One of the top questions in freshly milled flour groups is “how much grain mills one cup of flour”, but in different ways. My recipes are listed as grams of grain, while Sue Becker’s recipes are listed as cups of flour. Other recipes may list grams of flour. The answers to these questions can get VERY complicated, but we are going to keep things SIMPLE.
One cup of flour ranges from 120 – 130 grams per cup. I like to use 125 grams per cup for several reasons. If I’m using a recipe that’s doubled or more, there will not be too much flour in the dough. If I need to calculate a fraction of a cup, I just use 120 grams per cup for easier math in my head. Don’t worry math traumatized folks, I’ve got you! A chart will be listed below using 125 grams per whole cup, and 120 grams per fraction of a cup.
1 cup flour = 125 grams of grain = 125 grams of flour
approximately
Flour to Grains Conversion Chart
| Cups of Flour | Grams of Grains | Cups of Grains* |
|---|---|---|
| 1/8 cup | 15 grams | 1 1/2 tbsp |
| 1/4 cup | 30 grams | 3 tbsp |
| 1/3 cup | 40 grams | 1/4 cup |
| 1/2 cup | 60 grams | 1/3 cup |
| 3/4 cup | 90 grams | 1/2 cup plus 1 tsp |
| 1 cup | 125 grams | 2/3 cup plus 1 tbsp |
| 2 cups | 250 grams | 1 1/2 cups |
| 3 cups | 375 grams | 2 cups plus 3 tbsp |
| 4 cups | 500 grams | 3 scant cups |
| 5 cups | 625 grams | 3 2/3 cups |
| 6 cups | 750 grams | 4 1/2 cups |
*The cups of grains used here are based on 1 cup of grains weighing 170 grams (pretty consistently). Just know that measuring by volume is less accurate than by weight. If you use cups for measure, I’d use this chart.
What about grams of flour?
Once milled I often get asked how many grams of flour 500 grams of grain equals. They are the SAME! 100 grams of flour = 100 grams of grains
Why measure by grams instead of cups?
- It’s MUCH less messy to measure grains than it is to measure flour. If you spill, it’s also easier to clean up grains than it is flour (which gets in all the crevices and once wet turns to paste).
- The flour weighs the SAME as the whole grain.
- The consistency of your baking will improve when using weight (grams) instead of volume (cups or mL).
When converting recipes from grandma, use this conversion of 125 grams per cup of flour and remember when in doubt to let the dough or batter rest for 15 – 30 minutes before adjusting the recipe.
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