How Much Does 1 Litre of Milk Weigh?

Have you ever wondered how much 1 litre of milk weighs?  It’s not something most people even think about, or need to ever know about – but one day you realise you do want, or need, to know.

The answer will depend on what you’re trying to do.  Different milks weigh different amounts – and so, for my needs, I stick to a simple rule of thumb that says that 1 litre of milk weighs 1Kg.  My needs aren’t critical, so I can afford to round up and down and accept it’s a tiiiiiny amount wrong.

Weigh Milk Instead of Pouring Milk

When cooking small quantities, especially when cooking for one it can be difficult to measure out a small amount of milk as you’ll need to have the right size/type of measuring implement.  For me, I find weighing the milk easier.  With a simple rule of thumb telling me that 1 litre of milk weighs 1Kg, I can instantly use my digital kitchen scales to weigh out, say, 150 grams of milk if the recipe needs 150ml.  I can use any cup or pot to weigh the milk out into – or simply add it to the bowl I’m mixing in.

Where this method comes into its own though is when mixing up smaller portions of dried foods where the mixture is quite important.  e.g. when I make up Bird’s Dream Topping and only want to use just some of the packet, not the whole packet.  To make a whole packet of Dream Topping you mix 150ml of milk with the whole 38 gram packet of powder.  To make up ¼ of the packet I’d need 9.5 grams of the powder and 37.5ml of milk – measurements that I’m sure you’ll agree simply won’t work!  But, using the weighing method, I can easily just concentrate on round figures – the figures are close enough that you can mix the powder in a ratio of 1:4 and use any weight of powder.  e.g.10 grams of Dream Topping is just over ¼ of the packet – and can be mixed with 40ml of milk, which would weigh 40 grams!

Ratio 1:4

Working with the ratios and allowing a little rounding, makes it super easy for me to make up just enough of the dream topping for my needs – e.g. using it as a single portion cheesecake topping, or to add to the top of a quick banoffee pie!

Make Recipes Easier

You might be able to find some recipes you can make easier by weighing out the milk rather than measuring it in a measuring jug!  I’d rather trust reading a digital kitchen scale, than trying to crouch down to worktop level and squint to see if I thought the liquid level in the jug was right, and then to double-check I was reading off the right scale.