Msk
Msk, 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.
Also called Matsked, Matskedar, Swedish tablespoon.
Msk is short for matsked, which means tablespoon in Swedish. In a Swedish measuring set it holds exactly 15 ml. Swedish, and many other Nordic, recipes use it for butter, oil, sugar, flour, syrup and sauces in amounts too small for a deciliter measure. The plural is matskedar, but recipes write msk for both.
How to do it
- Fill the msk measure with the ingredient.
- For dry ingredients, sweep it level with a knife unless the recipe says rågad (heaping).
- For sticky ingredients such as syrup or honey, wipe the spoon with a drop of oil first, so it slides out.
- For butter, a block marked in grams is easier: 1 msk of butter is about 14 to 15 g.
How to use it
The Swedish spoon and cup units are exact metric amounts:
| Swedish unit | Exact value | Same as |
|---|---|---|
| 1 krm (kryddmått) | 1 ml | |
| 1 tsk (tesked) | 5 ml | 5 krm |
| 1 msk (matsked) | 15 ml | 3 tsk, 15 krm |
| 1 dl (deciliter) | 100 ml | about 6⅔ msk |
Compared with other countries:
| Tablespoon | Volume |
|---|---|
| Swedish msk | 15 ml |
| US tablespoon | 14.8 ml |
| UK tablespoon | 15 ml |
| Australian tablespoon | 20 ml |
So 1 msk and 1 US or UK tablespoon are the same for cooking. Use them one for one. Only the Australian tablespoon is different, holding a third more.
Common mistakes
- Using an eating spoon. A soup spoon from the drawer can hold anywhere from about 7 to 20 ml.
- Reading msk as a teaspoon. Mixing up msk and tsk gives three times too much or too little.
- Converting 2 msk into a fraction of a deciliter and measuring it in a dl cup. Small amounts are more accurate with spoons.
In recipes
You will see "2 msk smör" (2 tablespoons butter), "1 msk olivolja" (olive oil), "3 msk socker" (sugar) and "1 msk ljus sirap" (light syrup).
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.
- KrmKrm, short for kryddmått, is the Swedish spice measure and holds exactly 1 ml. Here is how it compares to tsk, msk and US teaspoons.
- 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.
- TablespoonA tablespoon is about 15 ml in the US, UK and Sweden but 20 ml in Australia. It equals 3 teaspoons. Here is how to measure and convert it.
- 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.
- LevelA level measure is filled to the rim and swept flat with a knife. Unless a recipe says heaping or packed, every spoon and cup should be level.