Pinch

Cooking & barTraditional unit (still used in some regions)Approximate value

Traditionally what you can hold between thumb and forefinger; the conventional measure is 1/16 of a teaspoon (about 0.31 mL).

1 pinch = 0.0003080575996 liters (approximately).

Approximate value. Standards for the pinch varied by place and period, so this converter uses the most commonly cited value. Treat results as estimates, not exact figures.

About the pinch

Whatever two fingers can grip, the old definition went: a pinch is the amount of a dry ingredient such as salt, spice or sugar that can be taken between the thumb and forefinger. Nothing official fixes it, so the size depends on the hand, the ingredient and the cook. Sources differ even on the convention. Some measuring spoon makers and American cookbooks use one sixteenth of a US teaspoon, while others give one eighth or one twenty-fourth.

The figure used here is one sixteenth of a US teaspoon, about 0.31 mL, which makes a pinch half a dash and twice a smidgen. Wikipedia's cooking measures table prints a smaller 0.23 mL for the same fraction because it derives it from a fluid ounce fraction that does not agree with its teaspoon fraction. The British tradition is larger, with a pinch set at a quarter of a UK teaspoon, roughly 0.89 mL according to the Wikipedia article on the pinch. Sizes are conventional, and a pinch measured on a scale would vary from one try to the next.

Sources: Wikipedia: Pinch (unit); Wikipedia: Cooking weights and measures

Pinch conversion chart

1 pinch expressed in every other volume unit:

More Cooking & bar units

• jigger (volume)
• dash (volume)
• metric cup (volume)
• metric tablespoon (volume)
• metric teaspoon (volume)
• Australian tablespoon (volume)
• wine bottle (volume)
• magnum (volume)
• jeroboam (volume)
• methuselah (volume)
• nebuchadnezzar (volume)

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