Cup (unit)
Encyclopedia
Units of measurement
A unit of measurement is a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention and/or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same physical quantity. Any other value of the physical quantity can be expressed as a simple multiple of the unit of...
for volume, used in cooking to measure liquids (fluid
Fluid
In physics, a fluid is a substance that continually deforms under an applied shear stress. Fluids are a subset of the phases of matter and include liquids, gases, plasmas and, to some extent, plastic solids....
measurement) and bulk foods such as granulated sugar (dry measurement). This measure is usually used as an informal unit in cooking recipe
Recipe
A recipe is a set of instructions that describe how to prepare or make something, especially a culinary dish.-Components:Modern culinary recipes normally consist of several components*The name of the dish...
s where precision is rarely required, rather than as a measure for the sale of foodstuffs.
Actual cups used in a household in any country may differ from the cup size used for recipes; standard measuring cup
Measuring cup
A measuring cup is a kitchen utensil used primarily to measure the volume of liquid or bulk solid cooking ingredients such as flour and sugar, especially for volumes from about 50 mL upwards. The cup will usually have a scale marked in cups and fractions of a cup, and often with fluid measure...
s, often calibrated in fluid measure and weights of usual dry ingredients as well as in cups, are available.
Definitions
There is no internationally-agreed standard definition of the cup, whose modern volume ranges between 200 and 284 millilitres.Cup sizes in recipes are not necessarily the same as customary serving sizes for beverages. For example, a cup of brewed coffeeCoffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
in the U.S. is typically 6 U.S. fluid ounces (180 mL). In some countries, there is no formal definition at all of how much "one cup" is; for example, in German recipes it will simply refer to an amount that roughly fits into a typical teacup. The cup sizes generally used in Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...
countries and the United States differ by up to 44 mL (1.5 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...
).
No matter what size cup is used, the ingredients of a recipe measured with the same size cup will have their volumes in the same proportion to one another. The relative amounts to ingredients measured differently (by weight, or by different measures of volume such as teaspoons, etc.) may be affected by the definitions used.
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- Metric cup
- In Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Latin American, South Africa and Lebanon one cup is commonly defined as 250 millilitres.
- {|
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|1 metric cup ||=
|align=right|250||millilitres
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|align=right|16⅔||international tablespoons (15 mL each)
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|align=right|12½||Australian tablespoons
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|align=right|8.80||imperial fluid ounces
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|align=right|8.45||U.S. customary fluid ounces
|}
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- United States customary cup
- United States customary cup is defined as half a U.S. pintPintThe pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
.- {|
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|1 U.S. customary cup ||=
|align=right|||U.S. customary gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
|-
|||=
|align=right|||U.S. customary quart
Quart
The quart is a unit of volume equal to a quarter of a gallon, two pints, or four cups. Since gallons of various sizes have historically been in use, quarts of various sizes have also existed; see gallon for further discussion. Three of these kinds of quarts remain in current use, all approximately...
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|align=right|||U.S. customary pint
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|align=right|8||U.S. customary fluid ounce
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...
s
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|||=
|align=right|16||U.S. customary tablespoon
Tablespoon
A tablespoon is a type of large spoon usually used for serving. A tablespoonful, the capacity of one tablespoon, is commonly used as a measure of volume in cooking...
s1 U.S. customary cup = 16 tablespoons exactly using the old U.S. customary tablespoon of U.S. fl oz.
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|align=right|236.5882365||millilitresexactly
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|align=right|15⅔||international tablespoons
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|align=right|11¾||Australian tablespoons
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|align=right|0.833||imperial cups
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|align=right|8.33||imperial fluid ounces
|}
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- United States "legal" cup
- The cup currently used in the United States for nutrition labeling is defined in United States law as 240 mL.
- {|
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|1 U.S. "legal" cup ||=
|align=right|240||millilitres
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|align=right|16||international tablespoons
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|align=right|12||Australian tablespoons
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|||≈
|align=right|8.12||U.S. customary fluid ounces
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|||≈
|align=right|8.45||imperial fluid ounces
|}
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- Imperial cup
- The imperial cup, unofficially defined as half an imperial pintPintThe pint is a unit of volume or capacity that was once used across much of Europe with values varying from state to state from less than half a litre to over one litre. Within continental Europe, the pint was replaced with the metric system during the nineteenth century...
, is rarely found today. It may still appear on older kitchen utensils and in older recipe books.- {|
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|1 imperial cup ||=
|align=right|0.5||imperial pints
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|align=right|2||imperial gills
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|align=right|10||imperial fluid ounces
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|align=right|284||millilitres
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|align=right|19||international tablespoon
Tablespoon
A tablespoon is a type of large spoon usually used for serving. A tablespoonful, the capacity of one tablespoon, is commonly used as a measure of volume in cooking...
s
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|align=right|14¼||Australian tablespoons
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|align=right|1.20||U.S. customary
United States customary units
United States customary units are a system of measurements commonly used in the United States. Many U.S. units are virtually identical to their imperial counterparts, but the U.S. customary system developed from English units used in the British Empire before the system of imperial units was...
cups
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|align=right|9.61||U.S. customary fluid ounces
|}
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- Japanese cup
- The Japanese cup is currently defined as 200 mL.
- {|
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|1 Japanese cup ||=
|align=right|200||millilitres
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|align=right|7.04||imperial fluid ounces
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|align=right|6.76||U.S. customary fluid ounces
|}
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- Gō
- The traditional JapaneseJapanese units of measurement' is the traditional Japanese system of measurement. The name shakkanhō originates from the name of two of the units, the shaku, a unit of length, and the kan, a mass measurement.The system is Chinese in origin...
cup, the gō, is approximately 180 mL. 10 gō make one shō, the traditional flask size, approximately 1.8 litres. Gō cups are typically used for measuring rice, and sake is typically sold by the cup (180 mL), the bottle (720 mL), and flask (1.8 litre) sizes. Note modern sake bottle sizes are almost the same as the 750 mL standard for wine bottleWine bottleA wine bottle is a bottle used for holding wine, generally made of glass. Some wines are fermented in the bottle, others are bottled only after fermentation. They come in a large variety of sizes, several named for Biblical kings and other figures. The standard bottle contains 750 ml,...
s, but are divisible into 4 gō.- {|
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|1 gō ||=
|align=right height=30|||litresby 1891 definition
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|align=right|180.3907||millilitres
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|||≈
|align=right|6.35||imperial fluid ounces
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|align=right|6.10||U.S. customary fluid ounces
|}