How many ounces in a cup?

Or you could let Google do the work for you:

http://www.google.com/search?q=ounces+in+a+cup
http://www.google.com/search?q=teaspoons+in+a+tablespoon
etc.

Yes. I always cook on my refrigerator. :-)

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1+cup+in+oz&btnG=Google+Search

;)

Mihai beat me to it. :(

Dude! I've been thinking lately:

"OK, Jeremy's very sharp - the kind of guy to whom we can trust America's intellectual future".

Now you are going for that holy grail of computational achievement by the difficult task of memorizing "a pints a pound the world around"?

It's funny that you post this. I was just yesterday asking my wife to clarify ounces-to-cups for me. I can never remember English measurement because I was never taught it. When I was in grade school and junior high, it was considered a certainty that the U.S. would be on the metric system Real Soon Now. As a result, my teachers simply skipped over the chapter on English measurement. Seriously, I remember very vividly when my teacher said "you won't need this, so we're going to skip it."

You know, I don't remember ever being taught this either. Maybe that's the problem.

Then again, I've forgotten everything I ever "learned" about the War of 1812 too. I was pretty certain I'd never need to know that stuff, but my teachers didn't seem to care.

A note of interest - it's at the pint that American and Imperial measures diverge. The Imperial pint is 20 oz - two and a half cups. From there, the quart is 2 pints = 5 cups = 40 oz, the gallon is 4 quarts = 8 pints = 20 cups = 160 oz.

That's why Canadian gallons are larger than American gallons by a ratio of 5 to 4.

I was going to upstage the Googlers by posting a Yahoo search link

http://myweb2.search.yahoo.com/search?p=convert+3+teaspoons+to+tablespoons

which uses the "convert" search shortcut, e.g. "convert 3 teaspoons to tablespoons" to provide the answer directly but, alas, it doesn't work (again).

I've seen these shortcuts work. Really. They did. For a while.

http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#calc_meas

When I am outside the States I am always trying to remember the practical metric conversions like:
1 foot = 0.304 meter
1 mile = 1.609 kilometer
50°F = 10°C (the Temperature here in Tijuana at the moment)
1 gallon [US, liquid] = 3.785 liter
1 lb. = 0.453 kilogram

You don't usually have a converter with you when you need it. My last trip to a lumberyard here was hilarious. They use a metric-based system, and I had measured everything I needed in feet and inches. The yard man and I eventually got on the same page when we somehow approximated my U.S. units. I need to get a metric measuring tape.

Just remember "2 cups in a pint, 2 pints in a quart, 4 quarts in a gallon."

There's a really good system for measuring dry goods like flour, I heard it called "the Girl Scout Measure" as it supposedly was taught by the Girl Scouts. You can measure anything from tablespoons and teaspoons up to 1 cup with fairly good accuracy just by using your fingers and hands. My mom showed it to me, I only remember about half of it, you really need to see it demonstrated firsthand. I looked it up on the web but I couldn't find anything about it. Pro cooks know this system, they don't always use measuring cups, they just grab a cup of flour with their bare hands because they know what a cup of flour feels like.

Someday maybe I'll show you how to measure water temperatures up to 212 degrees with your bare fingertip, with an accuracy of about +-2 degrees. My chemistry teacher taught me that one. It only hurts a little.

That's only true for *Fluid* ounces (i.e. water)

Try taking a cup of flour and converting it to ounces and its way off, the density is different.

Just remember that a cup of coffee is considered 6oz. Convenient eh?

Use metric system :)

Yeah, I agree. Google is best for this kind of thing. I come from the UK, and although we use imperial measurements too, there are some quite dramtic differences.

For a start, we use cups to drink tea out of, we'd never use one as a unit of measurement. I never quite worked out what type of cup you're supposed to use anyway, is it espresso or cappuccino?

Oh, and the other thing that gets me every time is a US pint is 473 ml, while a UK pint is 568 ml. Who says it's just the US that likes to be big and brash?

I can only say: Hail metric system! Much easier.

Actually, Brits don't really use the imperial system much now - kids are all taught metric in schools and have been for many years. In fact, you're not taught imperial until around age 13, and that's only because you need to know how to be able to convert between metric and imperial.

Everything has to be sold in metric units by law, however you'll often find that, for example, milk comes in a standard size of 568ml. We still call them pints of milk, or pints of beer. Also many products also include the imperial measurement of weight on them to help those who were brought up on the imperial system.

Our road signs all still use miles and yards though, and speed is measured in mph (and car fuel economy in mpg). Ireland is a bit more advanced - they're in the process of converting their road signs to metric. The authorities in the UK won't because of safety, apparently - I'm assuming that they will think drivers will see a sign saying "50 km/h" and assume it means 50mph.

