# Weight of one cup of cheese?



## storm (May 24, 2000)

How much does one cup of cheese weigh? Does it matter is it's one cup of cheddar or one cup of Swiss?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

It varies by type and preparation. Swiss and cheddar will weigh about the same as they're about the same water content. Grated on the large holes, you'll get about 2 oz in a cup as I recall. Cubed,is probably a bit heavier. 

Scales aren't expensive and solve this issue quite well.

Phil


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

Actually, for Cheddar, Swiss, Monterey Jack, mozzarella, blue cheese, and feta, the standard is 1 cup = 4 ounces (1/4 pound) shredded/grated/crumbled if not very tightly packed. Grated parmesan and romano are somewhere between 3 and a little more than 5 ounces per cup, depending on how tightly packed they are -- looser pack yields a lower weight (shredded is closer to 4 ounces). 

Cream cheese and cottage cheese both weigh in at 8 ounces (1/2 pound) per cup, and ricotta is a little less (7-1/2 ounces per cup).

If your recipe calls for a volume only of cubes, find another recipe.  (Sorry -- this is one of my big issues when I'm working on recipes; I really wish that all American recipes included both weights and volumes, since weight is so much more accurate. But, sigh, everyone else in the world uses scales, so I guess that means in the U.S. we have to continue being different.  ) Phil is right about scales, but unfortunately lots of recipes are written badly (imho) and only specify volumes.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

I can't always trust my memory. 4 sounds more reasonable and I certainly trust Suzanne.

Phil


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

In Alton Brown's recent book on baking he makes Suzanne's point quite forcefully- weight is a far better measure than volume. (He gives weight for every ingredient in each recipe.)

We've found a small elecronic scale extremely helpful in a lot of things in the home kitchen, even though we don't do a lot of baking. It's one of those things about good tools- once you get one you wonder how you got along without it!

You can find a nice selection of electronic scales - especially the Soehnle brand of very stylish ones - at www.Homeclick.com, along with thousands of other household items at remarkably reasonable prices. The scales run from about $45 to $80 or so. Ours was $65 and handles up to 11 pounds with good accuracy. Gave one to our daughter for Christmas and they now use it a lot.

Mike


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## lsume (Sep 22, 2015)

I purchased my scale from Old Will and it's accurate to +- 0.1 grams and weighs up to 1200 grams. It has many options for unit selection I.e grams, ounces etc. I think I paid just over $300 for the scale and around $80.00 for the calibration weights which were 1 1000 gram weight and 1 200 gram weights. I use this scale for numerous things in the kitchen. I bake a lot of bread and using the scale to weigh your filtered water yields very repeatable results. Another item that's become very useful is an infrared thermometer. It's great for measuring the temperature of your water prior to adding yeast. I've taken that issue into great detail. I have researched the specific heat of instant yeast and it's specific gravity. I'm a retired mechanical engineer and for a fair potion of my career I was the chief engineer in very large processing factories. I've taken that knowledge to the kitchen. The ideal temperature for instant yeast to multiply is 95 F. If you are using instant yeast from the refrigerator, 1 tablespoon added to 105 F water will bring the temperature down. I'm not that concerned about keeping the end temp. to 95 F. Just remember that the cold yeast will drop the temperature of the water. I usually add about 1 tablespoon of bread flour and 1-2 teaspoons of sugar to the water before heating and adding the yeast. I've read that it's not recommended to proof your yeast if using instant yeast. However, by the time I add it to the flour, it has separated to a foam on top and liquid on the bottom. They sell infrared thermometers for as little as around $16.00. I recommend that you purchase one that costs around $60.00. Fluke is a good brand and having options on emissivity setting is nice.


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

This 11 year old relic was just derailed.


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## grande (May 14, 2014)

At least we'll know how many grams our cup of cheese weighs. Loose or tightly packed?


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

Does this include the holes in the Swiss cheese ?


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Never fails to amuse me, you buy cheese by weight, and then want to know how much fits in a pyrex cup....


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## teamfat (Nov 5, 2007)

When it comes to swiss, you need to weigh the cheese and the holes separately.

mjb.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Yup, for the holes, yah use the same tare weight as for donut holes.


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## jimyra (Jun 23, 2015)

Is the price of the holes the same as the rest?


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

You only weigh the inside of the holes


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

berndy said:


> You only weigh the inside of the holes


Does the temperature matter?

mimi


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

No. temperature does not matter, but be sure the holes are dry and cut out as explained in the holy instructions.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

ahhhhh... thanks b!

mimi


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

And be sure the holes are not wet because wet holes weigh more!


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

NOW. I'd like to know if the stink in stinky cheese adds weight to the cheese ?


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

No, it makes it weigh less. When you smell things, you're binding with chemicals the product gave off. So stinky cheese weighs less as you smell it. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


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## berndy (Sep 18, 2010)

Doe this mean I should smell my stinky cheese until its gone in stead of eating it ? What a great way to loose weight/img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif


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