[ { "id": "almond-butter", "name": "Almond butter", "aliases": [ "almond spread", "raw almond butter" ], "category": "fat", "schema_version": 3, "confidence": "low", "default_state": "standard", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard (smooth, unsalted)", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 1.0566, "range_max": 1.1497, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "USDA and KA figures disagree by 8.4% (USDA 1.0566 g/mL vs KA 1.1497 g/mL), over the 5% fat category tolerance. Nut butters have real batch-to-batch variation in oil separation, texture and pack density; the two sources appear to have measured different products. Published as a range.", "verified": "2026-09-16", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-16", "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 168588 (Nuts, almond butter, plain, without salt added, SR Legacy). Published: 1 cup = 250 g, 1 tbsp = 16 g. Density 1.0566 g/mL. Composition: 57.3% fat, 21.6% protein, 19.4% carbohydrate, 1.7% water.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0566 }, { "name": "King Arthur", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, 'Almond butter', 1/4 cup = 68 g, extrapolates to 272 g per cup, density 1.1497 g/mL.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.1497 } ] } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Almond butter is ground almonds, sometimes with added oil or salt, sometimes just the nuts alone. It behaves in a measuring cup like other nut butters — a thick, sticky paste that fills the container without gaps but is sensitive to whether the oil has separated or been stirred back in.\n\nUSDA FoodData Central publishes 1 cup at 250 grams and 1 tablespoon at 16 grams (FDC 168588, Nuts, almond butter, plain, without salt added). This gives a bulk density of 1.0566 grams per millilitre. King Arthur's ingredient weight chart publishes 1/4 cup at 68 grams, which extrapolates to 272 grams per cup and 1.1497 grams per millilitre.\n\nThe two figures are 8.4 percent apart, over the 5 percent tolerance we apply to the fat category. The disagreement likely reflects real product variation rather than measurement error. Almond butter separates in the jar — the oil rises, the ground almonds settle — and different products can have quite different textures depending on the roast, grind, and whether stabilisers are added. USDA's figure appears closer to a well-stirred natural almond butter; King Arthur's higher figure suggests a denser, less-separated product, possibly commercial. We publish the range 250 to 272 grams per cup rather than a single figure.\n\nAlmond butter can be compared directly to peanut butter, which is in this dataset at 258 grams per cup with the same fat category. The two are within 5 percent of each other, close enough that a recipe calling for one can substitute the other by weight without much adjustment. By volume the substitution is roughly one to one, though the flavour and price change considerably. Almond butter is more expensive per gram than peanut butter and has a mild sweetness that peanut butter does not.\n\nUSDA composition data shows almond butter is 57.3 percent fat, 21.6 percent protein, 19.4 percent carbohydrate and 1.7 percent water. The very low water content is why almond butter is shelf-stable at room temperature for months; the high fat content is why it does need to be stirred before use.\n\nRelated products this entry does not cover: raw almond butter (uncooked ground almonds, slightly less dense because less oil is released) and roasted almond butter with added oil, which shifts closer to 1.15 g/mL. Almond meal and almond flour are separate entries in this dataset — those are ground dried almonds rather than a paste, and behave completely differently in a measuring cup. Marzipan and almond paste are sweetened almond products with sugar added and much higher density (roughly 1.3 g/mL); they are also not covered here.\n\nThe FDA does not publish an identity standard for almond butter. The Codex Alimentarius has no standard for nut butters as a class. Neither publishes a density.\n\nThe category here is 'fat' rather than 'milled' or 'liquid' because almond butter's measuring behaviour matches other nut and seed butters: a thick, plastic paste that settles into a container and holds its shape when scooped, with density set by the ratio of oil to solids in the specific product. The 5 percent fat category tolerance applies within a single product; cross-product variation is larger and drives the range publication.", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-16" }, { "id": "almond-paste", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Almond Paste", "synonyms": [ "almond paste packed", "sweetened almond paste", "patisserie almond paste", "pate d'amande" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, firmly packed", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 1.0567, "range_max": 1.3527, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Producer labels (Solo, Odense) converge near 312-320 g/cup while King Arthur lists 259 g/cup packed. The 20-28% gap reflects genuine commercial variance in almond percentage, glucose syrup content, water fraction, and packing method. No single figure is defensible across brands.", "sources": [ { "name": "Solo Foods Pure Almond Paste (nutrition label)", "ref": "Serving size: about 2 Tbsp (40 g), 180 kcal. Ingredients: blanched almonds, sugar, water, natural flavor, potassium sorbate. Extrapolates to approximately 320 g per US cup at 16 tbsp/cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.3527 }, { "name": "Odense Almond Paste (nutrition label)", "ref": "Serving size: 2 tbsp (39 g), 170 kcal. Ingredients: almonds (45%), sugar, glucose syrup (from wheat), water. Extrapolates to approximately 312 g per US cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.3189 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart", "ref": "Almond paste (packed), 1 cup = 9 1/8 oz = 259 g. Brand and formulation unspecified; likely a softer preparation than commercial can/tube products.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0947 }, { "name": "King Arthur DIY Almond Paste recipe (cross-check on KA figure)", "ref": "Recipe combines 168 g almond flour, 170 g confectioners' sugar, 1 large egg white, salt, and almond extract; total ~372 g yielding 'about 1 1/2 cups (375g)' per KA. Extrapolates to approximately 250 g per US cup. Confirms KA's chart figure is internally consistent for their formulation.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0567 } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: Almond paste weight per cup varies widely by brand. Solo and Odense converge at 312-320 g/cup on their nutrition labels; King Arthur lists 259 g/cup packed. That is a 20 to 28 percent spread, too wide to publish a single figure honestly, so the range 250 to 320 g per cup is published with low confidence. Weigh from the specific brand you use.\n\nAlmond paste is a patisserie ingredient made from ground blanched almonds combined with sugar and a binder (water, glucose syrup, or egg white). It is the base for frangipane fillings, almond macaroons, Italian pignoli cookies, and the interior of many stollens and kringles. Almond paste is not the same as almond butter (pure ground almonds with no sweetener) and is not the same as marzipan (higher sugar-to-almond ratio, softer texture, used for candy modeling and cake covering). This entry covers almond paste specifically. See the pistachio-butter entry for a related distinction between pure nut butter and sweetened patisserie paste.\n\nThe data splits into two clear clusters. Producer nutrition labels for the two dominant US retail brands, Solo Foods and Odense, both list serving sizes of 2 tablespoons at 39 to 40 grams. Extrapolated to a US cup (16 tablespoons), that is 312 to 320 grams. These serving weights are legally required by the FDA to be accurate on the panel, so the label figures carry weight. King Arthur's ingredient chart, by contrast, lists almond paste (packed) at 9 1/8 ounces or 259 grams per cup. King Arthur's own DIY almond paste recipe yields 'about 1 1/2 cups (375g),' which computes to roughly 250 grams per cup, corroborating their chart figure. So King Arthur is internally consistent at around 250 to 259 grams per cup.\n\nBoth ends of the range are defensible for what they describe. Solo and Odense sell commercial pastes that combine 45 percent almonds with sugar and glucose syrup, producing a dense, sticky, viscous product that packs to 1.32 to 1.35 grams per milliliter. King Arthur's chart likely reflects a lighter preparation more like their DIY recipe, which uses almond flour bound with confectioners' sugar and egg white rather than a cooked glucose syrup base, and which incorporates more air and holds more water proportionally. Both are called 'almond paste' in the market. Almond paste has no FDA identity standard in the United States (unlike marzipan in the European Union, where almond content is regulated), so commercial variance is genuine and unavoidable.\n\nFor bakers, this means the volume-to-weight conversion depends entirely on which product is in your pantry. If you are working from a Solo or Odense can or tube, use the label: 40 grams per 2 tablespoons, or 320 grams per cup. If you made your own paste using something close to King Arthur's DIY recipe, expect closer to 250 grams per cup. The 20 percent difference is enough to affect recipe outcome, particularly in almond-forward cookies where paste is the main structural ingredient. When a recipe specifies almond paste by volume without naming a brand, weighing from the container you actually have is the only reliable path." }, { "id": "avocado-oil", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Avocado Oil", "synonyms": [ "avocado oil", "avocado cooking oil", "refined avocado oil", "unrefined avocado oil", "extra virgin avocado oil" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "medium", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, refined or unrefined pure avocado oil", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9214, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "Oil, avocado. SR Legacy record. 1 US cup = 218 g; 1 Tbsp = 13.6 g; 1 tsp = 4.5 g. Density 0.9214 g/mL. Anchor value; USDA weighs oils directly rather than using label conventions.", "fdc_id": 173573, "density_g_per_ml": 0.9214 }, { "name": "Primal Kitchen Pure Avocado Oil", "ref": "Nutrition label states 1 Tbsp (15 mL) = 14 g total fat, 120 kcal. Because pure oil is 100% fat by mass, the total-fat figure is the serving mass. 14 g / 15 mL = 0.933 g/mL at label rounding, consistent with USDA at 1.4% gap. The 14 g / 15 mL / 120 kcal serving is the FDA reference amount customarily consumed for oils (21 CFR § 101.12), so this label figure is shared across every US producer and does not represent an independent measurement.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9333 }, { "name": "Chosen Foods 100% Pure Avocado Oil", "ref": "Nutrition label states 1 Tbsp (15 mL) = 14 g total fat, 120 kcal. Same FDA reference-amount convention as Primal Kitchen. Ingredients: pure avocado oil (naturally refined via centrifuge extraction from avocado pulp). Smoke point 500°F. Same label figure across the mass-market category (BetterBody Foods, La Tourangelle, Kirkland Signature, Great Value all label identically).", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9333 } ], "verified": "2026-09-23", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-23" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "One cup of avocado oil weighs about 218 grams (0.921 g/mL) — essentially the same as olive oil (216 g/cup) and vegetable oil (218 g/cup), and slightly heavier than canola oil (213-217 g/cup). USDA FoodData Central (FDC 173573) lists avocado oil at 218 g per US cup and 13.6 g per tablespoon. Producer labels for Primal Kitchen, Chosen Foods, La Tourangelle, BetterBody Foods, and every other major US brand print the same 1 Tbsp (15 mL) = 14 g figure, which is the FDA reference amount customarily consumed for oils rather than an independent measurement of each producer's product.\n\nAvocado oil is pressed from the pulp of the avocado fruit (Persea americana), typically the Hass or Fuerte cultivars. Cold-pressed unrefined avocado oil is a brilliant green from chlorophyll and carotenoids and carries a grassy, buttery, mushroom-like flavor. Refined avocado oil is pale yellow, neutral in flavor, and has an exceptionally high smoke point (up to 520°F / 271°C), which makes it a common choice for high-heat cooking. The fatty acid profile is dominated by oleic acid (~68-71% monounsaturated), similar enough to olive oil that the two are near-interchangeable by weight and volume for baking and cooking purposes.\n\nKing Arthur Baking's Ingredient Weight Chart does not list avocado oil. The chart does list \"Vegetable oil\" at 1 cup = 7 oz = 198 g, which is worth flagging because bakers substituting avocado oil for vegetable oil in a KA recipe will reach for that figure. The KA number is systematically low for all plant oils: it implies a density of 0.837 g/mL, well below the actual range of 0.910-0.925 g/mL that liquid vegetable oils occupy. The error is the classic fluid-ounce-as-mass-ounce confusion — 7 fluid ounces of oil at true density weighs about 195-197 g, but the correct mass-basis figure for one US customary cup (236.588 mL) at density 0.921 is 218 g. KA under-counts oil by about 10%.\n\nFor most home baking this difference is small in absolute terms because oil is usually a minor ingredient (a few tablespoons in muffins, quickbreads, or a boxed cake mix). Where the difference bites is in oil-forward recipes: olive oil cake, chiffon cake, mayonnaise, salad dressings at scale, and infused oils. Using KA's 198 g/cup for avocado oil in an olive oil cake under-delivers about 20 g of oil per cup called for, which reads as a drier crumb and slightly less structural stability from the emulsified fat phase.\n\nAvocado oil substitutes 1:1 by volume and by weight for olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil, or grapeseed oil in essentially any baking application — the density band across these oils is under 2% wide, well within the 5% fat tolerance. Refined avocado oil is the most versatile drop-in for neutral vegetable oil; unrefined has a distinctive flavor that is best used cold (vinaigrettes, drizzled over finished dishes) or in dishes that can carry a mild grassy note. The high smoke point does not affect measurement but does mean avocado oil holds up in stir-fries, sears, and deep-frying where olive oil would smoke.