How pints and ounces are indicated on measuring cups

A measuring cup is a useful invention to help you keep the exact proportions of ingredients. Originally designed to measure liquids, these containers have evolved over time into something more perfect, allowing not only to calculate the volume of fluid substances, but also to "weigh" bulk products. But such useful kitchen utensils are not without drawbacks.

Features of measuring cups

These cookware can be made of food grade plastic, glass or stainless steel. The first option is the most common, since glass is a fragile and relatively expensive material, and dents that appear easily on stainless steel lead to a loss of measurement accuracy.

The second feature of the measuring cup is the scale. Usually it allows you to measure volume in milliliters or weight in grams, but sometimes manufacturers can focus not only on international standards, but also on local ones. In this case, the measuring cup either pleases with numerous scales, in which it is difficult not to get lost, or just one, but with mysterious ounces and pints. Here they are in need of additional explanations.

What does oz, fl oz, pt and pts mean?

Ounces and pints are traditional English and American measures of volume and weight. Fortunately for us, the UK has switched to the metric system of measures and weights, so there is no need to guess by whose standards the scale is applied - only ounces and pints of the USA fall into our area.

Reference: An English pint is equal to 568 ml, and a fluid ounce corresponding to 1/20 of a British pint is 28.4 ml. Since the introduction of the metric system in the UK, this measure is only used in the retail trade of beer, cider and milk.

American pint, which can be found on large dishes (from 0.5 liters), can be denoted by the abbreviations pt or pts. She is approximately equal to 0.47 liters.

With ounces, it's a little more difficult, because they can be liquid and dry. US fluid ounce is 1/16 of a US pint, that is holds approximately 29.5 ml. On a measuring glass, she denoted by the abbreviation fl oz.

But if there is a mark above the scale, consisting of only two letters - oz - then we are talking about dry (averdupua) ounce. This is already a measure of weights for bulk ingredients, which is approximately equal to 28.4 g. It is also sometimes labeled with the abbreviation oz at to avoid accidental confusion.

But the only guarantee that there is no confusion is the presence of two glasses with a scale. The first is for measuring the volume of liquids, but the second is with appropriate marks for the most popular bulk products.