I've been OK with conversions up to a quart for most of my life because I cook a lot. If you scale recipes up or down you get good at that kind of thing. Could never remember how many oz per gallon until I started making -- and bottling -- hard apple cider. :) With homebrew you need to know how many gallons you have so you know how many 12oz bottles you need to wash and sterilize ahead of time.

After a few of those Imperial pints, who cares! :-)

"Actually, Brits don't really use the imperial system much now - kids are all taught metric in schools and have been for many years."

I think you're failing to realise the difference between "being taught" and "using".

Imperial is very much still in use alongside metric. As soon as the kids turn 18 and have forgotten their school lessons, they're immersed in a world of imperial measurements, especially whilst downing pints at the student union.

It's the same kind of thing as English teaching abroad. In Europe, kids are taught to speak and write real english. However thanks to the influence of American TV and film, you'll find that they start talking and writing to English people about using the subway and putting colored jelly on their bread.

We Americans started learning/teaching the metric system a generation ago and it's only now starting to kick in (my 9 yr old is still taught both). Is it any wonder we produce a fraction of the engineers China and India send out?

The War of 1812 was when?

Re: Britain and Imperial units.
For petrol (gasoline), the change from gallons to litres must have been somtime in the 80s 90s - and I think was supposed to hide the fact from us that we're paying about $4 per (U.S.) gallon. Not sure about MPG - doesn't make much sense when fuel is sold by the litre - Miles per litre, anyone?

Also, a fluid ounce of water doesn't weigh an ounce. http://www.allmeasures.com/Formulae/static/materials/184/density.htm
(water volume to mass calculator)

So much for "a pint is a pound the world around."

Or, you can use the Alton Brown-endorsed method: just weigh everything. I've found it does help quite a bit, especially with baking, and I usually weigh in metric since it's easier to read on my digital scale. Too bad cookbooks don't normally list their ingredients by weight (except, of course, for Alton Brown's).

Wait, your cellphone doesn't have a "units converter"? The "Calc" app. on my Treo 650 does.

Of course, I tend to leave my phone on my desk while I'm in the kitchen cooking, but if you're the type to always keep your phone on you at all times, then ... there's a possible solution.

And don't forget that your favorite "fifth" is a fifth of a gallon, or 128/5 = 25.6 oz, unless the bottle is 750ml, in which case all bets are off.

What kind of ounces are you asking about? There are 8 fluid ounces in 1 cup... but 8.336 ounces of water can fit in that cup. There is a difference between dry weight and liquid volume.
One ounce of water weighs 29.54 grams. One ounce = 28.35 grams. One ounce of marshmellows probably weighs 12 grams... according to my bottle of marshmellow fluff. haha

Hey Jeremy, just be sure your robots.txt allows google to index your blog, otherwise, you won't ever find your post again ;)

At school I was taught metric units and nothing else (in the UK). I now have no idea of imperial units other than 'mile' and have experience extreme difficulty when using old recipe books!

How many ounces are there in a Liter? And how many cups would that be?

ok, now to see if i can buy a cup of raisens (8oz, now i know) for a 1 gallon wine brew batch, hmm maybe

ok to the previous posters

clf, 4 liters is a bit more than a gallon, by about half a cup, a gallon is 128 ounces i think, so without getting a calculator and reference material id say about 33 ounces

moony, as an american, i will say that i hate our stupid fractions, 1/64, 1/32, 1/16, wtf is that. i want decimals personally as a sort of a scientist, i like metrics except for a few things, having learned of small fractions of an inch, i find the conversion to mm frustrating, i spose it can be learned, but my mindset is now in .001 inch, not .05mm bah, secondly, only other complaint is all the terms, mega,kilo,deci,milli. well i spose i can learn that, funny that in 1979 we were gonna switch to metrics, and never did. peace.

on some recipe's that i get on the web they have measurements like 0.333333 of a cup, how do i find out how much that is??

Okay, here's another question for you. My British mother-in-law gave me a recipe with 6 oz. of flour and 2 oz. of sugar in it. How do I, a metrically challenged American living in the narrow-minded Midwest where I only have American measuring tools, figure out how to accurately measure the ingredients?

Well.. if 8oz=1cup, then 1oz=1/8cup. 6oz=6/8cup=3/4cup. 2oz=2/8cup=1/4cup. You'll need 3/4 cup of flour and 1/4 cup of sugar.

