Pinches to US Cups (pinch to cup)
1 pinch equals 0.001302083333 US cups (rounded).
How to convert pinches to US cups
To convert pinches to US cups, multiply the number of pinches by 0.001302083333. The factor is rounded to 10 significant digits. To go the other way, multiply US cups by 768.
US cups = pinches × 0.001302083333
Example: 10 pinches = 0.01302083333 US cups.
Pints, quarts, gallons and fluid ounces differ between the US and the UK. Units are labeled 'US' or 'imperial' to avoid confusion.
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 these units
Pinch (pinch)
Traditionally what you can hold between thumb and forefinger; the conventional measure is 1/16 of a teaspoon (about 0.31 mL).
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.
1 pinch = 0.0003080575996 liters (approximately).
Sources: Wikipedia: Pinch (unit); Wikipedia: Cooking weights and measures
US Cup (cup)
One sixteenth of a US gallon, 236.588 mL (8 US fluid ounces). The standard US recipe cup.
Cups began as household drinking vessels, not scientific units, which is why they remain the messiest measures in the kitchen. The US customary cup was defined by slicing up the gallon: half a pint, or eight US fluid ounces, about 236.6 milliliters. Unlike the larger units, nobody ever fixed it to a physical vessel, so it exists only as a fraction of the gallon.
The customary cup is not the only American cup. For nutrition labels, US regulation defines a cup as exactly 240 milliliters, a rounder figure that sits slightly above the customary size. Packaged foods therefore list a serving in the legal cup while a measuring cup from the hardware store follows the customary definition. The gap is 3.4 milliliters, which hardly matters for soup but can matter in baking. Cup measures also hide the weight of dry ingredients, since a cup of sifted flour and a cup of packed flour differ substantially, which is why much of the world prefers grams.
1 US cup = 0.2365882365 liters (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Cup (unit); NIST SP 811, Appendix B.8: conversion factors for volume; 21 CFR 101.9: nutrition labeling household measures
Related conversions
- US cups to pinches (reverse)
- Pinches to liters
- Pinches to milliliters
- Pinches to US gallons
- Pinches to US fluid ounces
- Liters to US cups
- Milliliters to US cups
- US gallons to US cups
- US fluid ounces to US cups
- Cubic meters to US cups
- Cubic centimeters to US cups
- US quarts to US cups
- US pints to US cups
- US tablespoons to US cups
- US teaspoons to US cups
- Metric cups to US cups
- Metric tablespoons to US cups
See all volume units.