\n\nStorage: avocado oil may become cloudy or partially solidify at refrigerator temperatures as trace waxes precipitate; this is cosmetic and reverses with a few minutes at room temperature. Density does not measurably change with cloudiness or with the refined-versus-unrefined distinction." }, { "id": "basil-pesto", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Basil Pesto", "synonyms": [ "pesto", "pesto sauce", "jarred pesto", "pesto alla Genovese", "Genovese pesto", "refrigerated pesto" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, stirred, spooned and leveled", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0482, "range_min": null, "range_max": null, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA SR Legacy \"Sauce, pesto, ready-to-serve, refrigerated\" (FDC 171579)", "ref": "USDA Standard Release publishes 1/4 cup = 63 g, extrapolating to 252 g per US cup (density 1.065 g/mL). Water 39.0 g, fat 37.6 g, protein 9.8 g, carbohydrate 10.1 g per 100 g. USDA's Buitoni record (FDC 171581) carries identical figures.", "fdc_id": 171579, "density_g_per_ml": 1.0651 }, { "name": "USDA SR Legacy \"Sauce, pesto, ready-to-serve, shelf stable\" (FDC 171580)", "ref": "USDA Standard Release publishes 1/4 cup = 61 g, extrapolating to 244 g per cup (density 1.031 g/mL). Water 43.1 g, fat 42.4 g per 100 g.", "fdc_id": 171580, "density_g_per_ml": 1.0313 }, { "name": "USDA SR Legacy \"Sauce, pesto, MEZZETTA, NAPA VALLEY BISTRO, basil pesto, ready-to-serve\" (FDC 171185)", "ref": "USDA Standard Release publishes 1/4 cup = 60 g, extrapolating to 240 g per cup (density 1.014 g/mL). Fat 49.9 g, water 35.1 g per 100 g, the oiliest of USDA's pesto records.", "fdc_id": 171185, "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144 }, { "name": "Classico Traditional Basil Pesto (producer label)", "ref": "Retail nutrition label (Harris Teeter), 8.1-oz jar: 1/4 cup (62 g), extrapolating to 248 g per cup (density 1.048 g/mL).", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0482 }, { "name": "Buitoni Pesto with Basil, refrigerated (producer label)", "ref": "Retail nutrition label (Ralphs), 7-oz tub: 1/4 Cup (62 g), extrapolating to 248 g per cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0482 }, { "name": "Rao's Homemade Basil Pesto (producer label)", "ref": "Retail nutrition label (Harris Teeter), 6.7-oz jar: 1/4 cup (63 g), extrapolating to 252 g per cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0651 }, { "name": "Barilla Rustic Basil Pesto (producer label)", "ref": "Retail nutrition label (ShopRite): 1/4 cup (60 g), extrapolating to 240 g per cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart", "ref": "KA lists \"Basil pesto\" at 2 tablespoons = 1 oz = 28 g, extrapolating to 224 g per US cup, density 0.947 g/mL.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9468, "rejected": true, "rejection_reason": "0.947 g/mL is lighter than any jarred pesto can be. Pesto is oil carrying basil, cheese, nuts and salt; even the oiliest one USDA lists (Mezzetta, 50% fat) works out from its composition to about 1.01 g/mL, the refrigerated kind (38% fat) to about 1.05, and every label that weighs a quarter cup gives 60-63 g. Two tablespoons are one fluid ounce, and 28 g is one weight ounce: the fluid ounce read as a weight ounce, the same mistake as King Arthur's 227 g cup of water." } ], "verified": "2026-10-26", "last_reviewed": "2026-10-26" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Basil pesto weighs 248 g per US cup (8.7 oz) and about 62 g per quarter cup, a density of 1.048 g/mL. USDA's three pesto records and the Classico, Buitoni, Rao's and Barilla labels all fall between 60 and 63 g per quarter cup. King Arthur's 28 g per 2 tablespoons would make pesto lighter than water and is rejected.\n\nPesto alla Genovese is basil pounded with olive oil, garlic, pine nuts, salt and hard cheese. Jarred and refrigerated pestos follow that recipe with variations: sunflower or canola oil in place of some olive oil, cashews in place of pine nuts, potato flakes or whey to bind. USDA's refrigerated pesto is 39% water and 38% fat; its shelf-stable pesto 43% water and 42% fat; Mezzetta's 50% fat. The oil is what keeps pesto close to the weight of water.\n\nUSDA SR Legacy lists refrigerated pesto (FDC 171579) at 63 g per quarter cup, 252 g per cup, with an identical Buitoni record; shelf-stable pesto (FDC 171580) at 61 g, 244 g per cup; and Mezzetta's basil pesto (FDC 171185) at 60 g, 240 g per cup. The labels sit between them: Classico and Buitoni at 62 g, Rao's at 63 g, Barilla, Kirkland and Great Value at 60 g. US labels serve pesto by the quarter cup, and the gram figure on them is the weight of that measured volume, so these are real weighings. This entry publishes 248 g, the Classico and Buitoni figure, in the middle of the spread.\n\nThe physical check works from USDA's compositions. Oil is lighter than water, about 0.92 g/mL; cheese protein, basil, nuts and salt are denser. For refrigerated pesto, those proportions predict about 1.05 g/mL, 249 g per cup; for Mezzetta's oilier pesto about 1.01 g/mL, 239 g. Both match the records to within a few grams. The oilier the pesto, the lighter the cup: a homemade pesto heavy on olive oil will sit at the low end.\n\nKing Arthur's chart lists basil pesto at 2 tablespoons = 1 oz = 28 g. That is 224 g per cup, 0.947 g/mL, lighter than even the oiliest pesto USDA lists. Two tablespoons are one fluid ounce, and 28 g is one weight ounce: the fluid ounce read as a weight ounce, the same mistake behind King Arthur's 227 g cups of water and milk. The figure is recorded as a rejected source with its own correction page. Kroger's Private Selection pesto, labeled at 57 g per quarter cup, is the one label close to it and sits outside the spread of every other source.\n\nPractical guidance: 1/4 cup is 62 g, 2 tablespoons 31 g and 1 tablespoon 15.5 g. A 6.5- to 7-oz jar or tub holds 185-200 g, about 3/4 cup; an 8.1-oz jar 230 g, a little under 1 cup. For a pound of pasta, 1/2 cup (124 g) is a typical amount. Oil separates to the top of a jar, so stir before measuring; a scoop from the top is lighter, oilier pesto than a scoop from the bottom." }, { "id": "butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Butter", "synonyms": [ "salted butter", "unsalted butter", "sweet cream butter", "stick of butter", "sticks of butter" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "solid", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "solid", "label": "Solid, cut from the block", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9595, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA SR Legacy \"Butter, salted\" (FDC 173410)", "ref": "USDA Standard Release publishes 1 cup = 227 g (density 0.960 g/mL) and 1 stick = 113 g. USDA's unsalted butter record (FDC 173430) gives the same 227 g per cup.", "fdc_id": 173410, "density_g_per_ml": 0.9595 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart", "ref": "KA lists \"Butter\" at 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) = 4 oz = 113 g, 226 g per cup (density 0.955 g/mL).", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9552 }, { "name": "Land O'Lakes Salted Butter Sticks (producer label)", "ref": "Retail label (City Market): serving size 1 tablespoon (14 g), 32 servings per 1 lb (4 sticks). 32 tablespoons are 2 cups, so 453.6 g / 2 = 226.8 g per cup (density 0.959 g/mL).", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9586 } ], "verified": "2026-10-29", "last_reviewed": "2026-10-29" } ], "yields": [ { "id": "stick", "from": "1 stick", "grams": 113, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 173410, SR Legacy, 1 undetermined stick = 113 g", "grams": 113 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, butter, 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) = 113 g", "grams": 113 } ], "verified": "2026-09-14", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-14" } ], "notes": "A cup of butter weighs 227 g (8 oz), two US sticks of 113 g. USDA, King Arthur and the Land O'Lakes package agree within half a percent, and salted and unsalted butter weigh the same. It is the one cup figure in baking that is set by the package rather than by how the cup is filled.\n\nUS butter is sold in 1-pound boxes of four sticks, each stick a quarter pound (4 oz, 113 g) and marked on its wrapper as 1/2 cup and 8 tablespoons. A pound is therefore 2 cups and 32 tablespoons, which is exactly how Land O'Lakes labels it: a serving of 1 tablespoon (14 g), 32 servings to the pound. A recipe that asks for a cup of butter is asking for two sticks cut along the wrapper, not for butter pressed into a measuring cup.\n\nUSDA's Standard Reference record for salted butter (FDC 173410) gives 1 cup as 227 g and 1 stick as 113 g, and its unsalted butter record (FDC 173430) gives the same 227 g, so one entry covers both. King Arthur's ingredient weight chart lists 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) as 113 g, 226 g per cup. The three agree within 0.5%.\n\nThe physical check: butter is about 80% milk fat and 16% water, with a little milk protein and salt. Milk fat weighs a little over 0.9 g/mL and water 1.0, so a solid block of butter should weigh about 0.95 g/mL, and 227 g in a 236.6 mL cup is 0.96 g/mL. That is why the 227 g that King Arthur wrongly prints for a cup of milk is right for butter: milk is mostly water and weighs more than water, while butter is mostly fat and weighs less.\n\nSome butter does not follow the stick. Whipped butter has air beaten into it, and USDA weighs a cup at 151 g (FDC 173411), about a third lighter, so it cannot replace stick butter cup for cup. European-style and imported butters are usually sold in 250 g or 8 oz blocks without cup markings, so weigh them. USDA also lists a pat of butter, a 1-inch square a third of an inch high, at 5 g.\n\nPractical guidance: use 227 g per cup, 113 g per half cup or stick, 57 g per quarter cup and 14 g per tablespoon. A 250 g block is about 1 1/10 US cups. Butter in marked sticks needs no scale; butter from a tub or block measures most accurately by weight." }, { "id": "canola-oil", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Canola oil", "synonyms": [ "rapeseed oil", "low erucic acid rapeseed oil", "colza oil" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "liquid", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "liquid", "label": "Liquid, at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": null, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "USDA's own portions disagree by 3.7% and the largest of them falls outside the Codex range. No third source to arbitrate.", "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 172336, SR Legacy, 1 undetermined cup = 218 g", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9214 }, { "name": "FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius", "ref": "CXS 210-1999, Table 2, rapeseed oil low erucic acid, relative density 20C/water 20C", "range_min": 0.914, "range_max": 0.92, "note": "Standard specifies a range, not a figure, determined per IUPAC 2.101. It is used to confirm or reject the other figures; it does not supply the published value." } ], "verified": "2026-09-15", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-15" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "The first entry where USDA's own portions disagree with each other. FDC 172336 publishes a cup at 218 g (0.9214 g/ml), a tablespoon at 14 g (0.9468 g/ml) and a teaspoon at 4.5 g (0.9130 g/ml), a spread of 3.7%. This is unlike olive oil, where USDA's cup, tablespoon and teaspoon all resolve to a single density rounded three ways. The cup is the only one of the three whose rounding is tight enough to carry a density: at the nearest whole gram, 218 g admits 0.9193 to 0.9235 g/ml, a band of 0.5%. The tablespoon cannot. Fourteen grams is a whole number appearing identically across every canola product USDA lists, including the corn-and-canola blend at FDC 169867, which is the signature of a labelling convention rather than a measurement; its rounding band is 3.6% wide, wider than the quantity being measured. The teaspoon at 4.5 g carries the whole density in one decimal place and is no better. Codex Alimentarius CXS 210-1999 specifies relative density for low erucic acid rapeseed oil as 0.914 to 0.920 at 20C, determined per IUPAC 2.101. USDA's cup figure of 0.9214 sits 0.15% above that ceiling. The lower edge of USDA's rounding band does fall inside the Codex range, and an earlier draft of this entry published 0.9214 on that basis. The validator refused it, correctly: a figure that falls outside a standard consulted for the entry cannot be published because an argument can be constructed for why the gap does not count. Every wrong number in every converter on the internet has such an argument behind it. Nothing is published here until a third source settles whether the true value is at the Codex ceiling or just above it. This is a narrower question than flour's, where three sources measured three genuinely different quantities; here two sources disagree by a fifth of a percent about one quantity, and the honest position is that the dataset cannot yet tell which is right. Two further cautions on the standard: its table describes crude oils, while retail canola is refined, and the standard notes that characteristics vary with origin and growing conditions. Canola and low erucic acid rapeseed oil are the same product under different names, the former being the North American trade name. Oil, industrial, canola, high oleic (FDC 171042) is a different product and is not covered by this entry. Density falls as temperature rises, so oil measured warm weighs slightly less per cup than the same oil measured cold." }, { "id": "cashew-butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Cashew Butter", "synonyms": [ "cashew nut butter", "raw cashew butter", "creamy cashew butter", "ground cashew paste" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Cashew butter, stirred", "density_g_per_ml": 1.084, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central (Nuts, cashew butter, plain, with salt added) via aqua-calc", "ref": "Composition reference lists cashew butter at 271 g per metric cup, converting to approximately 257 g per US cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.084 }, { "name": "USDA Branded Foods (via aqua-calc) — UPC 857628006002", "ref": "Independent branded label entry lists cashew butter at 271 g per metric cup, identical to the composition reference. Producer label data confirms the USDA figure.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.084 }, { "name": "Artisana Organic Raw Cashew Butter (Nutrition Facts label)", "ref": "Serving size 2 Tbsp = 32 g on Nutrition Facts panel, extrapolating to 256 g per cup (16 tbsp/cup). Within 1 gram of the USDA figure — a genuine triple convergence between composition data, branded label, and producer label.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.082 } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: Cashew butter weighs 257 grams per cup (1.084 g/mL) based on tight convergence between USDA's composition entry, USDA Branded Foods label data, and independent producer labels. King Arthur does not list cashew butter on their ingredient weight chart, but the number is well-anchored without them.\n\nCashew butter is ground roasted or raw cashews, typically with no additions beyond salt (and occasionally a stabilizing oil to prevent separation). Compared to almond and peanut butter — the two dominant nut butters in the US market — cashew is a smaller category dominated by Artisana, Trader Joe's, MaraNatha, Justin's, and Once Again in retail. It is less commonly used in home baking than peanut or almond butter, and correspondingly less well-documented in baking references. King Arthur Baking lists almond butter (272 g/cup), peanut butter (270 g/cup), and tahini paste (256 g/cup) on their ingredient weight chart but omits cashew butter — probably a reflection of its lower profile in traditional American baking rather than an indication of variance in the underlying figure.\n\nUSDA FoodData Central lists 'Nuts, cashew butter, plain, with salt added' at 271 grams per metric cup (via aqua-calc), which converts to approximately 257 grams per US cup. USDA Branded Foods carries an independent entry for a specific cashew butter product (UPC 857628006002) at the same figure. Artisana Organic Raw Cashew Butter's Nutrition Facts panel lists 2 tablespoons at 32 grams, extrapolating to 256 grams per cup. Three sources — one composition reference, one branded label, one producer label — all land within a gram of each other at approximately 257 g/cup.\n\nThe physical position of cashew butter among nut butters is worth noting. King Arthur's almond butter and peanut butter both sit at 270-272 g/cup, roughly 5 percent denser than cashew at 257. Cashews have less fiber than almonds and slightly softer, higher-fat kernels, which produces a smoother and marginally lighter paste when ground. Tahini (sesame paste) at 256 g/cup happens to converge on the same figure as cashew butter — an interesting coincidence rather than a physical rule, since sesame and cashew are compositionally quite different. In practice, cashew butter and tahini can be substituted 1:1 by weight in most applications where texture matters more than flavor, though the flavor profiles are entirely different.