Units of Measurement

Units of Measurement
Canadian cooks should feel comfortable working in three different measurement systems. Two of these systems
(U.S. and imperial) are closely related, while the third (S.I., more commonly called metric) is different from the
other two.
Although the metric system was introduced in Canada a number of years ago, the food industry and home
cooks still rely heavily on equipment and cookbooks imported from the United States. In addition, because
we used imperial measurements in Canada for the sale of liquids, some industry recipes will call for imperial
measurements rather than U.S. liquid measurements.
The imperial and U.S. measuring systems evolved out of the system used in Europe prior to the 20th century.
Although both the imperial and U.S. systems use the same terminology, there are slight differences in actual
measurements that you must account for, particularly with volume.
The easiest way to work with the three systems is to have different sets of measuring devices: one for the metric
system, one for the imperial system, and one for the U.S. system. Alternatively, you could have one set of devices
that have measurements for all three systems indicated. U.S. measuring instruments can be used with slight
adjustments for imperial measuring.
It is not good practice to use two systems of measurement when preparing a recipe.Working between two systems
of measurement in a recipe may result in inaccuracies that could affect the final product’s taste, yield, consistency,
and appearance. To ensure a consistent and successful result, a good practice is to convert the recipe to one
standard system of measurement.
The S.I. (Metric) System
Types, Units, and Symbols
All measuring systems have basic units for length, mass (weight), capacity (volume), and temperature. The basic
units for the metric system are shown in Table 1.
Type of Measurement Unit Symbol
length (distance) metre m
mass (weight) gram g
capacity (volume) litre L
temperature degrees Celsius °C
Table 1: Basic metric units
Note that the abbreviation or symbol of the unit is not followed by a period and that all the abbreviations are
lowercase letters except for litre which is usually a capital L.
In the metric system, the basic units are turned into larger or smaller measurements by using a prefix that carries
a specific meaning. The most commonly used prefixes are shown in the bolded areas in Table 2.
Prefix Symbol Meaning
kilo k 1000
hecto h 100
deca da 10
deci d 1/10 or 0.1
centi c 1/100 or 0.01
milli m 1/1000 or 0.001
Table 2: Metric prefixes
When you read a measurement in the metric system, it is fairly easy to translate the measurement into a number
of the basic units. For example, 5 kg (five kilograms) is the same as 5 x 1000 (the meaning of kilo) grams or 5000
grams. Or 2 mL (two millilitres) is the same as 2 x 0.001 (the meaning of milli) litres or 0.002 litres. This process
is discussed further in the section on converting below.
The most commonly used measurements in commercial kitchens are mass (weight), capacity (volume), and
temperature.
Units of Length (Distance)

The basic unit of length or distance in the metric system is the metre. The most frequently used units of length
used in the Canadian food industry are the centimetre and millimetre. The units of length in the metric system are
shown in Table 3.

UNITS OF MEASUREMENT • 7
Unit Abbreviation Length (Distance)
kilometre km 1000 metres
hectometre hm 100 metres
decametre dam 10 metres
metre m 1 metre
decimetre dm 0.1 metres
centimetre cm 0.01 metres
millimetre mm 0.001 metres
Table 3: Metric units of length (distance)
Units of Mass (Weight)

The basic unit of mass or weight in the metric system is the gram. The most frequently used units of mass or
weight used in the Canadian food industry are the gram and kilogram. The units of mass in the metric system are
shown in Table 4.
Unit Abbreviation Mass (Weight)
tonne t 1000 kilograms
kilogram kg 1000 gram
hectogram hg 100 grams
decagram dag 10 grams
gram g 1 g
decigram dg 0.1 g
centigram cg 0.01 g
milligram mg 0.001 g
Table 4: Metric units of mass (weight)
Note: Certain metric terminology is not regularly used for ease of production and service. The average cook or
chef will not remember how many grams there are on a hecto-, deca-, deci-, or centigram. It is much more practical
to write and read 100 grams in a recipe than 1 hectogram.
Units of Capacity (Volume)
The basic unit of volume or capacity is the litre. The most commonly used units in cooking are the litre and the
millilitre. The units of volume in the metric system are shown in Table 5.

 BASIC KITCHEN AND FOOD SERVICE MANAGEMENT
Unit Abbreviation Volume
kilolitre kL 1000 L
hectolitre hL 100 L
decalitre daL 10 L
litre L 1L
decilitre dL 0.1 L
centilitre cL 0.01 L
millilitre mL 0.001 L
Table 5: Metric units of volume
Occasionally, you will encounter a unit of volume called cubic measurement (sometimes used to express the
volume of solids or the capacity of containers), and the units will be expressed as “cc” or cm3 (cubic centimetre).
Cubic centimetres are the same as millilitres. That is, 1 cc = 1 cm3 = 1 mL
In the metric system, 1 mL (cc) of water weighs 1 gram. We will explore this later when discussing the difference
between measuring by weight and by volume.