sites usually print one number, often 60 g, but that is one value from a range rather than a measurement. If the quantity matters, weigh it.
How big is a klaas?
It has no standard size. The Estonian explanatory dictionary describes a klaas as a drinking vessel and attaches no volume to it, and in older recipes it means either 2 dl or 2.5 dl depending on the source. That is why a klaas is not a selectable unit here — adding it would mean picking one reading and presenting the choice as a conversion. If the recipe is old and the volume unknown, start at 2 dl and adjust, or find another recipe by the same author where the amount is also given in millilitres.
How do I convert American cups to decilitres?
One US cup is 236.5882365 ml, about 2.37 dl. In practice that means a cup is not 2.5 dl, though it is often rounded that way: by the fourth cup you are half a decilitre short. Two cups are roughly 4.73 dl and four cups 9.46 dl. Enter the amount above and pick cup to see the exact figure without rounding.