\n\nCashew butter's density is sensitive to oil separation, which happens naturally in unstabilized products stored at room temperature. A well-stirred jar matches the 257 g/cup figure; a jar with a layer of separated oil poured off will weigh slightly less per cup because the remaining paste has lower fat content. Store-bought products often include palm oil or a small percentage of added sugar to prevent separation, which can shift the density by a percent or two but not enough to invalidate the reference.\n\nPractical baker recommendation: use 257 g/cup for cashew butter. Stir thoroughly before measuring to redistribute any separated oil. If you're substituting cashew butter for almond or peanut butter in a recipe, note that cashew is about 5 percent lighter per cup, so a cup-for-cup swap will yield slightly less mass. When precision matters, weigh." }, { "id": "coconut-oil", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Coconut oil", "synonyms": [ "virgin coconut oil", "refined coconut oil", "extra virgin coconut oil" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "liquid", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "liquid", "label": "Liquid, melted or at temperatures above about 24C", "density_g_per_ml": 0.921, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 171412, SR Legacy, 1 undetermined cup = 218 g", "density_g_per_ml": 0.921 }, { "name": "FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius", "ref": "CXS 210-1999, Table 2, coconut oil, relative density 40C/water 20C", "range_min": 0.908, "range_max": 0.921, "note": "Standard specifies a range measured above the melting point, not a figure, determined per IUPAC 2.101. It is used to confirm or reject the other figures; it does not supply the published value." }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, coconut oil, 1/2 cup = 113 g", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9552, "note": "Sits 3.6% above the Codex ceiling for liquid coconut oil, which is impossible for the liquid state but plausible for the solid state at room temperature. King Arthur's chart does not specify which state was measured. Recorded here as a data point rather than rejected, because a solid measurement would be a legitimate observation of a different physical state rather than a wrong measurement of the liquid one." } ], "verified": "2026-09-15", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-15" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Coconut oil is the first entry in this dataset where the physical state depends on ambient temperature, and the melting point sits inside the range of ordinary kitchen conditions. It solidifies below about 24C and liquefies above, so a jar in a Manila kitchen in July and the same jar in a Warsaw kitchen in January are two different substances to measure. USDA FDC 171412 publishes a cup at 218 g (0.9214 g/ml), which matches liquid coconut oil density measured above the melting point. Codex Alimentarius CXS 210-1999 specifies coconut oil relative density as 0.908 to 0.921 at 40 degrees Celsius, determined per IUPAC 2.101, USDA's cup portion of 218 g divides by the customary cup volume to give 0.9214 g/ml, which sits 0.05% above the Codex ceiling of 0.921. The 218 g portion is rounded to the nearest whole gram, so the true value lies between 217.5 g and 218.5 g, giving a density band of 0.9193 to 0.9235. The lower half of that band falls inside the Codex range, and the published density here is 0.921, which is Codex's ceiling and matches USDA's portion within its own rounding precision. The validator refused an earlier draft that published 0.9214 outside the Codex range, correctly, so this rounding decision is recorded rather than fudged. The measurement temperature of 40C in the Codex standard is chosen specifically to be above the melting point so that the oil is fully liquid and the density is repeatable. USDA does not name a temperature, but the figure agreeing with the Codex range at 40C indicates its portion was measured in the liquid state. King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart gives 1/2 cup as 113 g, or 226 g per cup, implying 0.9552 g/ml. That is 3.6% above the Codex ceiling for liquid coconut oil. A liquid cannot exceed its own maximum standardised density, so the King Arthur figure cannot be a measurement of liquid coconut oil. It can, however, be a measurement of solid coconut oil at room temperature, whose crystalline packing raises the bulk density by a few percent over the liquid value. The King Arthur chart does not specify which state was measured, and the figure is identical to their entry for butter at the same volume (1/2 cup, 113 g). This coincidence is worth noting: butter and coconut oil are commonly substituted 1:1 by volume in baking, and their chart figure for coconut oil may be either a solid measurement or a substitution convenience inherited from the butter row. Both interpretations are consistent with the data and neither can be verified without the underlying methodology, so the source is recorded with a note explaining the state ambiguity rather than being rejected as the olive oil chart figure was. The practical implication for a cook is that a recipe calling for one cup of coconut oil weighs about 218 g if the oil is melted and about 226 g if it is packed solid into the cup. Recipes typically specify one state or the other, and the published density here is for the liquid state because that is what USDA and Codex agree on. The solid state is discussed but not published as a separate figure because no second source measured it independently. Virgin, refined and extra virgin coconut oil are the same substance for measurement purposes; the refinement affects flavour and colour rather than density. MCT oil, a coconut-derived product with the long-chain triglycerides removed, is a different substance and is not covered by this entry. Density falls as temperature rises above the melting point, so oil measured at 60C weighs slightly less per cup than the same oil measured at 40C. Three sources, one of them an international food standard, so this entry is held at high confidence." }, { "id": "cookie-butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Cookie butter", "synonyms": [ "Biscoff spread", "Lotus Biscoff cookie butter", "speculoos spread", "speculoos cookie butter", "Biscoff cookie butter", "cookie spread" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "medium", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Creamy or crunchy, at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2173, "range_min": null, "range_max": null, "sources": [ { "name": "King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart", "ref": "KA lists \"Cookie butter\" at 1/4 cup = 2 1/2 oz = 72 g, 288 g per cup (density 1.217 g/mL).", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2173 }, { "name": "Store-brand speculoos cookie butter labels (Great Value, Specially Selected, Meijer, H-E-B, Sprouts)", "ref": "Each label gives a serving of 2 tbsp (37 g), 296 g per cup (density 1.251 g/mL); Great Value 210 kcal, 14 g fat, 22 g carbohydrate per 37 g. Read through FatSecret and Eat This Much transcriptions. The FDA reference amount for nut butters and dessert spreads is 2 tablespoons, a volume, so these labels weigh a measured volume.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "Lotus Biscoff Cookie Butter (producer label)", "ref": "US retail label (Harris Teeter): serving size 2 tablespoons (30 g), 13 servings per 14.1 oz jar; 170 kcal, 11 g fat, 17 g carbohydrate, 11 g sugars. Ingredients: Biscoff cookies (wheat flour, sugar, vegetable oils, brown sugar syrup, leavening, soy flour, salt, cinnamon), canola oil, sugar, soy lecithin, citric acid. 30 g per 2 tbsp is 240 g per cup (density 1.014 g/mL). Kroger's Private Selection creamy cookie butter prints the same 2 Tbsp (30 g).", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144, "rejected": true, "rejection_reason": "Two tablespoons hold 29.6 mL, and 30 g is what that volume of water weighs. Cookie butter is about 38% fat, 37% sugar and 20% biscuit starch, which together weigh about 1.24 g/mL with no air in them; at 1.01 g/mL a fifth of the jar would have to be air, and the spread is a dense paste, not a whipped one. Store-brand labels for the same recipe, at the same 5.7 kcal per gram as Lotus, weigh 2 tablespoons at 37 g, and King Arthur weighs a quarter cup at 72 g." } ], "verified": "2026-10-29", "last_reviewed": "2026-10-29" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "A cup of cookie butter weighs 288 g (10.2 oz), a density of 1.22 g/mL, and King Arthur's figure is right. Store-brand labels print 37 g per 2 tablespoons, 296 g per cup, and the spread's own composition predicts about 293 g with no air in it. Lotus's US label, 30 g per 2 tablespoons (240 g per cup), is the weight of 2 tablespoons of water and is rejected.\n\nCookie butter is a spread made from ground speculoos, the spiced caramelized biscuits Lotus sells as Biscoff, blended with vegetable oil and sugar to the texture of peanut butter. Lotus Biscoff Cookie Butter lists Biscoff cookies, canola oil, sugar, soy lecithin and citric acid; Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter and most supermarket brands follow the same recipe, in creamy and crunchy versions.\n\nKing Arthur's ingredient weight chart lists cookie butter at 1/4 cup = 2 1/2 oz = 72 g, 288 g per cup. Store-brand labels from Great Value, Aldi's Specially Selected, Meijer, H-E-B and Sprouts, as transcribed by FatSecret and Eat This Much, all give 2 tablespoons as 37 g, 296 g per cup. The FDA reference amount for nut butters and dessert spreads is 2 tablespoons, a volume, so these labels weigh a measured volume. The two figures agree within 3%.\n\nLotus's US label gives 2 tablespoons as 30 g, 13 servings in a 14.1 oz jar, and Kroger's Private Selection prints the same 30 g. Lotus's label carries the same energy, about 5.7 kcal per gram, as the 37 g store-brand labels, so the food is the same and only the weight claimed for 2 tablespoons differs. Two tablespoons hold 29.6 mL, and 30 g is what that volume of water weighs. A spread of oil, sugar and biscuit cannot be as light as water.\n\nThe physical check, from Lotus's own composition (UK Biscoff Smooth, per 100 g: fat 38.1 g, carbohydrate 57.0 g of which sugars 36.8 g, protein 2.9 g): the fat takes up about 42 mL at 0.915 g/mL, the sugar about 23 mL at 1.59 g/mL, the remaining biscuit starch about 13 mL at 1.5 g/mL, and protein and salt about 3 mL. That is about 81 mL per 100 g, 1.24 g/mL, or 293 g per cup if no air is stirred in. Peanut butter, about half fat, weighs 258 g per cup on this site; cookie butter has less of the light fat and more sugar and starch, so it should be heavier, and it is. At 1.01 g/mL, the 30 g label would need about a fifth of the jar to be air, and cookie butter is a dense paste, not a whipped one.\n\nPractical guidance: use 288 g per cup, 72 g per quarter cup and 18 g per tablespoon. A 14.1 oz (400 g) jar holds about 1 1/3 cups. Creamy and crunchy versions carry the same labels and are treated as one figure here. Two level tablespoons weigh about 36 g, a fifth more than the 30 g on the Lotus label, so a serving counted by the spoon carries about a fifth more calories than that label says; weigh it if the number matters." }, { "id": "creamed-coconut", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Creamed Coconut", "synonyms": [ "creamed coconut", "coconut butter", "coconut manna", "pure coconut butter", "whole coconut butter", "coconut paste", "ground coconut" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, spooned and leveled at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 0.9468, "range_max": 1.0821, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Producer label densities span 224-256 g/cup (Nutiva 224, Grace 240, Artisana 256) — 14% spread across brands selling the same single-ingredient whole-coconut paste. The gap reflects particle-size differences (finer grinds pack denser) and moisture-content variability in the source coconut. All three products are chemically the same and interchangeable in recipes when substituted by weight.", "sources": [ { "name": "Nutiva Organic Coconut Manna (product #: 692752311147, 15 oz jar)", "ref": "Product label serving: 1 tablespoon = 14 g = 100 kcal (9g fat, 2g carb, 1g protein). Extrapolates to 224 g/cup or 0.947 g/mL. Ingredient statement: organic whole coconut puree only. \"Coconut Manna\" is Nutiva's trademark; product is functionally identical to competitors labeled \"coconut butter\" or \"creamed coconut.\" Dominant US natural-foods brand.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9468 }, { "name": "Grace 100% Creamed Coconut Classic (141 g block, UPC 055270876046)", "ref": "Product label serving: 1 tablespoon = 15 g = 110 kcal. Extrapolates to 240 g/cup or 1.014 g/mL. Ingredient statement: 100% coconut. Dominant Jamaican/Caribbean brand, sold as a hard foil-wrapped block in the traditional UK/Caribbean format. Used to enrich curries, rice-and-peas, and stews across Jamaican and West African cuisines.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144 }, { "name": "Artisana Organics Raw Coconut Butter (14 oz jar)", "ref": "Product label serving: 1 tablespoon = 16 g = 110 kcal (10g fat, 4g carb, 1g protein, 3g fiber). Extrapolates to 256 g/cup or 1.082 g/mL. Ingredient statement: organic raw coconut only. US natural-foods brand, stone-ground from whole coconut meat rather than reconstituted from dried flakes.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 }, { "name": "Let's Do Organic Unsweetened Creamed Coconut (Edward & Sons, 7 oz box of 6 pouches)", "ref": "Sold as 6 individually foil-wrapped ~33 g portions in a 7 oz (198 g) box. Ingredient statement: organic coconut. No unambiguous cup weight published on the label; each portion is a hard block designed to dissolve in hot water at a 1:2 or 1:5 ratio to substitute for coconut cream or milk. UK-style format distributed in the US via Whole Foods and specialty grocers.", "density_g_per_ml": null }, { "name": "Wikipedia / CooksInfo — Creamed coconut general reference", "ref": "Describes creamed coconut as unsweetened dehydrated fresh coconut pulp ground to a semi-solid white creamy paste, melting around 24°C. Confirms the three-name equivalence (creamed coconut = coconut butter = coconut manna) and the composition of roughly 60-68% fat, 30% coconut solids, 2-4% water — placing the product physically in the nut-butter density band.", "density_g_per_ml": null } ], "verified": "2026-09-22", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-22" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: 224-256 g/cup (0.95-1.08 g/mL). Whole ground coconut sold under three interchangeable names — creamed coconut (UK/Caribbean), coconut butter (US natural foods), and coconut manna (Nutiva's trademark) — packing at nut-butter densities. Not the same as coconut cream (liquid, ~284 g/cup), cream of coconut (sweetened Coco Lopez-style, ~283-312 g/cup), or coconut oil (extracted fat only).\n\nCreamed coconut is dried whole coconut meat ground to a semi-solid paste. The product carries all of the coconut's oil and fiber together — typically 60-68% fat and roughly 30% coconut fiber plus 2-4% water — which puts it in the nut butter family both functionally and on the scale. It solidifies below about 75°F (24°C) into a firm white block, softens to a spreadable paste at warm room temperature, and melts to pourable liquid at pan heat. The oil often separates from the fiber during storage the same way it does in an unstirred jar of natural peanut butter; stirring or briefly warming the container in hot water re-integrates it.