I am not so mathematically challenged as to be unable to figure out equivalent fractions. However, the oz. used for measuring flour and sugar are measurements of weight, as in 1/16 of a pound, not liquid measurements, as in 1/8 of a cup. They are not necessarily equivalent, because of the varying densities of substances. Is there anyone else out there who can help me?

Continuing decimals like 0.333... mean that number just goes on forever. You can get patterns, too, but the most common are 0.333... and 0.666... There's avery accurate way to get it back to the fraction, but for ones like this, you just need to apply common sense to what you already know:

1: It is a measurement someone expects to be able to manage in a kitchen.

2: (In the case of 0.333...) It is a bit over 3/10 of a cup, specifically 3/10 + 3/100 +3/1000, etc.

And now that you know how to look at it, it's fairly easy to tell that you're looking at 1/3, which doesn't translate properly into decimal format.

Now, take a wild guess what 0.666... is. :-)

To Carol:

If you can find a decent converter from Brit ounces to American ones, you should be okay with a reasonably-precise scale (I can almost guarantee there will be some fractions involved,though).

If you can't get ahold of a kitchen scale, you might want to go to the bookstore and look for a cookbook that recommends using weight as measure; they usually give rough proportions from weight to volume so you can figure out recipes that measure in volume. No reason you can't do the opposite. :-)

It was a proud moment. I got this question right while playing Cranium with the in-laws. "How many cups in a gallon?" I said 16, I actually rattled off the whole measurement chart from above to get to the answer.

To Carol:

Jumping in here from out of the blue;
there's a conversion wizard here
http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/tips!openframeset
that is tied into a database, so that it knows 6 oz of flour equals 1 1/4 cups Flour

stumbled on this site while straining my stock for french onion soup. recipe says i need 2 quarts. can't believe this confused me. maybe tired because i've been cooking for hours, but your comments made me smile. thanks. pat in florida

use metric. it is so much easier. i live in england and everything equals 10 times the previous one. my mum tried to teach me how to convert your american style, but it was too hard. why cant the us please use the metric system, every other country does. WHY IS AMERICA SO DIFFERENT!?

To all who say do a google/yahoo search... this is now the first thing that comes up on a yahoo search ;)

In India a pint of beer is 330ml.

And the normal bottle size is 650ml (625ml in Lanka)

Go figure!

If a cup is a measurement, and ounces are weight, how can they be equivalents at all. What I mean is, oil is lighter than water. Cement is heavier than flour. So, if you measure a cup of each...do you really think they will all weigh 8 ounces? That doesnt seem to make any sense to me. I cpmpletely understand the conversion of cups to pints, quarts, gallons, etc. But I do not see how ounces is related at all whatsoever. Dont they belong with pounds, tons, etc....?

The Gold Medal flour package says that 1/4 cup equals 30 grams. Therefore, 16 oz of flour equals about 3-3/4 cup flour. Also the Betty Crocker cookbook uses the conversion of: about 3-1/2 cups flour equals 16 oz. Hope it helps.

The UK has a problem different to that of the United States. Metric measurement is standard except for a limited number of things (i.e. draught beer, cider, stout; bottled milk, road signs except weight) and metric is commonly understood (perhaps excluding hectares where acres are more common).

The problem comes in that many items once sold in Imperial measure are sold in exact metric equivalents. If you buy a panel of wood you can buy 2440 by 1220 millimetres (i.e. 8x4). If you buy rope, the thickness is in inches and the length in metres. Recipes are also as silly, "mix 1 tbsp into 568 ml of water".

We just need to use one system or the other. Most people understand both, but when it comes to technical measurements, it is time consuming to convert half into one system and half into another.

Or you could just go to http://www.cookingwithalicia.com/downloads/download.cfm

and get a paper download that you can then attach to your fridge.

In this case, a physical display may be easier than a search lookup

OK, so, we have a Pint's a Pound the World Around and all that other neat stuff the USED to teach in school back in the 1950's or so. But then the United States Congress got into the act. Now, the members of congress, by and large, have college degrees, and, as the Wizard of Oz pointed out to the Scarecrow, you don't need BRAINS if you have a degree. Therefore, the United States Congress threw out all the scientific "nonsense" and declared, by force of law, that a "CUP" is 240 ML. Never mind the fact that for the last 200 years or more, a "Cup" was 8 oz and all that other "nice" stuff that cooks have relied upon since Apple Pie was invented. By ROYAL DECREE the US Congress has said the truth doesn't matter. If it grows on a vine or a tree, it was always called "Fruit" - as in the "Fruit of the Vine" - and if it grows on or under the ground it was a Vegitable - but, again by ROYAL DECREE, "Tomatoes" - that grow on vines like gapes or blackberries (the edible kind), or Blue Berries (the kind in your pie) - None the less, tomatoes are now a VEGABLE! Not only are tomatoes a vetable, SO IS CATSUP! Go figure - just toss out every thing you ever learned in school and everything written in the front of cook books and go with your gut. But be sure you comply with the LAW when you label your product - Remember, it doesn't matter that in the laboratory a "CUP" is 236.64 (rounded) ML - in the United States Congres, and on your food label (calories be damned!) a "CUP" is 240 ML.

