Ever followed a recipe from another country and ended up with a dry sponge, tough scones, or cookies that spread into one thin sheet? It’s frustrating, especially when you didn’t change the oven or the ingredients, only the measurements.
Baking is closer to chemistry than guesswork. Small shifts in flour, cocoa, or sugar can change texture fast.
Ounces vs grams, what is the real difference for baking?
Photo by Pham Ngoc Anh
Grams are metric and small, which makes them great for precision. Ounces are imperial and larger, so tiny changes can hide more easily. That’s why many UK and European baking recipes stick to grams, while US recipes may use ounces (or cups).
One big warning: in baking, “oz” should almost always mean weight ounces, not fluid ounces (fl oz). Fluid ounces measure volume, usually for liquids. Mixing those up is a quick route to a batter that’s too thin or a dough that’s too dry.
Why does this matter? Think about flour. Add a little extra, and your cake can turn dense. Take a little away, and it may collapse. With cocoa powder, even a small over-measure can make bakes bitter and dry. Grams make those small changes easier to control.
Picking the right unit for each ingredient (and why flour loves grams)
If an ingredient is light, powdery, or easy to pack down, grams win. Flour, icing sugar, cocoa, and ground almonds all trap air. The same “amount” can weigh very different totals depending on how you scoop or shake the bowl. A scale in grams cuts through all that.
Ounces can still work well, but they’re most helpful when the ingredient is sold and labelled in ounces, or when you’re using a recipe written that way and weighing everything on a scale. Butter is a good example in some kitchens, where wrappers show ounce marks, so portioning feels quick.
A simple rule of thumb:
- Powders and dry staples: weigh in grams whenever you can.
- Sticky or dense items (like honey or treacle): weight still beats volume, grams make it tidy.
- Small “power” ingredients (salt, yeast, baking powder): grams help you avoid overdoing it.
Conversions without the headache: tools and quick checks that prevent mistakes
The easiest fix is a digital kitchen scale with a unit button. Put the bowl on, press tare, and switch between g and oz as needed. If you must convert, remember this once: 1 oz equals 28.35 g.
Two quick checks prevent most errors:
- Convert the whole recipe, not just one ingredient, so ratios stay the same.
- Avoid rough rounding for small amounts. Rounding a 1 g change in baking soda can taste sharp.
If a recipe lists both “oz” and “fl oz”, pause and separate them: liquids may use fl oz, dry goods should use weight.
Conclusion
Grams give you control, especially for flour and other powders. Ounces are fine too, as long as you weigh them and don’t mix up weight ounces with fluid ounces. The safest habit is simple: weigh dry ingredients in grams whenever you can. If your recipe is in ounces, convert everything once, write it down, and bake with confidence. Bookmark your rule of thumb, it’ll save more bakes than any fancy tool.