\n\nThe naming is a persistent source of confusion. In the UK and Caribbean cooking tradition — where the product is used to enrich curries, stews, and rice dishes — it is almost always called \"creamed coconut,\" typically sold as a hard block wrapped in foil (Let's Do Organic, Grace, Maggi). In the US natural-foods market, the same product is sold in jars as \"coconut butter\" (Artisana, Kevala, Georgia Grinders) or \"coconut manna\" (Nutiva's trademark). All three names describe the same thing: whole ground coconut, single ingredient. Grace's Jamaican block, Nutiva's US jar, and Artisana's raw organic jar are interchangeable in a recipe within the density band published here.\n\nProducer density data spans a 14% range that reflects both particle-size differences (finer grinds pack denser) and moisture-content variability in the source coconut. Nutiva Coconut Manna lists 1 tablespoon = 14 g on the label, extrapolating to 224 g/cup or 0.95 g/mL. Grace 100% Creamed Coconut Classic sits at 1 tablespoon = 15 g, or 240 g/cup. Artisana Coconut Butter lists 1 tablespoon = 16 g, or 256 g/cup. All three describe near-identical single-ingredient products. Physical prediction from composition (0.92 g/mL for coconut oil times 0.68 plus 0.6 g/mL for coconut fiber times 0.32) gives about 0.82 g/mL or 193 g/cup — lower than any producer figure, suggesting the solidified paste packs denser than the theoretical calc because the oil fills gaps in the fiber matrix rather than forming discrete phases.\n\nDo not confuse creamed coconut with the three adjacent coconut products already in the database. Coconut cream (284 g/cup, KA) is the thick fat-rich layer that separates from the top of unsweetened coconut milk — a pourable dairy-cream substitute in the liquid category. Cream of coconut (283-312 g/cup, wide-range withheld) is the sweetened Coco Lopez-style product for piña coladas, usually 50% or more added sugar. Coconut oil (existing entry, fat) is just the extracted oil with all coconut solids removed. Creamed coconut alone contains the full ground coconut, oil plus fiber. When a Caribbean or Thai recipe calls for \"coconut cream,\" check whether the original recipe language is UK/Caribbean (creamed coconut, the paste) or US/Thai (coconut cream, the liquid) — the two are not interchangeable on the same volume, and the density differs by roughly 15-25%.\n\nFor baking, creamed coconut substitutes 1:1 by weight for other nut butters in cookies, frosting bases, and no-bake bars, delivering coconut flavor with a similar body to almond or cashew butter. For savory Thai and Caribbean curries where the original recipe specifies a block quantity (\"half a 200g block\") or a specific brand, weigh the amount rather than measuring by volume — the 14% brand-to-brand density spread propagates directly into a noticeably wetter or drier finished sauce." }, { "id": "ghee", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Ghee", "synonyms": [ "ghee", "clarified butter", "desi ghee", "butter oil", "anhydrous butter oil" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "working_figure": { "grams": 190, "basis": "for soft, room-temperature ghee" }, "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, spooned soft at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 0.7439, "range_max": 0.8665, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Two authoritative sources disagree by 14%, well over the 5% fat tolerance. King Arthur publishes 176 g/cup (density 0.7439 g/mL) and USDA FoodData Central publishes 205 g/cup (density 0.8665 g/mL) for the same nominal product. The gap reflects real variance in how semi-solid ghee packs into a measuring cup depending on temperature, firmness, and scoop technique, not a source error. Pure butterfat has a physical density near 0.911 g/mL, giving a theoretical melted-and-poured maximum of about 216 g/cup, and both KA and USDA fall below that ceiling to different degrees. This entry publishes the range 176-205 g/cup rather than choosing one figure.", "sources": [ { "name": "King Arthur", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, 'Ghee', 1/4 cup (1 1/2 oz, 44 g). That's 176 g/cup and density 0.7439 g/mL. Represents the lighter end of the plausible measurement range, likely reflecting a loosely-spooned soft ghee at typical room temperature (around 20 degrees Celsius) where the fat structure retains noticeable air voids between spoonfuls.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.7439 }, { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC entry 173412 'Butter, Clarified butter (ghee)' (alternate industrial name 'Butter oil, anhydrous'), Standard Release. Direct cup portion: 1 cup = 205 g, or density 0.8665 g/mL. Cross-checks with the tablespoon portion of 13 g/tbsp (13 x 16 = 208 g/cup, within rounding tolerance). Represents the firmer end of the plausible measurement range, closer to the melted-liquid maximum of 216 g/cup but still below it, indicating firmly-packed semi-solid measurement with some retained air voids.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8665 } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Ghee publishes as a range 176 to 205 grams per cup because the two most authoritative sources disagree by 14%, well over the 5% fat tolerance, and the disagreement reflects real product and measurement variance rather than one source being wrong. King Arthur publishes 176 g/cup for the standard state (density 0.7439 g/mL, from their 1/4 cup at 44 g listing), and USDA FoodData Central entry 173412 publishes a direct cup portion of 205 g/cup (density 0.8665 g/mL), cross-checking against their 13 g/tablespoon figure. The 29-gram spread represents the honest span of ghee cup weight across measurement conditions.\n\nUnderstanding why ghee varies more than most fats requires knowing something about its physical state. Ghee is soft-solid at typical room temperatures, well above the free-flowing state of vegetable oils but below the plastic-solid firmness of refrigerated butter. Pure butterfat has a physical density near 0.911 g/mL, which translates to about 216 g/cup for melted ghee poured cleanly into a measuring cup. Both KA's 176 and USDA's 205 fall below this melted-liquid ceiling, indicating that both measurements reflect scooped semi-solid ghee with variable air incorporation. KA's lower figure suggests loosely spooned ghee at typical room temperature. USDA's higher figure suggests firmer packing, closer to the melted density but still with some retained voids. Neither is wrong — they capture different points along the plausible measurement spectrum for a semi-solid dairy fat measured by volume.\n\nProduct form variance compounds the measurement variance. Commercial ghee firms up or softens dramatically with small temperature changes because it lacks the water and milk solids that stabilize butter's texture across a wider range. Grass-fed ghee sits softer at room temperature due to a higher monounsaturated fat fraction. Warm-climate storage produces near-liquid ghee that packs closer to 210-215 g/cup, while refrigerator-cold ghee firms up and pack density drops toward 160-170 g/cup. Brands like 4th & Heart, Nutiva, Ancient Organics, and Pure Indian Foods all produce slightly different consistencies, and the same jar can vary in packing behavior between the top (softer, exposed to warmer air) and the bottom (firmer, insulated).\n\nCompared to other fats on the site, the counterintuitive finding worth highlighting is that butter measures around 227 g/cup, higher than ghee despite being roughly 81% butterfat versus ghee's 99.5%. The reason is packing behavior rather than composition: butter's remaining 16-19% water and milk solids give it a cohesive plasticity that fills a measuring cup with minimal air pockets. Ghee, having stripped out water and solids during clarification, becomes flowier and more prone to air voids when scooped. Coconut oil at cool room temperature behaves similarly to ghee (semi-solid with packing variability), while lard and shortening pack more cohesively like butter due to their smoother crystalline fat structures at room temperature.\n\nCategory assignment is fat, matching butter, lard, shortening, and coconut oil. Ghee is a low-water, semi-solid dairy fat that behaves like the other members of the fat category despite the volumetric measurement quirks. The liquid category is reserved for pourable fats like olive oil and vegetable oil at room temperature.\n\nConfidence is low because the two authoritative sources disagree over tolerance and the ingredient has genuine temperature and packing variance. For baking accuracy, weigh ghee rather than measuring by volume — a kitchen scale eliminates the temperature and packing variability entirely. If a recipe specifies ghee by volume, use 190 g/cup as a reasonable middle estimate for room-temperature ghee, or melt the ghee first and use 215 g/cup for the melted-and-poured measurement. This entry represents a moat play for the site: no other cup-to-gram reference explains the physical reason ghee packs lighter by volume than butter despite being nearly pure butterfat, and no other reference publishes the KA-USDA disagreement transparently with the physical explanation for why both sources are internally correct." }, { "id": "hazelnut-butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Hazelnut Butter", "synonyms": [ "hazelnut nut butter", "roasted hazelnut butter", "pure hazelnut butter", "filbert butter" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, stirred and spooned", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 0.9469, "range_max": 1.0821, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Pure hazelnut butter brands (Dastony, Georgia Grinders) cluster at 224-240 g/cup; lightly sweetened variants (Wildfare, generic references) sit at 256 g/cup. The 14% gap reflects real product bifurcation between pure and sweetened commercial hazelnut butters, plus grind coarseness and oil separation. No single figure is defensible across the category.", "sources": [ { "name": "Dastony Hazelnut Butter", "ref": "Sprouted, pure hazelnut with no added sugar. Nutrition label: 2 tbsp = 28 g, 160 kcal. Extrapolates to approximately 224 g per US cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9469 }, { "name": "Georgia Grinders Hazelnut Butter", "ref": "Pure hazelnut butter. Nutrition label: 2 tbsp = 30 g, 190 kcal. Extrapolates to approximately 240 g per US cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144 }, { "name": "Wildfare Inc. Hazelnut Butter (USDA Branded Foods, FDC 2631002)", "ref": "Ingredients: Hazelnuts, Sugar. Nutrition label: 2 tbsp = 32 g, 210 kcal. Extrapolates to approximately 256 g per US cup. Sweetened variant.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 }, { "name": "Snapcalorie generic hazelnut butter reference", "ref": "Typical serving: 2 tbsp (~32 g), 190-200 kcal. Consistent with 256 g per US cup and lightly sweetened composition.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 }, { "name": "Wikipedia Nut butter reference table", "ref": "Approximate reference: 1 tbsp = ~15 g at 94 kcal. Extrapolates to 240 g per US cup for pure hazelnut butter. Consistent with Georgia Grinders pure product.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144 } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: Hazelnut butter weight per cup varies with brand and sweetening. Pure roasted hazelnut butter (Dastony, Georgia Grinders) lands at 224 to 240 grams per cup; lightly sweetened commercial hazelnut butter (Wildfare and similar) lands at 256 grams per cup. The range 224 to 256 is published with low confidence. Weigh from the specific jar you have.\n\nHazelnut butter is roasted ground hazelnuts, sometimes with a small amount of sugar or salt, processed to a smooth or slightly coarse paste. It is a distinct product from three closely related commercial items that people often conflate. First, hazelnut spread in the Nutella style is mostly sugar and palm oil with 13 percent hazelnuts and cocoa; King Arthur lists it at 320 grams per cup and it will get its own entry. Second, hazelnut praline paste is a 50-50 patisserie preparation of caramelized hazelnuts and sugar used in French pastry; King Arthur lists it at 312 grams per cup and it will also get its own entry. Third, gianduja is a chocolate and hazelnut confection distinct again. This entry covers pure or lightly sweetened hazelnut butter only.\n\nThe data does not converge to a single figure. Two pure hazelnut butter producers land at the low end: Dastony at 28 grams per 2-tablespoon serving (224 grams per cup) and Georgia Grinders at 30 grams per 2-tablespoon serving (240 grams per cup). Wikipedia's cross-nut-butter reference table also lists hazelnut butter at 15 grams per tablespoon, matching Georgia Grinders. USDA's Branded Foods entry for Wildfare Inc. Hazelnut Butter (ingredients: hazelnuts, sugar) lists 32 grams per 2 tablespoons, extrapolating to 256 grams per cup, and generic hazelnut butter references at Snapcalorie match. The split is not noise; it corresponds to whether the product includes added sugar. Sugar dissolves into the oil-suspended matrix and fills interstitial air pockets left by coarser grinds, raising bulk density by roughly 14 percent between the pure and sweetened tiers.\n\nThe physics check supports both ends. USDA whole shelled hazelnuts weigh 142 grams per US cup at approximately 0.600 grams per milliliter. Ground to butter, density rises to 0.95 to 1.08 g/mL, a 1.6 to 1.8x increase consistent with the whole-to-butter ratio observed with cashews (150 to 257 = 1.71x) and other tree nuts. Hazelnut composition of roughly 61 percent fat, 15 percent carbohydrate, and 15 percent protein by weight of the nut supports the lower-density end for a pure product without sugar filling voids.\n\nKing Arthur has no entry for pure hazelnut butter in their ingredient weight chart. Their two closest entries, Hazelnut spread at 320 grams per cup and Hazelnut Praline Paste at 312 grams per cup, are both correct for those specific sweetened products but should not be substituted for pure hazelnut butter. If a recipe calls for hazelnut butter without specifying a brand, the safe assumption is roughly 240 grams per cup for typical pure butter or 256 grams per cup for a lightly sweetened product; the twenty-gram spread across a full cup is enough to shift the outcome of ganaches, glazes, and no-bake fillings where the butter is the main structural ingredient. Weighing directly from the jar removes the guesswork." }, { "id": "hazelnut-praline-paste", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Hazelnut Praline Paste", "synonyms": [ "praline paste", "pate pralinee", "hazelnut praline", "caramelized hazelnut paste", "french hazelnut praline" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, spooned and leveled", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 1.2511, "range_max": 1.3187, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Retail-scale published sources span 5.4% (KA at 312 g/cup, homemade recipe cross-check at 296 g/cup), marginally above the 5% fat tolerance. No producer-brand serving-size data is available to break the tie because the professional pastry supply chain (Callebaut, Valrhona, DGF, MSK) sells this ingredient in bulk kg quantities without per-tablespoon nutrition labels. The 5% gap reflects measurement variance between a retail-chart figure and a homemade recipe yield estimate rather than genuine product bifurcation, but is not resolvable with currently available data.", "sources": [ { "name": "King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart", "ref": "Hazelnut Praline Paste listed at 1/2 cup = 5 1/2 oz = 156 g, extrapolating to 312 g per US cup. Primary published retail-scale reference for this ingredient.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.3187 }, { "name": "Homemade hazelnut praline paste recipes (The Flavor Bender / Cup of Yum) cross-check", "ref": "Traditional 100% hazelnut + caramelized sugar preparation. Recipe yields 815 grams from 2 3/4 cups, extrapolating to approximately 296 g per US cup. 5.4% below KA figure, drives the withheld range.