Cracked Wheat
One US cup of cracked wheat weighs between 149 and 166 grams (5.3 to 5.9 ounces), depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. Use 160 grams (5.6 ounces) for dry cracked wheat; finely cracked wheat lands near the top of the range. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.
Also called cracked whole wheat, cracked wheat cereal, kibbled wheat, cracked red wheat, wheat grits.
Most sites print one number for a cup of cracked wheat. This page prints 149 to 166 grams, because that is what King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart, Bob's Red Mill Cracked Wheat hot cereal (producer label) and Janie's Mill, Weight Conversion Chart actually measured, and it names the method behind every figure rather than picking a favourite.
Two or more sources describe the same way of filling the cup and still disagree, by 11.4%. That is more than this site will average over, so all the figures stand and none is chosen. Sources span 149-166 g per cup, an 11% gap, just over the 10% tolerance. King Arthur gives 149 g, Bob's Red Mill's label 40 g per quarter cup (160 g per cup) and Janie's Mill's weight chart 166 g. Mills crack the wheat to different sizes and the bag rarely says which; no single figure is published.
| Volume | Grams | Ounces |
|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 149–166 g | 5.3–5.9 oz |
| 3/4 cup | 111.8–124.5 g | 3.9–4.4 oz |
| 2/3 cup | 99.3–110.7 g | 3.5–3.9 oz |
| 1/2 cup | 74.5–83 g | 2.6–2.9 oz |
| 1/3 cup | 49.7–55.3 g | 1.8–2 oz |
| 1/4 cup | 37.3–41.5 g | 1.3–1.5 oz |
| 1 tablespoon | 9.3–10.4 g | 0.33–0.37 oz |
| 1 teaspoon | 3.1–3.5 g | 0.11–0.12 oz |
| Filling the cup | 1 cup | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Standard, dry, uncooked, spooned and leveled | 149 g5.3 oz | King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart |
| Standard, dry, uncooked, spooned and leveled | 160 g5.6 oz | Bob's Red Mill Cracked Wheat hot cereal (producer label) |
| Standard, dry, uncooked, spooned and leveled | 166 g5.9 oz | Janie's Mill, Weight Conversion Chart |
Cracked Wheat ounces to grams and cups
| Weight | Grams | US cups |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28.3 g | 0.17–0.19 |
| 4 oz | 113.4 g | 0.68–0.76 |
| 8 oz | 226.8 g | 1.37–1.52 |
| 16 oz (1 lb) | 453.6 g | 2.73–3.04 |
Why this page publishes a range
A cup of dry cracked wheat weighs 149 to 166 g (5.3 to 5.9 oz). King Arthur gives 149 g, Bob's Red Mill's label works out to 160 g, and Janie's Mill weighs 166 g. The 11% spread is just over the 10% tolerance, so this entry publishes the range; 160 g is a sound working figure for a typical medium crack.
Cracked wheat is whole wheat berries cut into pieces between rollers or cutters and nothing else: raw, with the bran and germ still on. It is not bulgur, though shops and recipes often swap the names. Bulgur is wheat that has been parboiled, dried and then cracked, so it is already cooked and only needs soaking; cracked wheat is raw and needs real cooking, about 1 cup of grain to 3 cups of water as a hot cereal in Bob's Red Mill's method. Some imported bags labelled "cracked wheat" are bulgur, so check for the word parboiled.
King Arthur gives 1 cup of cracked wheat at 5 1/4 oz, 149 g. Janie's Mill, an Illinois stone mill, gives 5.8 oz, 166 g, measured by spooning the grain into the cup and levelling it without packing. Bob's Red Mill's cracked wheat cereal, milled from hard red wheat, labels a quarter cup as 40 g, 160 g per cup. USDA has no record for dry cracked wheat.
Why the sources differ: there is no standard size for cracked wheat. One mill cracks each berry into a few large pieces, another into many small ones, and most bags include fine flour-like bits as well. Small pieces and fines settle into the gaps between larger ones, so a finer crack weighs more per cup. Janie's heavy figure and King Arthur's light one are both plausible for the products they measured, and King Arthur's sits inside the range, so it is accepted.
The physical check: a wheat kernel is roughly 1.3 to 1.4 times as dense as water, and whole wheat berries weigh 192 g per cup on this site. Cracking a berry gives angular pieces that cannot sit as closely as rounded whole kernels, so the cup lightens to 149 to 166 g, the pieces filling about half of it. Bulgur, whose pieces were puffed and dried by parboiling, is lighter still: USDA weighs a cup of dry bulgur at 140 g, and bulgur on this site spans 140 to 172 g by grind.
Bob's Red Mill's label is kept with a caution. Forty grams is the regulatory reference amount for a dry hot cereal, so the label weight may be that serving with a quarter cup set beside it, not a weighed quarter cup. It agrees with the other two sources, but it does not decide the figure.
Practical guidance: use 160 g per cup of dry cracked wheat, 80 g per half cup and 40 g per quarter cup, and expect a finely cracked product to land near the top of the range. For cracked wheat bread, where the grain is usually soaked first to soften it, weigh the dry grain and the soaking water separately.
Sources
Standard, dry, uncooked, spooned and leveled — no single figure published
Sources span 149-166 g per cup, an 11% gap, just over the 10% tolerance. King Arthur gives 149 g, Bob's Red Mill's label 40 g per quarter cup (160 g per cup) and Janie's Mill's weight chart 166 g. Mills crack the wheat to different sizes and the bag rarely says which; no single figure is published.
- King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart149 g per cup5.3 ozKA lists "Cracked wheat" at 1 cup = 5 1/4 oz = 149 g, density 0.630 g/mL.
- Bob's Red Mill Cracked Wheat hot cereal (producer label)160 g per cup5.6 ozLabel serving 1/4 cup (40 g), as transcribed by FatSecret and Eat This Much (CalorieKing: 1.4 oz), extrapolating to 160 g per cup (density 0.676 g/mL). Ingredient: whole grain hard red wheat. 40 g is the reference amount for dry hot cereal, so this label does not decide a figure on its own.
- Janie's Mill, Weight Conversion Chart166 g per cup5.9 ozCracked Wheat, 1 cup = 5.8 oz = 166 g (density 0.702 g/mL), measured by scooping fluffy spoonfuls into the cup and levelling gently without packing.
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