# Need help converting weight **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714 "2014-11-05T05:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/1 "2014-11-05T05:36:11Z")
I have a recipe that calls for 3/4 cup of Mozzarella Cheese and 1/2 Cup Grated Parm Cheese among other things. I’m trying to put the recipe into a calorie calculator to help me determine the calories in one service but my app is only accepting ounces for those items. I can’t find a converter that works with non-liquid measurements. Can someone help me figure out the correct # of ounces for the above items ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/2 "2014-11-05T05:47:07Z")
[Cheddar 1 cup shredded= 4 oz (113g/3.99oz) 1 cup diced = 4.65 oz (132g) 1 cup melted = 8.6 oz (244g) source: USDA SR21](http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/684335) Those figures will be close for mozzerella and parmesan, but it’s going to vary a lot based on the grate and how packed it is in the cup. Buy your cheese by weight, say an 8 oz. package and measure the volume of the whole package. So if an 8 oz. package is 1 cup then 3/4 cup weighs 6 oz. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/3 "2014-11-05T06:40:34Z")
[Sargento shredded mozzarella](http://www.sargento.com/products/31/sargento-fancy-shredded-mozzarella-cheese/) has 80 calories per quarter cup, according to the nutrition facts label. [Sargento grated parmesan](http://www.sargento.com/products/78/sargento-grated-parmesan-cheese/) has 25 calories per two teaspoons, or 600 calories per cup. For your recipe, that comes to 240 calories for the mozzarella, and 300 calories for the parmesan. As **TriPolar** has already pointed out, this will vary depending on how the cheese is grated and packed. I would also expect some variation by brand of cheese. You should also keep in mind that there’s more than one kind of mozzarella. The stuff you get in plastic packages (such as the Sargento I referenced above) is low-moisture mozzarella, while the stuff that comes swimming in whey is high-moisture. I’d expect the low-moisture cheese to be more calorie-dense. Water has no calories. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/4 "2014-11-05T06:42:47Z")
Thanks both of you. I was able to get the right figures by using what was left in the bag and my app calculated the rest. It’s close to what the recipe said it would be. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/5 "2014-11-05T09:54:32Z")
You can use Wolfram Alpha for this stuff [Weight of 3/4 cups of mozzarella](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=weight+of+3%2F4++cups+of+mozzarella). Things like cheese should be roughly the same mass between brands. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/6 "2014-11-05T12:51:42Z")
> [@Jeff\_Lichtman](#): > > Water has no calories. But whey does. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/7 "2014-11-05T16:34:07Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > But whey does. Yes, it does, but it is less caloric than solid cheese. The main reason is that whey is mostly water. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey) says that sweet whey (which is the type you get with mozzarella) has 27 calories per 100 grams. The Sargento shredded mozzarella I referenced in my earlier post has about 286 calories per 100 grams, or about ten times the caloric density of whey. I also looked up [whey protein powder](http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/custom/933507/2?quantity=4.0), which is whey with the water removed. It has about 357 calories per 100 grams. It’s hard to find any nutrition facts on line about high-moisture versus low-moisture mozzarella. [One article](http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/fattening-fresh-mozzarella-1531.html) says that high-moisture mozzarella has about 250 calories per 100 grams, which is closer to the Sargento shredded mozzarella than I expected. One reason may be that high-moisture mozzarella is usually made from whole milk, while the Sargento cheese is made from part skim milk. [Here’s a page](http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/dairy-and-egg-products/26/2) that says there about about 317 calories in 100 grams of whole milk low-moisture mozzarella - not very different from the Sargento cheese made from part skim. Puzzling. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2014, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/8 "2014-11-05T18:36:29Z")
I appreciate the information, but I am afraid this is going off course and will be moved to cafe society where I don’t want it. I do wish the recipe was expressed in weight and not cups. I will try to remember to weigh things in the future. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/9 "2014-11-06T01:21:45Z")
Generally, weight of any recipe ingredient that is liquid can be approximated by the weight of water, and any that is or semi-liquid (like cheese) by half that. Just remember _“A pint’s a pound the world around”_. So a pint (2 cups) = 16 ounces, thus a half-cup of liquid (melted) cheese will be about 8 ounces, a half cup of unmelted cheese will be about 4 ounces. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-help-converting-weight/703714/10 "2014-11-06T01:40:32Z")
> [@](#): > > Just remember _“A pint’s a pound the world around”_. only for some pints or some pounds or some worlds.