Tablespoon
Encyclopedia
Spoon
A spoon is a utensil consisting of a small shallow bowl, oval or round, at the end of a handle. A type of cutlery , especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for serving. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients...
usually used for serving. A tablespoonful, the capacity of one tablespoon, is commonly used as a measure of volume
Volume
Volume is the quantity of three-dimensional space enclosed by some closed boundary, for example, the space that a substance or shape occupies or contains....
in cooking
Cooking weights and measures
In recipes, quantities of ingredients may be specified by mass, by volume, or by count.For most of history, most cookbooks did not specify quantities precisely, instead talking of "a nice leg of spring lamb", a "cupful" of lentils, a piece of butter "the size of a walnut", and "sufficient" salt...
. It is abbreviated as T, tb, tbs, tbsp, tblsp, or tblspn.
In most countries one level tablespoon is approximately 15 mL; in Australia it is 20 mL.
Variants
A level tablespoonful, the usual meaning without further qualification, is measured by filling the spoon and scraping it level. A heaping, heaped, or rounded spoonful includes a heap above the spoon, and is roughly twice as much as a level tablespoonful.Common tablespoons intended for use as cutlery
Cutlery
Cutlery refers to any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in the Western world. It is more usually known as silverware or flatware in the United States, where cutlery can have the more specific meaning of knives and other cutting instruments. This is probably the...
(called dessert spoon
Dessert spoon
thumb|right|From left: [[knife]], [[fork]], dessert spoon, [[teaspoon]] A dessert spoon is a spoon designed specifically for eating dessert and sometimes used for soup or cereals...
s in the UK, where a tablespoon is always a serving spoon) usually hold slightly less than a tablespoonful.
Relationship to teaspoon and fluid ounce
In most regions (including the United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom and the Republic of Korea), one tablespoonful equals three teaspoonTeaspoon
A teaspoon, an item of cutlery, is a small spoon, commonly part of a silverware place setting, suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of tea or coffee...
s. In these regions, one tablespoon is approximately 15 ml, which is about ½ U.S. fl oz
Fluid ounce
A fluid ounce is a unit of volume equal to about 28.4 mL in the imperial system or about 29.6 mL in the US system. The fluid ounce is distinct from the ounce, which measures mass...
. In some places like the U.S., the tablespoon was historically defined as ½ U.S. fl oz
Fluid ounce
A fluid ounce is a unit of volume equal to about 28.4 mL in the imperial system or about 29.6 mL in the US system. The fluid ounce is distinct from the ounce, which measures mass...
. (2 tbsp. = 1 U.S. fl oz
Fluid ounce
A fluid ounce is a unit of volume equal to about 28.4 mL in the imperial system or about 29.6 mL in the US system. The fluid ounce is distinct from the ounce, which measures mass...
) In Australia a tablespoon is defined as four teaspoons (20 ml). Victorian and Edwardian tablespoons used in the UK are often 25 ml or sometimes larger. They are used only for preparing and serving food, not as part of a place-setting.
In writing volume-based recipes, an abbreviation like tbsp. is usually used, to differentiate it from the smaller teaspoon (tsp.). Some authors additionally capitalize the abbreviation Tbsp., while leaving tsp. in lower case, to emphasize that the larger tablespoon, rather than the smaller teaspoon, is wanted. The tablespoon abbreviation may be even further abbreviated to T in some cases.
Traditional definitions
The traditional U.S. interpretation of the tablespoon as a unit of volume is:|-
|1 U.S. tablespoon ||= U.S. fl oz
|-
|||= 4 fluid drams
Dram (unit)
The dram was historically both a coin and a weight. Currently it is both a small mass in the Apothecaries' system of weights and a small unit of volume...
|-
|||= U.S. cup
|-
|||= 14.8 mL
|-
|||= 3 teaspoons
Teaspoon
A teaspoon, an item of cutlery, is a small spoon, commonly part of a silverware place setting, suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of tea or coffee...
|}
In nutrition labeling in the U.S., a tablespoon is defined as 15 mL.
The Australian definition of the tablespoon as a unit of volume is:
|-
|1 Australian tablespoon ||= 20 mL
|-
||| ≈ ⅔ fl. oz.
|-
|||= 4 teaspoons
Teaspoon
A teaspoon, an item of cutlery, is a small spoon, commonly part of a silverware place setting, suitable for stirring and sipping the contents of a cup of tea or coffee...
|}