Switch between metric and US units

A recipe from an American site lists cups and ounces, and one from an Australian site lists grams and millilitres. The US / Metric switch shows any of your recipes in the units you cook with, and changes the oven temperatures in the steps too. It is free on every plan.

Switch the units#

1. 1

   Find the US / Metric switch at the top right of the Ingredients card

   It is on every recipe page, above the servings box. It is hidden while you are editing. Here, Best Shakshuka is in US measures.

   

   You'll see: The amounts are in the system the switch shows: the recipe's own, or the one RecipeClip guessed for you.

2. 2

   Press Metric (or US)

   The same three lines now read 30 ml, 5 ml and 2½ ml. Change the servings and the converted amounts follow, because RecipeClip scales first and converts second. Oven temperatures in the steps change too: 350°F becomes 175°C (Celsius), and a recipe that says Gas mark 4 shows 180°C (gas mark 4).

   

   You'll see: Every amount that can change does, at once.

3. 3

   Read a step that names an oven or simmer temperature

   Here a recipe that said about 185°F shows about 85°C in Metric.

   

   You'll see: The temperature in the text is in the system you chose.

Your choice is saved in your account as well as in the browser, so it follows you. A phone or computer where you have not chosen yet picks it up when you open a recipe there. A device where you already chose keeps its own choice until you press the switch on it.

In cook mode and on paper#

The switch is the same one. Whatever you choose in one place applies in the others.

In cook mode#

Press Start cooking on a recipe. The US / Metric switch is on the first screen, Before you start, under the servings box. The checklist and the ingredients in every step change when you press it, and the steps keep your choice. See Cook step by step.

On paper#

Press More options (the three-dot button at the end of the row of buttons under the description) and choose Print. The page prints in the units on your screen. Paper has no switch, so it is left off, and each converted line prints its original beside it, for example orig: 2 tablespoons. The picture shows the ingredients as the print layout draws them. The menu is described in Use a recipe page.

The automatic first guess and the original amounts#

Before you press the switch for the first time, RecipeClip guesses from your browser’s language. It picks US units for the United States, Liberia and Myanmar, and metric for everywhere else. When the guess changed something, a small line appears under the heading: Converted from US if you are shown metric, or Converted from metric if you are shown US units.

1. 1

   Read the line under Ingredients

   It is marked 1 in the picture under the next step. Once you press the switch yourself, the line stops appearing.

   You'll see: You know the amounts on screen were converted for you.

2. 2

   Press the small i beside a converted amount (2 in the picture)

   Press the icon again to hide it. Lines that did not change have no i.

   

   You'll see: The recipe’s own wording appears, such as orig: 1 teaspoon.

3. 3

   To see the whole recipe as written, press Show original in the line

   Show original only affects the recipe you have open, and only until you leave the page. It does not change your setting. To change every recipe, press the switch instead.

   You'll see: The recipe shows its own units, and the line and the i icons go away.

What converts and what does not#

These convert, rounded to within about 10% (a quarter cup becomes 60 ml):

• Spoons, cups, fluid ounces, pints, quarts and gallons, and millilitres and litres.
• Ounces, pounds, grams and kilograms.
• Oven and cooking temperatures in the steps: 350°F and 175°C (Celsius) in both directions, and gas marks, so Gas mark 4 becomes 180°C (gas mark 4).
• Cups and spoons to grams and back, for sugar, flour, butter, nut butters, oats and rice. Other ingredients go volume to volume, such as cups to millilitres.

Everything else falls into three groups.

Converts oddly: cups, rice, UK pints#

• US cups are rounded to a mark on a measuring-cup set. From ¼ cup up, US mode shows whole cups plus the nearest ¼, ⅓, ½, ⅔ or ¾. So 200 g flour shows as 1⅔ cups, 250 g flour as 2 cups and 350 g flour as 3 cups. When the nearest mark is more than 10% off, it adds spoons from ½ cup up: 200 ml milk shows as ¾ cup + 1½ tbsp. Between ¼ and ½ cup, a miss of more than 10% gives plain spoons instead: 100 ml milk shows as 7 tbsp. Press i for the original grams or millilitres.
• Rice, cooked or not. RecipeClip counts every cup of rice as dry rice: 1 cup shows 190 g, and 2 cups of cooked white rice shows 370 g. Cooked rice weighs less per cup, so treat the grams as a guide. Press i for the original cups.
• Other foods in cups, such as 1 cup cooked quinoa or 1 cup chopped onion. Metric shows millilitres, never grams, because RecipeClip does not guess what a cup of it weighs.
• Pints, cups and spoons from outside the US. Each one is read as a US measure. A plain pint shows as 470 ml though a UK pint is about 570 ml, so it comes out about 17% short, and an Australian tablespoon (20 ml) is read as a US one (about 15 ml). Press i beside the line to see the original, and use the recipe’s own millilitres if it gives them.

Stays as written#

• Amounts and pan sizes in the steps, such as about 3 quarts of water. They stay as written. Only temperatures change.
• Counts, such as 3 garlic cloves or 6 large eggs. There is nothing to convert.
• Loose amounts, such as a pinch or to taste.
• Cans and packs, such as 1 (28-ounce) can. Read the size on the can.
• An amount already in both systems, such as 2 cups (250g) or 350°F (177°C).
• ⅛ teaspoon. It stays ⅛ teaspoon in metric. Use a pinch or your smallest measuring spoon.
• Under 1 ounce (about 28 g) in US mode, for anything outside the cups-and-spoons-to-grams list. It stays in grams.
• A line that says UK pint is left as written.
• Two amounts in one line, such as ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp or ¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons. The whole line is unchanged.

Fix by editing#

Edit the recipe and retype the ingredient. These cases are fixed that way:

• Two amounts in one line. Add them up and write one amount. ⅓ cup + 2 tbsp is 7⅓ tablespoons, so write 7 tablespoons, which is close enough.
• Wording RecipeClip cannot read as an amount. A number written as a word, such as two tablespoons olive oil, stays unconverted. Type it with digits: 2 tablespoons olive oil shows 30 ml.

Common questions#

One amount did not change.#

Find its case under Stays as written or Fix by editing. If the amount is inside a step rather than the ingredient list, it never converts, whatever you type. Only the cases under Fix by editing are helped by retyping the line.

Does switching rewrite my recipe?#

No. The saved recipe never changes. The switch only changes what you see, print and cook from.

Will people I share with see my units?#

No. A link you send opens the recipe as written. See Share a recipe.

Related: Use a recipe page, Cook step by step.