This converter changes flour between grams and US cups for the four most common types — all-purpose (plain), bread (strong), cake (sponge) and wholewheat. Because each flour packs to a different density, it lets you pick the type for accurate baking, in either direction.
How it works
Each flour type has a fixed weight per US cup baked into the tool. Conversion is a single multiply or divide:
- Grams → cups: cups = grams ÷ (grams per cup)
- Cups → grams: grams = cups × (grams per cup)
The per-cup weights used are:
| Flour type | Grams per US cup |
|---|---|
| All-purpose / plain | 125 g |
| Bread / strong | 130 g |
| Cake / sponge | 115 g |
| Wholewheat | 120 g |
Example
You have 250 g of all-purpose flour and want cups:
250 ÷ 125 = 2 cups
The same 250 g of cake flour (115 g/cup) would be about 2.17 cups, showing why choosing the right type matters.
Spoon flour into the cup and level it off rather than scooping for the closest match. The whole conversion runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.
Why flour type changes everything
The density difference between flour types is not trivial. If a recipe calls for 2 cups of cake flour and you substitute all-purpose, you are adding an extra 20 g of flour — about 8% more — which can make a sponge noticeably denser. Bread flour is denser still, so a bread recipe quoted in cups is more forgiving if measured by weight, because even a loosely scooped cup of strong flour will be closer to 130 g than a tightly packed cup of cake flour is to 115 g.
Scooping vs spooning vs weighing
The widest source of measurement variation is not which flour you use but how you fill the cup:
| Method | Approximate weight for all-purpose flour |
|---|---|
| Scoop directly from the bag | 150–165 g (packed) |
| Spoon into cup, level off | 120–130 g |
| Sift then spoon into cup | 110–115 g |
| Weigh on a scale | exactly 125 g (as set in this tool) |
This is why two bakers following the same recipe with the same flour can end up with different results. Using grams removes this variable entirely: 125 g is 125 g regardless of how densely the bag was stored or how gently you spooned.
Converting between cup sizes
US cups (240 ml) are the standard used in this converter. Metric cups (250 ml, used in Australia, Canada, and South Africa) and imperial cups (284 ml, largely obsolete) are different. If your recipe specifies metric cups, the per-cup weight is slightly higher: all-purpose flour is roughly 130 g per metric cup instead of 125 g. When following recipes from Australian or Canadian sources, check which cup size they assume — most modern Australian recipes use the 250 ml metric cup.
A note on self-raising flour
Self-raising flour is essentially all-purpose flour with baking powder and sometimes salt pre-mixed in. Its density per cup is practically identical to all-purpose flour — about 125 g per cup — so for volume purposes you can use the all-purpose row when converting self-raising. You would never substitute self-raising for plain flour or vice versa without adjusting leavening, but the weight conversion is the same.