When baking or cooking, it’s important to accurately measure your ingredients. Using the right measurements ensures your recipes turn out as intended. One common measurement used in recipes is 2/3 cup. But if you don’t have measuring cups, how can you figure out how much 2/3 cup weighs in ounces? This article will provide a quick answer upfront, then go into more detail on conversions between volume and weight measurements.
Quick Answer
2/3 cup weighs approximately 5 1/3 ounces. This is based on the fact that 1 cup of most dry ingredients weighs approximately 8 ounces. So 2/3 of 8 ounces is 5 1/3 ounces. This conversion will be accurate for most common baking ingredients like flour, sugar, oats, etc.
Understanding Volume vs. Weight Measurements
When following recipes, you’ll come across two types of measurements:
- Volume measurements like cups, teaspoons, tablespoons, etc.
- Weight measurements like ounces and grams.
Volume measurements indicate the amount of space an ingredient takes up. Weight measurements indicate the mass of an ingredient.
For example, 1 cup of flour takes up 1 cup of volume. But 1 cup of flour weighs a different amount depending on factors like how densely it’s packed, the size and shape of the flour particles, humidity levels, etc. This means volume and weight are not always equivalent for a given ingredient.
However, there are some general conversions that can help when you need to switch between volume and weight measurements in a recipe:
Approximate Weight of Common Volume Measurements
| Volume | Weight in Ounces |
|---|---|
| 1 teaspoon | 1/6 ounce |
| 1 tablespoon | 1/2 ounce |
| 1 fluid ounce | 1 ounce |
| 1 cup | 8 ounces |
As you can see from the chart, the approximate weight of 1 cup is 8 ounces for most dry ingredients like flour, sugar, oats, etc.
Knowing this conversion allows us to figure out the weight of 2/3 cup pretty easily.
Calculating the Weight of 2/3 Cup
Since 1 cup weighs approximately 8 ounces, we can calculate the weight of 2/3 cup using some simple math:
- There are 3/3 cups in 1 whole cup
- So there are 2/3 cups out of those 3 cups total
- If 1 cup = 8 ounces, and there are 3 cups total
- Then each 1/3 cup weighs 8 ÷ 3 = 2 2/3 ounces (let’s round to 2.67 ounces)
- With 2/3 cup we have 2 portions of a 1/3 cup
- So 2 × 2.67 ounces = 5 1/3 ounces
Therefore, 2/3 cup weighs approximately 5 1/3 ounces for most common baking ingredients.
Exceptions and Variability
While the above conversion is useful, it’s important to remember there can be some variability. Certain ingredients may weigh slightly more or less than the standard measurement. Factors like:
- How finely ground the ingredient is
- How densely you pack it into the measuring cup
- Environmental humidity
Can all impact the exact weight. For example, 2/3 cup of flour may weigh around 5.5 ounces instead of 5 1/3 ounces if it’s spooned in lightly rather than packed down.
For very precise recipes, it’s best to weigh ingredients with a kitchen scale rather than rely on volume measurements. But for most everyday baking, the approximation of 2/3 cup weighing 5 1/3 ounces will work perfectly fine.
Typical Weights of 2/3 Cup of Common Ingredients
To give you an idea of how the weight can vary, here are the typical weights of 2/3 cup for some common baking ingredients:
| Ingredient | Weight of 2/3 Cup |
|---|---|
| All-purpose flour | 5 1/4 – 5 1/2 ounces |
| Granulated sugar | 5 – 5 1/4 ounces |
| Brown sugar | 5 1/4 – 5 1/2 ounces |
| Oats | 2 1/2 – 2 3/4 ounces |
| Chopped nuts | 3 – 4 ounces |
| Shredded coconut | 2 – 3 ounces |
As you can see, most are close to the 5 1/3 ounces but can be a little over or under. Oats and coconut tend to weigh quite a bit less.
Converting Weights Back to Volumes
What if you’re following a recipe that lists the ingredient weights in ounces or grams rather than cup measurements? You can reverse the process to convert back to volumes.
For example, let’s say a recipe calls for 113 grams of flour. To figure out what that equals in cups:
- There are approximately 28 grams in 1 ounce
- So 113 grams would be about 113/28 = 4 ounces
- Since 1 cup is approximately 8 ounces, 4 ounces would be 1/2 cup
Therefore, 113 grams converts to approximately 1/2 cup for flour and similar dry ingredients.
Tips for Measuring Dry Ingredients
To get accurate measurements, here are some useful tips when working with dry ingredients:
- Use appropriate measuring cups – Don’t use liquid measuring cups for dry ingredients. Use dry measuring cups that allow you to level off the top.
- Spoon in light and fluffy – Use a spoon to lightly add flour, sugar, etc rather than packing it down.
- Level off the top – Once filled, sweep off any excess with a straight edge like a butter knife.
- Weigh if precision is vital – For very precise recipes, weighing with a kitchen scale is better than using cups.
Following these tips will help ensure your measurements are as accurate as possible when relying on volume rather than weight.
Conclusion
So in summary, for most common baking ingredients like flour, sugar, oats, etc:
- 2/3 cup equals around 5 1/3 ounces in weight
- There is some variability depending on the ingredient and how it’s measured
- You can use approximations of 1 cup = 8 ounces to convert between volumes and weights
- Be careful in your measuring for best accuracy when baking
Knowing conversions between volumes like cups and weights like ounces and grams allows flexibility in following and modifying recipes. Just remember there are many factors that can impact the equivalents. When precision is vital, measuring by weight rather than volume will give you the most accurate results.