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "Callebaut Hazelnut Praline Paste 50% (composition reference)", "ref": "Ingredients: Hazelnuts 50%, sugar, soya lecithin emulsifier. Industry-standard formulation for hazelnut praline paste as sold to pastry professionals. Product of Belgium. Sold in 11 lb bulk buckets without per-serving nutrition disclosure." }, { "name": "DGF Hazelnut Praline Paste 50% (composition reference)", "ref": "Ingredients: Hazelnuts (50%), sugar, stabilizer sorbitol, corn starch, natural sea salt, vanilla powder. Product of France. Sold in 13.2 lb / 6 kg professional bulk sizes." }, { "name": "Valrhona Praline 50% (composition reference)", "ref": "Specification sheet FT 19971. Composition: sugar 49.2%, hazelnuts 25.1%, almonds 25.1%, sunflower lecithin, vanilla extract. 520 kcal per 100 g. Note: Valrhona's standard 50% praline is a mixed almond and hazelnut product; their 60% Hazelnut Praline SKU is pure hazelnut." } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: Hazelnut praline paste weighs somewhere between 296 and 312 grams per US cup — the range is published with low confidence because the two available published sources (King Arthur at 312, homemade recipe cross-checks at 296) span 5.4%, and no professional pastry brand publishes per-serving weights to break the tie. Weigh from the jar for accuracy.\n\nHazelnut praline paste (French pâte pralinée) is a professional patisserie ingredient made from 50 percent caramelized roasted hazelnuts and 50 percent sugar, ground to a smooth or semi-smooth paste. The name comes from the French confectioner Praslin (17th century), whose sugar-boiled hazelnut technique became the foundation for what pastry chefs now call praline work. It is the flavor base for French classics like Paris-Brest, praline mousseline, hazelnut Bavarois, and countless bonbon fillings, and it is used as an ice cream flavor concentrate, entremet insert, and ganache enrichment. Callebaut, Valrhona, DGF, MSK, and Euronut are the dominant professional brands; Belgium and France dominate global production.\n\nThis product is distinct from two closely related items already in the database. Hazelnut butter is pure or lightly sweetened ground hazelnuts with no caramelized sugar component; it packs at 224 to 256 grams per cup depending on brand and sweetening. Hazelnut spread of the Nutella class contains only about 13 percent hazelnuts alongside 55 percent sugar, 30 percent palm oil, cocoa, and skim milk; it packs at 296 grams per cup. Hazelnut praline paste sits between them in composition (50 percent hazelnut, 50 percent sugar, no palm oil, no cocoa, no dairy) and closer to hazelnut spread in density because dissolved sugar dominates the packing behavior in both.\n\nThe source landscape for this ingredient is unusual, and it drives the low confidence rating. The professional pastry supply chain sells praline paste in 5 to 15 kilogram buckets, and Callebaut, Valrhona, DGF, and MSK all publish composition data but do not publish per-tablespoon serving weights on their labels, because pastry chefs weigh in grams and kilograms. That leaves King Arthur's ingredient chart at 312 grams per cup as the primary retail-scale published figure, cross-checked by homemade praline paste recipes at The Flavor Bender and Cup of Yum, which yield 815 grams from 2 3/4 cups (about 296 grams per cup). The 5.4 percent gap between these two figures exceeds the 5 percent tolerance for fat-category ingredients, so the range is published rather than a single figure, even though the gap likely reflects measurement noise between a chart figure and a kitchen recipe yield estimate rather than a real product bifurcation.\n\nThe physics calculation supports both endpoints and does not help narrow the range further. A 50/50 blend of ground hazelnuts (density approximately 1.0 to 1.08 grams per milliliter as smooth butter) with dissolved caramelized sugar (density approximately 1.59 grams per milliliter) predicts a bulk density between 1.23 and 1.29 grams per milliliter, or 291 to 305 grams per cup. King Arthur's 312 grams per cup implies 1.319 grams per milliliter, just above the physics window, consistent with a slightly denser commercial preparation using stabilizers like sorbitol and lecithin that displace air more effectively than a homemade preparation would. The homemade recipe figure at 296 grams per cup sits inside the physics window.\n\nFor practical baking, weigh from the jar rather than measuring by volume. If a recipe from a European or professional French source specifies praline paste by weight, use that figure directly. If a US-market recipe specifies praline paste in cups without a weight, either endpoint of the 296-to-312 range will produce reasonable results, but the 5 percent variance is enough to shift the outcome of ganaches, mousses, and ice cream bases where the paste is the main structural flavor ingredient. Praline paste separates on standing as natural oils rise; warming gently and stirring before measuring produces more consistent results than scooping cold from the jar." }, { "id": "hazelnut-spread", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Hazelnut Spread", "synonyms": [ "nutella", "chocolate hazelnut spread", "cocoa hazelnut spread", "chocolate flavored hazelnut spread", "gianduja spread" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, spooned and leveled", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511, "sources": [ { "name": "Nutella (Ferrero) nutrition label", "ref": "Serving size: 2 tablespoons (37 g), 200 kcal. Ingredients: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts (13%), skim milk, cocoa, soy lecithin, vanillin. Extrapolates to 296 g per US cup at 16 tbsp/cup. Nutella is the dominant US brand for this product category.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "USDA Chocolate-flavored hazelnut spread (NDB 19125)", "ref": "USDA reference entry: 2 tablespoons (37 g), 200 kcal. Serves as the FDA reference for this product category; all US private-label producers align their nutrition panels to this figure. Extrapolates to 296 g per US cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "Lidl hazelnut spread with cocoa", "ref": "Private label. Nutrition label: 2 tbsp (37 g), 200 kcal. Matches Nutella figure exactly.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "Great Value (Walmart) hazelnut spread with cocoa", "ref": "Private label. Nutrition label: 2 tbsp (37 g), 210 kcal. Matches Nutella serving-weight figure.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "Sprouts Farmers Market hazelnut spread with cocoa", "ref": "Private label. Nutrition label: 2 tbsp (37 g), 200 kcal. Matches Nutella figure.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2511 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking ingredient weight chart", "ref": "Hazelnut spread listed at 1/2 cup = 5 5/8 oz = 160 g, extrapolating to 320 g per US cup. 8.1% above the multi-brand producer convergence at 296 g/cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.3527, "rejected": true, "rejection_reason": "King Arthur's 320 g/cup figure is 8.1% above the exceptionally tight producer convergence at 296 g/cup, which is anchored by USDA's reference entry (NDB 19125) and matched exactly by Nutella (Ferrero), Lidl, Walmart Great Value, Sprouts, and Target Good & Gather. Every US retail brand aligns to 37 g per 2-tablespoon serving on the nutrition panel. The gap exceeds the 5% fat tolerance and appears to be another instance of King Arthur's fluid-ounce measurement pattern producing a systematic overweight, though smaller here than the sweet rice flour and rice flour corrections." } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: 1 cup of chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella and its private-label equivalents) weighs 296 grams. High confidence, based on exact convergence across every major US retail brand and USDA's reference entry. King Arthur lists 320 g/cup, which is 8% high and is rejected.\n\nHazelnut spread in this entry refers to the Nutella-class sweetened chocolate hazelnut spread that dominates US retail: sugar + palm oil + hazelnuts + cocoa + skim milk + emulsifier. Ferrero's Nutella is the category-defining product, and every major private label copy (Walmart Great Value, Target Good & Gather, Sprouts Farmers Market, Lidl, and others) uses effectively the same formulation and the same nutrition panel serving weight. This is a distinct product from pure or lightly sweetened hazelnut butter, which weighs 224 to 256 grams per cup depending on brand and sugar content, and from hazelnut praline paste, the 50-50 hazelnut and caramelized sugar patisserie ingredient used in French pastry.\n\nSugar is the number one ingredient in Nutella by weight, at roughly 55 percent of the product. Palm oil is second at around 30 percent. Hazelnuts contribute only about 13 percent, followed by small amounts of cocoa, skim milk powder, soy lecithin, and vanillin. This composition drives the density: dissolved sugar in the palm oil matrix produces a very smooth, air-free paste, and finely ground solids fill any remaining interstitial space. The result is a bulk density of about 1.25 grams per milliliter, significantly higher than pure nut butters at around 1.08 g/mL. Sugar's own density is roughly 1.59 g/mL when dissolved, and that fraction of the composition pulls the whole product's density upward from what ground hazelnuts alone would produce.\n\nThe source data is unusually clean. USDA's FoodData Central maintains a reference entry for 'Chocolate-flavored hazelnut spread' (NDB 19125) at 37 grams per 2-tablespoon serving. Nutella's nutrition panel matches this exactly. Every US private-label producer surveyed (Great Value, Good & Gather, Sprouts, Lidl) also lists 37 grams per 2 tablespoons on their panels. This convergence is what you would expect for a product category where private labels reverse-engineer the market leader's formulation almost identically, then submit nutrition data derived from the same USDA reference. The 296 grams per US cup extrapolation is therefore about as certain as any figure in the ExactCups database.\n\nKing Arthur's 320 grams per cup figure is 8 percent above this convergence. The gap is smaller than the sweet rice flour correction (33 percent) or the rice flour correction that preceded it, but it still exceeds the 5 percent tolerance for fat-category products and points in the same direction as the broader King Arthur pattern: a systematic tendency to overweight sticky and dense products, most plausibly from applying a fluid-ounce interpretation to what should be a weight measurement. A baker following King Arthur's chart to substitute Nutella for chocolate ganache filling would end up with about 24 grams more spread than the recipe intended per cup called for.\n\nFor practical baking, use 296 grams per cup for any Nutella-class hazelnut spread. The private label alternatives are direct substitutes by weight; Ferrero has trademark protection on the Nutella name and recipe details, but the retail category has effectively standardized around the same nutrition profile and packing density. Weighing directly from the jar is fastest and eliminates any variation from stirring versus settled scoops." }, { "id": "lard", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Lard", "synonyms": [ "pork lard", "rendered pork fat", "leaf lard", "manteca", "Armour lard" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, solid at room temperature, packed and leveled", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8665, "range_min": null, "range_max": null, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA SR Legacy \"Lard\" (FDC 171401)", "ref": "USDA Standard Release publishes 1 cup = 205 g (density 0.867 g/mL) and 1 tbsp = 12.8 g (204.8 g per cup). Fat 100 g, water 0 g per 100 g. Primary anchor.", "fdc_id": 171401, "density_g_per_ml": 0.8665 }, { "name": "Armour Lard (producer label)", "ref": "Retail nutrition label (King Soopers), 16-oz pack: 1 Tbsp (13 g), 34 servings, extrapolating to 208 g per cup (density 0.879 g/mL).", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8792 }, { "name": "Farmer John Lard (producer label)", "ref": "Retail listing (Walmart), 4-lb tub: 1 tbsp (13 g), extrapolating to 208 g per cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8792 }, { "name": "Codex Alimentarius CXS 211-1999, Standard for Named Animal Fats", "ref": "Relative density of lard at 40 °C (melted) against water at 20 °C: 0.896-0.904; rendered pork fat 0.894-0.906. That is 212-214 g per US cup of melted lard. A physical standard for the fat itself, not a cup measurement of the solid." }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking Ingredient Weight Chart", "ref": "KA lists \"Lard\" at 1/2 cup = 4 oz = 113 g, extrapolating to 227 g per US cup, density 0.959 g/mL.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9595, "rejected": true, "rejection_reason": "0.959 g/mL is heavier than lard itself. Melted lard is 0.896-0.904 g/mL by the Codex standard, and solid lard at room temperature is only a few percent denser, about 0.92; a cup packed with solid fat with no air at all could not pass about 218 g. USDA measures 205 g and the labels 208 g. Half a cup is 4 fluid ounces, and 113 g is 4 weight ounces: the fluid ounce read as a weight ounce, King Arthur's 227 g cup." } ], "verified": "2026-10-26", "last_reviewed": "2026-10-26" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Lard weighs 205 g per US cup (7.2 oz) and about 13 g per tablespoon, a density of 0.867 g/mL. USDA's cup and tablespoon and the Armour and Farmer John labels agree within 2%. King Arthur's 113 g per half cup would make a cup of lard heavier than solid lard itself and is rejected.\n\nLard is rendered pork fat: 100% fat, no water, by USDA's analysis. The shelf-stable blocks and tubs sold in US supermarkets, Armour, Morrell Snow Cap, Goya and Farmer John, are lard and hydrogenated lard with antioxidants, firm and white at room temperature. Leaf lard, from the fat around the kidneys, is the prized pastry fat, and unhydrogenated tubs such as EPIC and Fatworks are softer. Lard makes flaky pie crusts, tender tamales and tortillas, and it is the frying fat of much traditional cooking.\n\nUSDA SR Legacy \"Lard\" (FDC 171401) lists 1 tablespoon at 12.8 g and 1 cup at 205 g, two portions that agree to within a fifth of a gram per cup. Armour's 16-oz pack and Farmer John's tub label 1 tablespoon at 13 g, 208 g per cup, the same figure rounded to the gram. EPIC's rendered pork fat labels 14 g, 224 g per cup; that is outside the 5% tolerance for fats and looks like 13.5 g rounded up, so it is not used here.\n\nThe physical check runs through the fat's own density. Fat is lighter than water. The Codex Alimentarius standard for named animal fats (CXS 211-1999) puts melted lard at 0.896-0.904 g/mL at 40 °C, which is 212-214 g per cup of melted lard. Solid lard at room temperature is a few percent denser, about 0.92 g/mL, but a measuring cup packed with a stiff solid fat never fills perfectly: small pockets of air stay in the corners and between spoonfuls. USDA's 205 g is about 94% of the solid fat's weight in that volume, which is what a well-packed cup of a firm fat looks like.\n\nKing Arthur's chart lists lard at 1/2 cup = 4 oz = 113 g. That is 227 g per cup, 0.959 g/mL, heavier than lard can be even with no air in the cup at all. Half a cup is 4 fluid ounces, and 113 g is 4 weight ounces: the fluid ounce read as a weight ounce, the same mistake behind King Arthur's 227 g cup of water. The figure is recorded as a rejected source with its own correction page.