Now, wiht apologies to the Scarecrow and Dorothy, and the Wizard of OZ - - - if only CONGRESS had a brain! Aparently there is not ONE among them!

Addendum to my last:
When I fill my Pyrex (Brand Name) measuring cup to the "1 Cup" mark, (with water) -the water line aligns almost perfectly with 225 ML - SO, "GO FIGURE" -

That being true, (don't take my word for it - go to your local grocery outlet and buy your OWN measuring cup) - it really doesn't MATTER if a cup is 225 ML, 236.64 ml, or the congressionaly mandated 240 ML - - Unless you are cooking a batch of bread to fit a commuercial mixer, 225 ML or 240 ML is (are you ready?) 'CLOSE ENOUGH FOR GOVERNMENT WORK.' (HUmmm. Isn't that an oxymoron? Government - Work?)

Your blog is a lifesafer. I was attempting to make Irish (!) Soda Bread and could not remenber whethere a pint was 1 cup or 2 (maybe the bottle of Merlot I was drinking at the time had something to do with it). Any scooters, you answered my question, and for that I am eternally grateful.

My advise for those who want to cook, live, breathe, etc. metric...emigrate!! Personally, I am glad the US never picked up on the metric system. Cups, pints, gallons, etc. are confusing as all get out, but they're what I grew up with and they're OURS (can you tell I am over 40 and old and sot in my ways?)

I don't know you, but your bloggy on liquid measurements was very useful.

Thanks!

Just googles ounces in a cup and came up with your site. Recognized the name of a fellow Man for Others, I'm glad to see our alums continue with groundbreaking endeavors and lead the nation in measurement blogging. Thanks, JB

My first grader and I thank you!!!!

Your ounces to gallons helped but now my dilemma is to also figure out a comparison of dry measurements to wet: i guess my question is advancing to algebra! I'm trying to figure out how much sea-salt to use when the measurement supplied by the box is one-half cup to one gallon h20, but I only need 8 oz of h20! I've decided to approximate with a half tsp & x my fingers! Thanx Again!!

hom many baby carrots does it take to make a 1/2 cup.

I bought a 12 cup kettle at amazon and it turns out it can hold only 7.5 cup of water. When I looked closely, it says 12 of 5 ounce cup. Isn't a cup equals to 8 ounce? Where does the 5 ounce cup come from? Please enlighten me.

To all

Im trying to can some pickled beets and the recipe from a deceased relative calls for a #30 can of beets. Any idea how many ounces that is? My small cans say #300. Does anyone do canning anymore?
Deb in Denver

need to know equation for liquid to dry. .41 oz equals what in dry measurement?

Bonnie

Thanks for the coffe cup ounces info. I kept trying to figure out why my brnad new Capresso MT-500 held "10 cups of coffee" when it was nowhere near 80 ounces.

BTW, which War of 1812 do you mean?

True story: a new in the US high school teacher from Germany asked his class to write an essay on the War of 1812. He was expecting info on Napoleon's invasion of Russia but got info in the England-US conflict.

Just what does "a pint's a pound the world around" equate to. a) A pint of fresh water? b) A pint of sea water? or c) A pint of a salt saturated water?

Jeremy,
After looking into my old chemistry rubber, I note that a pint (US) of fresh water is 1.042125 pounds. This leave the other two conditions, a saturated solution of salt water or a sea water somewhat irrelevant.

Hey,

I'm a total stranger, and know none of you :D but I thought I'd say that this was very helpful to me, and I'm from the US. If it makes anyone feel better, I have no idea about the metric system. I know what 140 lbs. looks like on a man (quite skrawny if you ask me), but kilos escape my grasp.

If you REALLY want to feel better, the only reason I'm looking this stuff up is to determine exactly which storage containers I should register for for my wedding so that I can properly store 5lbs. of flour/sugar in my cupboards without having leftovers from the bag. Sadly this measurement chart doesn't apply to dry goods. I'm really quite sore about this storage issue. I know. Lame. I'm leaving now.

Oh, and regardless of what our Congress says (we all hate them, too), "fruit" refers to anything with a seed, and almost all of the measuring devices sold commercially in the US still use 8oz as a cup for liquids.

