Alright, folks, let’s talk about salt. Yeah, that white stuff we sprinkle on our food. I got curious the other day about how much salt actually weighs, especially when a recipe calls for, like, a cup of it. So, I did a little experiment in my kitchen.
First, I grabbed my kitchen scale – gotta have one of those if you’re serious about cooking. Then, I took out my measuring cups and a bag of regular table salt. I zeroed out the scale with an empty cup on it, you know, to get an accurate reading.
Next, I carefully scooped the salt into the cup, making sure it was level at the top. No heaping mounds, just a nice, flat surface. Once I had a full cup, I poured the salt onto a piece of parchment paper on the scale to see what it weighed. The scale read around 287 grams. That’s about 10.1 ounces for those of you who prefer that system.
A Pinch of Salt
But here’s where it gets a little tricky. I also wanted to see how much a “pinch” of salt weighed. You know, when a recipe just says “add a pinch” and you’re like, “What’s a pinch?!”
- So, I tried pinching some salt between my thumb and two fingers – that’s the classic “pinch” move, right? I used kosher salt for this part.
- Then I weighed that tiny amount of salt. It was roughly 0.4 grams. Tiny!
I did this a few times, just to see if it was consistent, and it was pretty close each time. Of course, the size of your “pinch” might vary depending on how big your fingers are and how hard you pinch. But I found that 0.4 grams is a good estimate for a three-finger pinch of kosher salt. If you’re using finer salt, it might be closer to 0.3 grams.
So, there you have it. A cup of regular table salt weighs about 287 grams, and a pinch weighs around 0.4 grams with kosher salt or 0.3 grams with fine salt. Keep in mind that these are just estimates, and the actual weight might vary a little bit. But hey, at least now you have a better idea of how much salt you’re actually adding to your food!