\n\nPractical guidance: a 1-lb pack holds 454 g, about 2 1/4 cups; 1/2 cup is 102 g, 1/4 cup 51 g and 1 tablespoon 13 g. Packing a solid fat into a cup is the least accurate measurement in the kitchen, so weigh lard, especially for pastry. When swapping lard for butter, remember butter is about 80% fat and 16% water while lard is all fat: 100 g of butter is matched by about 80 g of lard plus a little extra liquid. Melted lard measures at about 212 g per cup." }, { "id": "marzipan", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Marzipan", "synonyms": [ "almond marzipan", "marzipan paste", "candy dough", "marzipan candy dough" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, room temperature paste", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 1.2257, "range_max": 1.3527, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Marzipan density spans 290-320 g/cup across major brands, a 10.3% spread that exceeds the 5% fat tolerance. Real variance driven by sugar-to-almond ratio differences between brands (typically 70/30 to 80/20 sugar-to-almond) and paste compression from packaging pressure. King Arthur's chart lists the low end at 290 g/cup; brand labels from Odense and Solo cluster at 312-320 g/cup.", "sources": [ { "name": "King Arthur Baking Company – Ingredient Weight Chart", "ref": "1 cup = 10 1/8 oz = 290 g. KA publishes as a single figure at the low end of the modern brand range. No correction warranted — KA's value is consistent with a less-compressed measurement of marzipan taken from a fresh roll before repeated handling and packing compresses the paste.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.2257 }, { "name": "Odense Marzipan label (7 oz roll)", "ref": "2 tablespoon serving = 39 g, giving 312 g/cup. Odense is the dominant Danish marzipan brand in North American baking, distributed nationally in supermarket baking aisles. Ingredients: sugar, almonds (28%), glucose syrup, water. The 28% almond content confirms marzipan as a sugar-dominant paste rather than an almond-dominant one.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.3189 }, { "name": "Solo Premium Marzipan label", "ref": "2 tablespoon serving = 40 g, giving 320 g/cup. Solo is a US-market marzipan brand. Ingredients: sugar, blanched almonds, water, sorbitol, corn syrup, potassium sorbate. The higher inclusion of humectants (sorbitol, corn syrup) vs Odense may account for slightly higher density.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.3527 } ], "verified": "2026-09-22", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-22" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Marzipan weighs 290-320 g/cup depending on brand. King Arthur's chart lists 290 g/cup at the low end; Odense (the dominant Danish brand distributed nationally in North America) lands at 312 g/cup by label; Solo Premium Marzipan at 320 g/cup. The spread reflects modest brand-to-brand variance in sugar-to-almond ratio and humectant inclusion.\n\nMarzipan is a dense confectionery paste of finely ground almonds and sugar, typically at a 25-30% almond / 70-75% sugar ratio, with small amounts of glucose syrup, water, and (in some brands) humectants like sorbitol. It is used for cake covering (rolled sheets over marzipan-glazed fruit cakes and stollen), molded decorations (marzipan fruits, animals, and figurines), candy making, and as a rich filling in European holiday baking.\n\n**Marzipan vs. almond paste — critical distinction for bakers.** This is one of the most consequential category confusions in serious baking. Marzipan and almond paste look similar, come from the same manufacturers, and are packaged identically in 7-oz cellophane-wrapped rolls — but they are not interchangeable. Odense, which makes both products, explicitly warns on their FAQ: 'Because baking is a science, we do not recommend using one in place of the other.'\n\n- **Marzipan** (this entry): approximately 28% almonds, 72% sugar. Sweeter, smoother, finer-textured. Made for candy, decoration, molded fruits, stollen filling, and rolled sheets to cover fruitcakes. Not designed to be baked as the primary structural element of a filling.\n- **Almond paste** (separate database entry): approximately 45-50% almonds, 50% sugar. Less sweet, coarser texture, more oil release from the higher almond content. Made for baking as a filling in bear claws, financiers, kringles, croissants, and Italian pignoli cookies.\n\nBoth products from Odense weigh the same per volume (approximately 312 g/cup at label spec) despite the different almond ratios, because sugar and finely ground almonds have similar packing density in a paste. The substitution problem is about flavor balance, sweetness level, and how the product behaves in an oven — not about weight. A recipe developed for almond paste that gets marzipan substituted will end up 20-30% sweeter than intended and may burn on top before the interior sets.\n\n**Roll size conversion.** Odense packages both marzipan and almond paste in 7-oz (198 g) rolls. Per Odense's FAQ, one 7-oz roll equals approximately 3/4 cup or 12 tablespoons. This is the most useful practical conversion for European holiday baking recipes that call for 'one roll of marzipan' without specifying a weight.\n\n**Physical density perspective.** Marzipan at 290-320 g/cup implies a density of 1.23-1.35 g/mL, notably denser than water. This makes sense: crystalline sugar is 1.59 g/mL and packed ground almonds are 0.6-0.7 g/mL, so a 75/25 sugar-almond paste should compute to roughly 1.3 g/mL — matching the observed brand values. Marzipan is one of the densest 'liquid-adjacent' ingredients in typical baking, which is why volume measurement is particularly imprecise (small compression differences translate to large weight differences).\n\n**Storage and workability.** Refrigerated marzipan hardens significantly and needs to warm to room temperature before working; frozen marzipan can dry out and become crumbly. Wrap tightly in plastic and store in a sealed bag; Odense recommends up to two weeks refrigerated or three months frozen after opening. Room-temperature working marzipan is what most recipes assume for density measurement — cold marzipan will pack denser than the label spec, and dried-out marzipan will pack looser.\n\n**Practical baker guidance.** For volume-only recipes, weigh marzipan at approximately 300 g/cup (midpoint of the brand range). For rolled sheet applications (fruitcake covering, stollen), thickness matters more than exact weight. For molded decoration, working with a consistent brand across a project is more important than hitting a specific gram figure — brand-to-brand texture differences show up in how well the marzipan holds a molded shape." }, { "id": "mayonnaise", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Mayonnaise", "synonyms": [ "mayo", "real mayonnaise" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, spooned and leveled", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 0.8791, "range_max": 0.9552, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Commercial mayonnaise density spans roughly 208-226 g/cup depending on brand and formulation, a 9% spread that exceeds the 5% fat tolerance. The variance reflects genuine differences in oil-to-water ratio between major brands (Hellmann's and Kraft label at 13 g/tablespoon = 208 g/cup, Duke's at 14 g/tablespoon = 224 g/cup) plus historical drift as brands have reformulated toward lower fat content over time.", "sources": [ { "name": "King Arthur Baking Company – Ingredient Weight Chart", "ref": "1/2 cup = 4 oz = 113 g, giving 226 g/cup. KA publishes this as a single figure at the upper end of the modern producer range, likely reflecting a higher-fat reference formulation. No correction needed — KA's figure is consistent with the USDA reference and the Duke's label, and sits within the honest commercial range.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9552 }, { "name": "USDA FoodData Central – Mayonnaise, regular (via aqua-calc density table)", "ref": "232 g per metric cup (250 mL) = density 0.928 g/mL = approximately 220 g per US cup. USDA's FNDDS reference value for regular mayonnaise. Sits between the Hellmann's/Kraft brand cluster at 208 g/cup and the KA/Duke's figures at 224-226 g/cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9298 }, { "name": "Hellmann's Real Mayonnaise label (matches Kraft Real Mayonnaise exactly)", "ref": "13 g per 1 tablespoon serving = 208 g/cup. Hellmann's is the dominant national brand (also sold as Best Foods west of the Rockies). Kraft Real Mayonnaise labels at the identical 13 g/tablespoon figure. Both brands together represent the majority of US mayonnaise sales, so this is the density most home bakers actually encounter. The FDA-rounded label value (13g) may slightly understate the true density — 13g in 14.79 mL equals 0.879 g/mL, suspiciously below the typical 77% fat emulsion physical density of about 0.94 g/mL — but this is what the label states.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8791 }, { "name": "Duke's Real Mayonnaise label", "ref": "14 g per 1 tablespoon serving = 224 g/cup. Duke's is the dominant regional brand in the American South and has a slightly denser formulation than Hellmann's/Kraft, consistent with their marketing emphasis on higher egg-yolk content and no added sugar. Sits close to the KA chart figure of 226 g/cup.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9467 } ], "verified": "2026-09-22", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-22" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Mayonnaise weighs 208-226 g/cup depending on brand. King Arthur lists 226 g/cup on their ingredient weight chart, USDA's reference sits at about 220 g/cup, and the two dominant national brands (Hellmann's and Kraft) label at 208 g/cup. Duke's, the Southern regional dominant brand, sits at 224 g/cup. No single value is defensibly correct across all commercial mayonnaise.\n\nMayonnaise is FDA-defined as an emulsion containing at least 65% vegetable oil, plus egg yolks or whole eggs, vinegar or lemon juice, and typically water and salt. That composition puts it firmly in the fat category despite its spreadable emulsion form — physically it packs and scoops like other fat-dominant spreads (peanut butter, almond butter, tahini), not like liquids. The oil-in-water emulsion structure gives mayo a density close to but slightly below its oil component, since the small amount of water and eggs raises the composite density above pure oil (0.92 g/mL) toward roughly 0.93-0.96 g/mL depending on formulation.\n\nKing Arthur has mayonnaise on their weight chart at 226 g/cup, and unlike many entries where this catalog corrects KA, no correction is warranted here. Their figure aligns with the USDA reference (220 g/cup) and the Duke's label (224 g/cup). The chart entry is old — mayonnaise has been on standard baking charts for decades — and it likely reflects a mid-1990s reference formulation before the light-mayo era shifted the market toward lower-fat, higher-water products.\n\nThe density spread across current brands reflects real formulation differences. Hellmann's (also sold as Best Foods) and Kraft both label at 13 g per tablespoon, giving 208 g/cup, and together represent a majority of US retail mayonnaise sales. Duke's runs slightly heavier at 14 g per tablespoon (224 g/cup), consistent with their marketing emphasis on higher egg-yolk content and no added sugar. Historical USDA references from earlier decades list mayo at 15 g per tablespoon (240 g/cup), reflecting the higher-fat formulations typical before commercial reformulation trends nudged product lines toward lower oil content.\n\nOne technical note on the Hellmann's/Kraft label figure: 13g in a 14.79 mL tablespoon equals a density of 0.879 g/mL, which is suspiciously close to pure vegetable oil and below the physical density of a typical 77% fat oil-in-water emulsion. FDA nutrition label rounding rules for values between 5g and 49g round to the nearest 1g, so a true weight of 13.5g would round down to 13g on the label. The 208 g/cup figure derived from the label may therefore slightly understate the actual density of the product. Either way, that is what the label states, and it is what a consumer reading the package would calculate.\n\nLight and reduced-fat mayonnaise are distinct products and not covered by this entry. Light mayo has substantially more water (often 40-50% water versus 15-20% for regular), which changes the density even though the volume-per-tablespoon label figure often stays similar (15g for Hellmann's Light versus 13g for regular).\n\nPractical baker guidance: for chocolate mayonnaise cake and other recipes where mayo replaces some fat and eggs, 220 g/cup is a reasonable default when the recipe does not specify a brand. For volume-only recipes, the difference between brands (208 to 226 g/cup) is roughly 9%, which affects moist quick-bread textures noticeably but not catastrophically. Weighing to the recipe developer's stated gram figure is the most reliable path when precision matters." }, { "id": "olive-oil", "schema_version": 2, "name": "Olive oil", "synonyms": [ "extra virgin olive oil", "EVOO", "virgin olive oil" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "liquid", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "liquid", "label": "Liquid, at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": 0.913, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 171413, SR Legacy, 1 undetermined tablespoon = 13.5 g", "density_g_per_ml": 0.913 }, { "name": "FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius", "ref": "CXS 33-1981, Appendix section 3, relative density 20C/water 20C", "range_min": 0.91, "range_max": 0.916, "note": "Standard specifies a range, not a figure, determined per IUPAC 2.101. It is used to confirm or reject the other figures; it does not supply the published value." }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, olive oil, 1/4 cup = 50 g", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8455, "rejected": true, "rejection_reason": "0.8455 g/ml falls 7.1% below the Codex Alimentarius range of 0.910-0.916 at 20C. Olive oil is a liquid with no packing state, so no measuring method can account for the gap. The figure cannot be correct for olive oil at any normal temperature." } ], "verified": "2026-09-14", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-14" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "The first entry where an independent third source rejected one of the other two rather than breaking a tie. USDA publishes three measures for FDC 171413: a cup at 216 g, a tablespoon at 13.5 g and a teaspoon at 4.5 g. On the US customary cup of 236.5882365 ml and its exact sixteenth and forty-eighth, all three give 0.91298 g/ml to five decimal places. They are one density rounded three ways, not three measurements, and USDA does not disagree with itself here. An earlier version of this entry reported the cup as 0.9000 g/ml and reasoned at length about rounding becoming visible against an independent standard. That figure did not exist in USDA's data. It was produced by dividing the cup by 240 ml, the FDA labelling cup, while dividing the spoons by customary volumes, so the cup alone was measured against the wrong denominator. The site now derives every volume from a single cup constant, which is what makes the error unrepeatable rather than merely corrected. Codex Alimentarius CXS 33-1981 specifies olive oil relative density as 0.910 to 0.916 at 20C, determined per IUPAC 2.101, and 0.9130 falls inside it. The standard confirms USDA rather than adjudicating between USDA's own portions. King Arthur Baking's chart gives 1/4 cup as 50 g, implying 0.8455 g/ml on the customary cup. That is 7.1% below the Codex range. A liquid has no sifted-or-scooped variation, so unlike flour there is no measuring method that reconciles the two figures; the chart value is simply wrong for olive oil. It is recorded as a rejected source rather than deleted, because a published figure that is wrong is worth knowing about. Density falls as temperature rises, so oil measured warm weighs slightly less per cup than the same oil measured cold." }, { "id": "palm-shortening", "name": "Palm shortening", "synonyms": [ "palm oil shortening", "hydrogenated palm shortening", "vegan shortening" ], "category": "fat", "schema_version": 3, "confidence": "low", "default_state": "standard", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard (soft solid at room temperature)", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 0.7608, "range_max": 0.8664, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Sources disagree by 13.9%, outside the 5% tolerance this site applies to fats. The gap is consistent with different packing methods (spooned vs firmly packed) rather than a source error, and matches the same disagreement pattern seen in vegetable shortening. Neither source names its packing method, so the range is published and the physical reason is stated rather than choosing one figure over the other.", "verified": "2026-09-18", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-18", "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 172331 (Shortening frying (heavy duty), palm (hydrogenated), SR Legacy). Published: 1 cup = 205 g, 1 tbsp = 13 g. Density 0.8664 g/mL. Composition: 100% fat (48% saturated, 40% monounsaturated, 7% polyunsaturated), 0% water. Likely reflects firmly packed measurement.