I'd like to take a moment to personally apologize for Paris Hilton and Courtney Love. I think in return you should all apologize for Hugh Grant. Anyone who would run around on Elizabeth Hurley is just worthless.

Can anmyone confirm if A US qt is 32 ozs & a litre is 35.5 ozs & an Imp qt is 40 ozs

Therefore a US gal is 128 ozs & 4 litres equal 142 ozs & an Imp gal is 160 ozs

Thank you for your replies
Ray

thank you jeremy. you are fierce. NOW, how many saffron threads to make one half teaspoon? not to perspire: i will tell you as soon as i find out.

Funny I seem to have trouble with liquids. I Googled it and you were at the top of the results. Very cool... thanks for the info...

Albert

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU. I havethe some problem as you. I am adding this to my favorites. It is clear, concise and to the point. thank you again, and again.

No idea what your web site is about, but thanks to you and Google, (I searched, "How many cups is 28 ounces?") I won't screw up this recipe I'm working on. Good idea, very handy!

Thank goodness for this page!! My daughter is in 4th grade and this was a homework assignment. Darned if I can ever remember the measurements either.

Thank you!!

Thanks, just forgot them too. (Actually, I remember, but I'm always afraid that I messed them up.)

The trick of having a good memory is to only try remembering easy stuff.

1 litre = 1000 mili liter = 10 dezi liter

1 kilo = 1000 gram

1 cup = ...

let me go and look that up.

During the season,I purchased a pint of blue berries.I weighed it,and it only weighed 13oz.I learned that 16oz is a pound and a pint should be 16oz. Please correct me.
Thank you in advance.

Larry, a pint is a measure of volume (how much space something takes up). Ounces can be either a measure of volume (fluid ounces) or a measure of weight (Avoirdupois ounces). Your pint (volume) weighed 13 oz. (weight). 16 oz. (weight) is a pound, but 16 fl.oz. (volume) is a pint. Confused yet?

Volume Weight
-------------------------- --------------------------
8 fl.oz. = 1 cup 16 oz. avoirdupois = 1 lb.
2 cups = 1 pint
2 pints = 1 quart
4 quarts = 1 gallon

For those who are trying to convert volume to weight, you need one more input to the equation: density. Since the above blue berries were 13 lbs. for a 1 pint (2 cups) container, blue berries apparently have a density of approximately 2.46 cups per pound ((1 pint = 2 cups) / (13 oz. / 16 oz. = 0.81 lbs.) = 2.46 cups/lb.) Of course, when you're talking blueberries, I'll bet how tightly you pack them in makes a difference. :-)

To Carol. for flour, use the rule of thumb that there are about 4 and a half oz per cup. you are correct, 8oz in a cup for milk or butter etc, but just under 2 cups for flour

hey thanks for posting this site, i have the same problem, so you saved me the trouble Instantly i put it as a favorite cause everytime I do my homework and it has that stuff in it i have to call up all my friends and ask them!

Hehe...smart that you have that on here. I was doing some math stuff and I totally blanked out when I needed the info on how many ounces there were in a cup. Thanks.
=3

Hi Jeremy,
I had to LOL at your statement due to the fact that i have the same darn problem.

God Bless you man.
keep up the good work

Jeremy!

Can you or someone in the forum please tell me how to write 1-16th of an ounce in decimal?

Hi Jeremy!
THANK YOU for your excellent info about American cups & equivalent dry measures. As an English cricket tea lady I'm constantly searching the net for new and interesting cake recipes for my team's teas. I've been wrestling with the whole 'cups' versus 'ounces/grammes' question for a long time and am very relieved to be able to attempt some of the wonderful American recipes out there! I'm sure the players will be most appreciative!

Hey Everyone!

Years ago I discovered a website with a converter of almost all measures. Great help! Enjoy!

www.galaxynet.com

Cup measurement depends on the ingredient you are measuring for example a cup of flour does not weigh the same as a cup of sugar! A cup of flour weighs approx 4 ozs or 110 grams, a cup of sugar weights approx 9 ozs or 110 grams.

This is very confusing. I was trying to make muffins and found that all the measurements were US and very different from what I use which is ozs, although I do have grams on my weighing scales. I have converted measurements as above and it worked.

Evelyn (Ireland)

Thanks Jeremy! Geez, you'd think a 41 yr old woman would know that by now!..........but hey, I don't own a measuring cup because I don't bake or cook anything. Except today, I'm making Jello......go me!........and your info was most helpful. Thanks again.

"a pint's a pound the whole world round"
reffers to HONEY.

I am having a slow moment, but how many cups are 60 oz?