Krm
Krm, short for kryddmått, is the Swedish spice measure and holds exactly 1 ml. Here is how it compares to tsk, msk and US teaspoons.
Also called Kryddmått, Spice measure.
Krm is short for kryddmått, which means spice measure in Swedish. It is the smallest spoon in a Swedish measuring set and holds exactly 1 ml. Swedish recipes use it for salt, pepper, spices, saffron and baking soda, where a teaspoon would be too much. You will not find it outside Nordic recipes.
How to do it
If you do not have a Swedish measuring set:
- Use a ¼ teaspoon measure for 1 krm. It holds about 1.2 ml, close enough for spices.
- For 2 krm, use a level ½ teaspoon minus a little, or two ¼ teaspoons that are not quite full.
- For saffron, which is often sold in 0.5 g packets in Sweden, recipes may write "1 paket" or "½ g" instead of krm.
Always fill the measure and sweep it level, unless the recipe says "rågad" (heaping). "Struken" means level.
How to use it
The Swedish volume units are all exact metric amounts:
| Swedish unit | Exact value | In krm |
|---|---|---|
| 1 krm (kryddmått) | 1 ml | 1 |
| 1 tsk (tesked) | 5 ml | 5 |
| 1 msk (matsked) | 15 ml | 15 |
| 1 dl (deciliter) | 100 ml | 100 |
Compared with American measures:
| Krm | US measure |
|---|---|
| 1 krm | about ¼ teaspoon, a little under |
| 2 krm | a little under ½ teaspoon |
| 3 krm | about ⅔ teaspoon |
| 5 krm | 1 teaspoon |
A US teaspoon is 4.93 ml, so 5 krm and 1 US teaspoon are the same for any cooking purpose.
Common mistakes
- Reading krm as a teaspoon. That is five times too much, which is a big problem with salt, cayenne or ground cloves.
- Treating 1 krm as a pinch. A pinch is much smaller, closer to ⅓ krm.
- Mixing up krm and kr, which is the Swedish currency.
In recipes
You will see "1 krm salt", "2 krm svartpeppar" (black pepper), "½ krm cayennepeppar" and "1 krm bikarbonat" (baking soda). In Swedish recipes "nypa" means a pinch.
Related terms
- TskTsk, short for tesked, is the Swedish teaspoon and holds exactly 5 ml. It equals 5 krm or a third of a msk, and swaps one for one with a US teaspoon.
- MskMsk, short for matsked, is the Swedish tablespoon and holds exactly 15 ml. It equals 3 tsk and is close enough to a US tablespoon to swap directly.
- DeciliterA deciliter (dl) is exactly 100 ml, the main volume unit in Swedish and Nordic recipes. See how it compares to cups and what 1 dl weighs.
- MilliliterA milliliter (ml) is a thousandth of a liter, the metric unit for measuring liquids. See how ml converts to teaspoons, cups and fluid ounces.
- PinchA pinch is the small amount you can hold between your thumb and one or two fingers, about 1/16 teaspoon. It is used for salt, spices and saffron.
- TeaspoonA teaspoon holds 5 ml, and 3 teaspoons make a tablespoon. Here is how to measure one level, and how it compares to tsk and krm in Swedish recipes.