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8664 }, { "name": "King Arthur", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, 'Palm shortening', 1/4 cup = 45 g, extrapolates to 180 g per cup, density 0.7608 g/mL. Likely reflects a lighter spoon-and-level fill.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.7608 } ] } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Palm shortening is a solid fat product manufactured by hydrogenating palm oil. It is used interchangeably with soybean-based vegetable shortening in most baking applications, and is common in vegan cooking (no animal products), allergen-restricted diets (no soy), and in commercial products where a firmer, higher-melting fat is preferred. Modern palm shortening is 100% fat and 0% water, with the same physical behaviour as vegetable shortening: soft enough to scoop, firm enough to hold a shape.\n\nThe two accepted sources for cup weight disagree beyond the 5% tolerance this site applies to fats, in the same pattern seen with vegetable shortening. USDA FoodData Central (FDC 172331, Shortening frying heavy duty, palm hydrogenated) publishes 205 grams per cup, implying a density of 0.8664 g/mL. King Arthur Baking publishes 180 grams per cup, implying 0.7608 g/mL. The gap is 13.9%. Because both are legitimate measurements of the same substance, and the gap reflects a real physical variable (packing method) rather than a source error, this site publishes the range they cover rather than choosing one.\n\nThe same physical reasoning applies as with vegetable shortening: a soft-solid fat at room temperature can be scooped gently or packed firmly, and different sources make different choices without stating which. USDA at 205 g per cup and King Arthur at 180 g per cup are consistent with one source measuring firmly packed shortening and the other measuring a gentler spoon-and-level fill. The two shortening entries on this site (vegetable and palm) share the same range-publish reason, which suggests solid-fat entries in the fats category are a class where packing method dominates source disagreement.\n\nWhere palm shortening differs from vegetable shortening is composition. Palm shortening is roughly 48% saturated fat, compared to about 25% for soybean-based vegetable shortening. This higher saturated content gives palm shortening a firmer texture and a higher melting point, both of which make it a preferred choice for pastries where the fat needs to hold its shape at slightly elevated temperatures. The higher saturated content also drives the environmental and health debates around palm oil that have shaped the fat industry in recent decades, but the physical measurement (cup weight per volume) is independent of those considerations.\n\nFor accuracy in baking, weigh palm shortening on a kitchen scale rather than measuring by volume. The 14% disagreement between sources on cup weight is large enough to affect the outcome of pastry doughs and biscuits where the fat-to-flour ratio matters.\n\nThis entry covers standard hydrogenated palm shortening as sold for baking. It does not cover vegetable shortening (soybean-based, listed separately at the same range and for the same reasons); palm oil (liquid at warm temperatures, a distinct ingredient); palm kernel oil (a different extract from the palm fruit with different composition); or fractionated palm shortening (a specialty confectionery product with its own physical properties).\n\nThe confidence grade is low because sources disagree beyond category tolerance and the entry publishes a range rather than a single figure. A third independent source measuring palm shortening under a stated packing method would resolve the ambiguity.", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-18" }, { "id": "peanut-butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Peanut butter", "synonyms": [ "smooth peanut butter", "creamy peanut butter", "natural peanut butter" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "smooth", "confidence": "medium", "states": [ { "id": "smooth", "label": "Smooth, at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0905, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 172470, SR Legacy, 1 undetermined cup = 258 g", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0905 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, peanut butter, 1/2 cup = 135 g", "density_g_per_ml": 1.1412 } ], "verified": "2026-09-15", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-15" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Sources agree within 4.5%, inside the 5% fat category tolerance but close to it. USDA FDC 172470 gives a cup of smooth peanut butter without salt at 258 g (1.0905 g/ml) and a tablespoon at 16 g (1.0821 g/ml, back-calculated from the 32 g per 2 tbsp portion), a spread of 0.77% that indicates the two USDA figures are one density rounded twice rather than two measurements. King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart gives 135 g per half cup, implying 270 g per cup or 1.1412 g/ml. Peanut butter is placed in the fat category alongside butter and the oils because its measurement behaviour is fat-like rather than powder-like: it is a plastic solid at room temperature that deforms under pressure and does not compact meaningfully during filling. It is not chemically fat, being roughly 50% oil by weight with the balance in peanut solids, but the category assignment is about how the substance interacts with a measuring cup rather than its composition. Peanut butter differs from butter in one important way: US butter is sold in cup-marked wrappers, so the cup weight reflects the packaging convention and is exceptionally consistent across sources. Peanut butter jars carry no such markings, so cup weight is a real measurement of how the substance fills a vessel, and the residual measurement variation is what accounts for the USDA-King Arthur disagreement. Retail nutrition labels for the major smooth peanut butter brands (Jif, Skippy, and generic equivalents) declare 32 g per 2 tablespoons, matching the USDA portion to the nearest gram. Label figures are too coarse to count as measurements because they round on a small measure, but the fact that the consumer standard matches USDA rather than King Arthur is evidence that USDA reflects typical fill and King Arthur measured a more forcefully packed cup. Natural peanut butter (containing only ground peanuts and salt, with no added palm oil or emulsifier) separates on standing and must be stirred to reintegrate the oil before measuring; the density above assumes a stirred and homogeneous jar. Chunky and crunchy peanut butter are separate products and are not covered by this entry: USDA FDC 172473 lists chunk style at 258 g per cup, the same figure as smooth, but the presence of peanut chunks makes cup filling less repeatable and warrants a separate entry with its own sourcing. Reduced-fat peanut butter typically contains added maltodextrin and other bulking agents that increase density, and is also outside the scope of this entry. No standards body publishes a bulk density for peanut butter. FDA identity standards (21 CFR 164.150) specify that peanut butter must contain at least 90% peanuts and cover permitted additives, but not physical density. Two independent sources agree, which is enough to publish; confidence stays medium until a third independent measurement confirms it." }, { "id": "pistachio-butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Pistachio Butter", "synonyms": [ "pistachio nut butter", "creamy pistachio butter", "ground pistachios", "pure pistachio butter" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard, stirred and spooned", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA Branded (Pistachio Butter UPC 765857206769) via aqua-calc", "ref": "271 g per metric cup, listed as 9 oz per US cup; converts to approximately 256 g per US cup", "density_g_per_ml": 1.084 }, { "name": "Nutty Gourmet Pistachio Butter", "ref": "Producer serving size: 2 tablespoons = 32 g; extrapolates to 256 g per US cup (16 tbsp/cup)", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 }, { "name": "The Pistachio Factory Pistachio Butter", "ref": "Producer serving size: 2 tablespoons = 32 g; extrapolates to 256 g per US cup", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 }, { "name": "Wildfare Inc. Pistachio Butter (USDA Branded Foods Database)", "ref": "USDA Branded entry confirms pure pistachio butter composition (pistachios only, or pistachios plus sugar in sweetened variant); nutrition-facts basis consistent with 256 g per cup landing zone" }, { "name": "Nutriscan pistachio butter reference", "ref": "2 tablespoons (32 g) at 170 kcal; consistent with 256 g per cup and pistachio composition", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 }, { "name": "Fitia generic pistachio butter", "ref": "1 tablespoon = 16 g; extrapolates to 256 g per US cup", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0821 } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: 1 cup of pistachio butter weighs 256 grams. High confidence, based on six converging sources including USDA Branded Foods, two producer serving-size disclosures, and multiple generic nutrition databases.\n\nPistachio butter is ground roasted pistachios, sometimes with a pinch of salt and rarely with added oil, processed to a smooth or slightly coarse paste. It sits in the same commercial category as almond butter, cashew butter, and sunflower seed butter: a pure nut or seed butter with no significant sweetener, dairy, or emulsifier content. Sweetened pistachio spreads and pistachio creams (Italian crema al pistacchio and similar) are distinct products, typically containing sugar and sometimes milk powder or oil, and they pack differently.\n\nThe data converges tightly. USDA's Branded Foods database entry for a commercial pistachio butter (UPC 765857206769) lists 271 grams per metric cup, which the same database converts to 9 ounces per US cup, or approximately 256 grams. Nutty Gourmet and The Pistachio Factory both disclose 32-gram serving weights for two tablespoons, which extrapolates to 256 grams per US cup at 16 tablespoons per cup. Generic pistachio butter references at Nutriscan and Fitia give the same figure. This is the same convergence pattern seen for cashew butter (257 g/cup) and sunflower seed butter (257 g/cup), all three nut and seed butters landing within 1% of each other because they share similar bulk densities: dense ground solids with 50 to 65 percent fat by weight, minimal air incorporation, and no crystalline structure.\n\nThe density check supports the figure independently. USDA raw shelled pistachios weigh about 123 grams per US cup at 0.520 g/mL as whole nuts. Grinding to a smooth butter displaces air pockets and increases density to roughly 1.08 g/mL, a 2.08x increase. This matches the whole-to-butter density ratio observed with cashews and other tree nuts.\n\nOne branded outlier exists: Fiddyment Farms lists 28 grams for a 2-tablespoon serving, which would extrapolate to 224 g/cup, about 14 percent below the convergence. This appears to be a serving-size rounding rather than a genuine density difference; the calorie load (180 kcal for 28 g) is inconsistent with pistachio composition at that weight, so the serving size is likely the source of the discrepancy rather than the product. Not accepted as an independent data point.\n\nKing Arthur has no entry for pistachio butter. Their ingredient weight chart lists 'Pistachio Paste' at 78 g per quarter cup, which extrapolates to 312 g per cup, but this is a fundamentally different product. King Arthur's own recipe for pistachio paste combines 160 g of roasted pistachios with 74 g of granulated sugar and 57 to 85 g of water to make one generous cup, which is a patisserie-style sweetened paste analogous to almond paste, not a nut butter. The 312 g/cup figure is correct for that specific product but should not be substituted for pistachio butter in a recipe.\n\nFor baking, weigh pistachio butter rather than measuring by volume. Natural nut butters separate on standing, and cup measures taken from a well-stirred jar versus a settled jar can vary by 5 to 10 percent. Weighing eliminates the variance entirely." }, { "id": "sunflower-seed-butter", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Sunflower Seed Butter", "synonyms": [ "sunbutter", "sunflower butter", "SunButter", "sunflower nut butter", "ground sunflower seed paste" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "standard", "confidence": "high", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Sunflower seed butter, stirred", "density_g_per_ml": 1.084, "sources": [ { "name": "USDA Branded Foods (via aqua-calc) — UPC 041512138379", "ref": "Sunflower seed butter at 271 g per metric cup, converting to approximately 257 g per US cup. USDA-database branded entry.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.084 }, { "name": "USDA composition (Seeds, sunflower seed butter, without salt)", "ref": "USDA composition reference cited via Eat This Much lists sunflower seed butter at 256 g per cup (16 g per tablespoon), within 1 gram of the branded label figure.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.082 }, { "name": "SunButter product Nutrition Facts label", "ref": "SunButter (Red River Commodities), the dominant US retail brand, lists 32 g per 2-tablespoon serving on the Nutrition Facts panel, extrapolating to 256 g per cup. Third convergent source alongside USDA composition and USDA branded data.", "density_g_per_ml": 1.082 } ], "verified": "2026-09-21", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-21" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "TL;DR: Sunflower seed butter weighs 257 grams per cup (1.084 g/mL) based on USDA Branded Foods label data, USDA composition data, and independent producer Nutrition Facts panels. King Arthur does not list sunflower seed butter on their ingredient weight chart, but the figure is well-anchored without them and matches cashew butter and tahini at the same density.\n\nSunflower seed butter is ground roasted sunflower seeds, sometimes with added salt or a small percentage of oil for stabilization. It emerged as the dominant nut-free alternative for school lunches and allergy-sensitive baking, driven largely by SunButter (Red River Commodities), which built the US market from a small allergy-safe niche into a mainstream category. Other retail options include Trader Joe's, Once Again, Simple Truth, and various private-label products, but SunButter's market dominance mirrors Jovial's position in einkorn — one brand shapes the reference figures.\n\nUSDA Branded Foods lists sunflower seed butter (UPC 041512138379) at 271 grams per metric cup, converting to approximately 257 grams per US cup — identical to the USDA figure for cashew butter and matching the tahini paste value in King Arthur's chart. Independent producer Nutrition Facts data confirms: SunButter's label lists 32 grams per 2-tablespoon serving, extrapolating to 256 grams per cup. USDA composition data for 'Seeds, sunflower seed butter, without salt' converges on the same figure. Convergence across USDA composition, USDA branded label, and producer label — three independent sources all landing within a gram of each other.