Ground black pepper

One US cup of ground black pepper weighs between 111 and 134 grams (3.9 to 4.7 ounces), depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

TL;DR: **One US cup of ground black pepper weighs 111 to 134 g depending on grind coarseness and how settled the jar is — USDA's reference for table grind is 112 g/cup (7 g per tablespoon, 2.3 g per teaspoon).** King Arthur does not publish a per-cup weight for black pepper, leaving no anchor to correct against. The 21% spread is driven by fine-vs-coarse grind differences and jar-settling over shelf life — grind size matters here more than for any other spice in the ExactCups catalogue.

Ground black pepper is the dried unripe green berry of *Piper nigrum*, a climbing vine native to the Malabar Coast of southwest India. The green drupes are picked before ripening, briefly blanched in hot water to rupture cell walls, then sun-dried for several days until the outer skin oxidises to the familiar wrinkled black exterior. Commercial supply today comes primarily from Vietnam (the world's largest producer), India, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and Sri Lanka, with Malabar and Tellicherry grades from India commanding premium prices for their higher piperine content and larger berry size. The active alkaloid is piperine at 5-9% by weight, responsible for pepper's pungency; the volatile oil (1-3%) carries the aromatic top notes that dissipate within days of grinding.

The density spread is driven by grind coarseness in a way that doesn't apply to softer spices. USDA FoodData Central FDC 170931 lists 7 g per tablespoon and 2.3 g per teaspoon for standard table grind, extrapolating to 112 g per US cup. FreeFoodTips independently reports 6.99 g per tablespoon (111 g/US cup) — essentially identical to USDA. Chefs-Resources' professional kitchen chart lands at 120 g/cup for standard commercial ground pepper and notes explicitly that coarse-ground pepper is lighter per gram than fine-ground. ChefSolver publishes 0.54 g/mL (128 g/cup) as the density for finely-ground pepper specifically, and recommends adding 10-15% to their table values for coarser grinds. Aqua-calc's USDA-branded entries for two specific retail brands — one fine (UPC 078742230320) and one coarse (UPC 016291441378) — both report 142 g per metric cup (134 g per US cup), suggesting that shelf-life settling in commercial jars dominates over the initial grind coarseness for final measured density. That is a 21% spread from USDA's table-grind laboratory fill to fully-settled retail — over ExactCups' 10% milled tolerance and honestly published as a range.

The physical density check validates cluster placement. Black pepper is 64% carbohydrate (fibre-dominant from the hard woody peppercorn outer layer), 10% protein, 3% fat, 12% water, and 4% ash. The fat content is low, but the woody peppercorn structure grinds to a denser fine powder than plant-material spices at similar composition. In the ExactCups milled category, ground black pepper (111-134 g/cup) sits denser than fibrous ground ginger (80-104 g/cup, similar low-fat composition), overlaps ground allspice (96-116 g/cup) and ground nutmeg (112 g/cup) at the low end, and approaches ground turmeric (144 g/cup, waxy) at the fine-grind upper bound.

Grind coarseness is the practical variable to name. Fine grind (extra-fine, powder) is the densest at 128-134 g/cup and disperses most evenly through dry rubs and sauces; it also releases piperine and volatile oils fastest, going stale within 3-4 months of milling. Table grind (medium, the McCormick standard shaker fill) sits at 112-120 g/cup and is the reference for most recipes. Coarse grind (cracked pepper, mignonette) is roughly 10-15% lighter than table grind — approximately 100-105 g/cup freshly milled — and preserves pungency longest because less surface area is exposed to air. Freshly-ground pepper from a mill sits at the coarse-to-medium end; pre-ground shaker pepper is invariably at the fine end after any shelf time.

Practical cook recommendation: for weighed cooking, use USDA's 7 g per tablespoon or 2.3 g per teaspoon for table grind, and expect 111-120 g per cup from freshly milled to lightly-settled fill and up to 134 g/cup from a well-settled retail jar of pre-ground fine pepper. For steak rubs, brines, and anything where pepper drives the flavour intensity, grind whole peppercorns fresh — the piperine loss in pre-ground pepper is measurable within weeks, and no weight adjustment on the scale compensates for the lost aromatic complexity.