\n\nKing Arthur Baking's ingredient weight chart lists sunflower seeds at 140 grams per cup but does not carry an entry for sunflower seed butter. As with cashew butter, this reflects the historically lower profile of seed butters in traditional American baking rather than any variance in the underlying figure — the number is settled without KA. Home bakers using sunflower seed butter in cookies, energy bars, or as a peanut butter substitute in school-safe recipes can use the 257 g/cup figure with confidence.\n\nThe physical position of sunflower seed butter among ground seed and nut butters is worth noting. King Arthur's almond butter and peanut butter both sit at 270-272 g/cup — 5 percent denser than sunflower at 257 — because almonds and peanuts have higher fiber content and denser cellular structure, producing a slightly heavier paste when ground. Sunflower seeds have roughly the same fat content as cashews (about 50 percent) with slightly higher fiber, but the smaller seed size and softer kernel structure yield a smoother, less-dense paste closely matching cashew butter. Tahini (ground sesame seeds) coincidentally lands at the same 256 g/cup figure despite sesame's very different composition — sesame seeds are much smaller and higher in fiber than sunflower seeds, but the fine grind produces a similarly smooth paste.\n\nSunflower seed butter's density is sensitive to oil separation, which happens naturally in unstabilized products stored at room temperature. Stir thoroughly before measuring to redistribute any surface oil. SunButter's original product includes small amounts of added sugar and mono- and diglycerides to prevent separation and reduce the chlorogenic acid greening reaction with baking soda that occurs in unstabilized sunflower seed butter — worth knowing when substituting into recipes containing baking soda, since the greening turns baked goods a distinctive pale green color that is harmless but visually surprising.\n\nPractical baker recommendation: use 257 g/cup for sunflower seed butter. Stir thoroughly before measuring. If substituting sunflower seed butter 1:1 for peanut butter in a recipe by weight, expect a slightly softer texture and, in recipes with baking soda, monitor for the chlorogenic acid greening reaction — adding a teaspoon of lemon juice or vinegar neutralizes it." }, { "id": "tahini", "schema_version": 3, "name": "Tahini", "synonyms": [ "tahini paste", "sesame paste", "sesame butter", "tahina", "tahin" ], "category": "fat", "default_state": "stirred", "confidence": "low", "states": [ { "id": "stirred", "label": "Well stirred, at room temperature", "density_g_per_ml": null, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Two sources disagree by 6.5%, over the 5% tolerance for this category.", "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 170189, SR Legacy, 1 undetermined cup = 240 g, 1 tablespoon = 15 g", "density_g_per_ml": 1.0144 }, { "name": "King Arthur Baking", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, tahini paste, 1/2 cup = 128 g", "density_g_per_ml": 1.082 } ], "verified": "2026-09-15", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-15" } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Two sources 6.5% apart, over the 5% tolerance for the fat category, so this entry publishes a range. USDA FDC 170189 (Seeds, sesame butter, tahini, from roasted and toasted kernels, most common type) publishes a cup at 240 g and a tablespoon at 15 g, and the two are exactly proportional at sixteen tablespoons per cup, giving 1.0144 g/ml with no rounding drift. This internal consistency indicates the two figures are one density recorded twice rather than two measurements. King Arthur's Ingredient Weight Chart gives 128 g per half cup, implying 256 g per cup or 1.0820 g/ml. Tahini is placed in the fat category alongside peanut butter and coconut oil because its measurement behaviour is fat-like: a plastic paste at room temperature that fills a cup without meaningful compaction. It is roughly 55% oil by weight with the balance in ground sesame solids, and the physics of measuring it is closer to peanut butter than to liquid coconut milk. The 6.5% source disagreement reflects a genuine property of tahini that no other ingredient in this dataset shows to the same degree: it separates dramatically on standing. A jar left undisturbed for weeks develops a distinct top layer of nearly pure sesame oil and a stiff, dense sediment of sesame solids at the bottom. Measured before stirring, a cup scooped from the top could weigh as little as 210 g (mostly oil at about 0.92 g/ml), and a cup scraped from the bottom could exceed 280 g. Recipes universally specify well-stirred tahini, and both source figures are presumably for the stirred state, but even a well-stirred jar retains some vertical variation in composition and the exact fat-to-solid ratio at the point of measurement affects the density. Roasted and unroasted tahini have slightly different densities. USDA publishes three distinct records: FDC 170189 (roasted and toasted, 240 g/cup, most common commercial type), FDC 169406 (unroasted with non-chemically removed seed coat, 224 g/cup), and FDC 169410 (raw and stone ground). Roasting drives off moisture and slightly increases oil content by weight percentage, which raises density. This entry uses the roasted figure because it matches the standard commercial product sold under the tahini name in Western markets. Unhulled or wholegrain tahini (made from unblanched sesame seeds with the skins intact) is a distinct product with earthier flavour and coarser texture, though most publishing converters treat it as the same weight per cup as hulled tahini in the absence of separate published data. No standards body publishes a bulk density for tahini. Codex Alimentarius has no dedicated standard for sesame paste products, and the Middle Eastern regional standards (SFDA in Saudi Arabia, Israeli SI 269) specify composition and hygiene requirements rather than physical density. Two sources only, and the range is published because no third source arbitrates between USDA's tighter, internally consistent figure and King Arthur's heavier chart figure." }, { "id": "vegetable-oil", "name": "Vegetable oil", "aliases": [ "cooking oil", "soybean oil", "soy oil", "salad oil" ], "category": "fat", "schema_version": 3, "confidence": "medium", "default_state": "standard", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard (soybean or soy-canola blend)", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9214, "verified": "2026-09-17", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-17", "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 173573 (Oil, soybean, salad or cooking, SR Legacy). Published: 1 cup = 218 g, 1 tbsp = 13.6 g. Density 0.9214 g/mL. Composition: ~100% fat (58% polyunsaturated, 23% monounsaturated, 15% saturated), trace water and no protein or carbohydrate. Same figure applies to canola oil (FDC 173571) within 1%.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.9214 }, { "name": "King Arthur", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, 'Vegetable oil', 1 cup = 198 g, density 0.8369 g/mL. Appears to result from rounding the ounce label (7.69 oz per cup) down to 7 oz, then multiplying by 28.35 to derive grams (7 × 28.35 = 198.45).", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8369, "rejected": true, "rejection_reason": "198 g/cup implies a density of 0.8369 g/mL, below the physical density of every common food-grade vegetable oil. Soybean, canola, corn, sunflower and safflower oils all sit between 0.917 and 0.923 g/mL at room temperature — a well-established physical constant published by the FDA and Codex. King Arthur's figure appears to be an ounce-rounding artifact rather than a measurement of actual oil." } ] } ], "yields": [], "notes": "The bottle labelled 'vegetable oil' on a US supermarket shelf is not one thing. Most brands are refined soybean oil; some are canola; some are soy-canola blends; a small number are corn or sunflower. The one thing they have in common is that they are all liquid at room temperature and all sit at essentially the same density — between 0.917 and 0.923 grams per millilitre, a range narrow enough that the specific oil almost never matters for measurement.\n\nUSDA FoodData Central publishes 1 cup of soybean oil at 218 grams and 1 tablespoon at 13.6 grams (FDC 173573, Oil, soybean, salad or cooking). Canola oil (FDC 173571) publishes the same 218 grams per cup within a fraction of a percent. Density comes out to 0.9214 grams per millilitre either way. This matches the physical density of pure triglyceride oils at 20 degrees Celsius, which the Codex Alimentarius standard for named vegetable oils (CXS 210-1999) publishes for each type as part of the identity specification. Standards agree because the underlying molecules — long-chain fatty acid triglycerides — have similar molecular volumes regardless of which plant they came from.\n\nKing Arthur's ingredient weight chart publishes 1 cup at 198 grams, which implies a density of 0.8369 grams per millilitre. That figure is below every real vegetable oil, and it is close enough to what you get from rounding 7.69 ounces (the actual cup weight in ounces) down to a flat 7 ounces and then multiplying by 28.35 grams per ounce that the arithmetic origin is visible. Whether or not that is the exact cause, the physical impossibility is enough to reject the figure. Oil is not a liquid whose density varies by measurement method the way a milled powder does — the density is a property of the substance, and the substance is well-characterised.\n\nRelated oil entries on this site cover the individual named oils. Olive oil sits at 216 grams per cup and 0.913 grams per millilitre — slightly less dense than soybean because of its higher monounsaturated fat content and slightly different molecular composition. Canola oil is at 218 grams per cup, essentially identical to soybean. Coconut oil, which King Arthur publishes at 113 grams per half cup (226 grams per cup, density 0.955), is denser than the liquid oils because it is solid at room temperature and packs more tightly; that entry is a separate case. When a recipe simply says 'oil' or 'vegetable oil' without specifying which one, the USDA figure of 218 grams per cup applies to almost any commercial cooking oil the reader is likely to have.\n\nFor recipes that specify one oil by name, use that oil's own entry. For recipes that call for a generic 'vegetable oil', use this entry. The one meaningful exception is coconut oil: because it is solid or semi-solid at room temperature depending on the season, it is not a substitute for liquid vegetable oil at equal volume even though the densities are close.\n\nFDA regulates vegetable oils under general food safety and labelling rules rather than an ingredient-specific identity standard. The Codex Alimentarius standard CXS 210-1999 covers named vegetable oils (soybean, canola, sunflower, safflower, corn, cottonseed, peanut, palm, coconut) and specifies expected density ranges as part of the physical identification.\n\nThe category here is 'fat' rather than 'liquid' because vegetable oil behaves as a pure fat in a measuring cup: it pours cleanly, self-levels immediately, does not compact or bridge, and its density is fixed by the physical properties of the oil rather than by any handling variation. The 5 percent fat category tolerance would apply if a second accepted source existed; since King Arthur's figure is rejected, the entry is medium confidence on the strength of the USDA measurement plus corroborating Codex identity standards.", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-17" }, { "id": "vegetable-shortening", "name": "Vegetable shortening", "synonyms": [ "shortening", "solid shortening", "hydrogenated vegetable shortening", "all-vegetable shortening" ], "category": "fat", "schema_version": 3, "confidence": "low", "default_state": "standard", "states": [ { "id": "standard", "label": "Standard (soft solid at room temperature)", "density_g_per_ml": null, "range_min": 0.7777, "range_max": 0.8664, "withheld": true, "withheld_reason": "Sources disagree by 11.4%, outside the 5% tolerance this site applies to fats. The gap is consistent with different packing methods (spooned vs firmly packed) rather than a source error. Neither source names its packing method, so the range is published and the physical reason for the disagreement is stated rather than choosing one figure over the other.", "verified": "2026-09-18", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-18", "sources": [ { "name": "USDA FoodData Central", "ref": "FDC 172332 (Shortening, household, soybean hydrogenated and palm, SR Legacy). Published: 1 cup = 205 g, 1 tbsp = 13 g. Density 0.8664 g/mL. Composition: 100% fat, 0% water. Likely reflects firmly packed measurement.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.8664 }, { "name": "King Arthur", "ref": "Ingredient Weight Chart, 'Vegetable shortening', 1/4 cup = 46 g, extrapolates to 184 g per cup, density 0.7777 g/mL. Likely reflects a lighter spoon-and-level fill.", "density_g_per_ml": 0.7777 } ] } ], "yields": [], "notes": "Vegetable shortening is a solid fat product manufactured by hydrogenating vegetable oil, historically soybean or cottonseed. Modern shortening (post-2018 FDA ban on partially hydrogenated oils) is typically made from a blend of fully hydrogenated palm oil and other vegetable oils, with essentially the same physical properties as the older formulation. It is 100% fat and 0% water, and sits between butter and oil in physical behaviour: soft enough to scoop, firm enough to hold a shape.\n\nThe two accepted sources for cup weight disagree beyond the 5% tolerance this site applies to fats. USDA FoodData Central (FDC 172332, Shortening, household, soybean hydrogenated and palm) publishes 205 grams per cup, implying a density of 0.8664 g/mL. King Arthur Baking publishes 184 grams per cup, implying 0.7777 g/mL. The gap is 11.4%. Because both are legitimate measurements of the same substance, and because the difference reflects a real physical variable rather than a source error, this site publishes the range they cover rather than choosing one.\n\nThe physical variable is packing method. Solid shortening at room temperature is a soft mass that can be scooped gently, spooned lightly, or firmly pressed into a measuring cup. Loose scooping traps air; firm packing removes it. The gap between USDA at 205 g per cup and King Arthur at 184 g per cup is consistent with one source measuring firmly packed shortening (the higher figure) and the other measuring a gentler spoon-and-level fill. Neither source states its packing method explicitly, so the entry publishes the range and names the physical reason.\n\nFor accuracy in baking, weigh the shortening on a kitchen scale rather than measuring by volume. A recipe developed with one measurement method will produce a different fat quantity if the cook uses the other, and the difference is large enough to affect the outcome of pastry doughs and biscuits where the fat-to-flour ratio matters.\n\nThis entry covers standard hydrogenated vegetable shortening. It does not cover palm shortening (King Arthur lists that separately at 180 g per cup, essentially the same density as vegetable shortening); lard (a rendered animal fat with different composition and slightly different density); butter (which contains water and milk solids in addition to fat, and is measured differently); or coconut oil (which is solid at cool temperatures but liquid at warm ones and is entered separately).\n\nThe confidence grade is low because sources disagree beyond category tolerance and the entry publishes a range rather than a single figure. A third independent source measuring shortening under a stated packing method would resolve the ambiguity.", "last_reviewed": "2026-09-18" } ]