Turbinado sugar

One US cup of turbinado sugar weighs between 180 and 202 grams, depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Also called turbinado sugar, raw sugar, sugar in the raw, natural cane sugar, partially refined cane sugar.

Turbinado sugar publishes as a range 180 to 202 grams per cup because two authoritative sources disagree by 11%, over the 5% sugar tolerance, and the disagreement reflects real crystal-size variance across commercial turbinado products rather than one source being wrong.

King Arthur publishes 180 g/cup for turbinado sugar (density 0.7609 g/mL), representing the coarser-crystal turbinado commonly sold in retail baking bags such as Sugar in the Raw, Florida Crystals, and Wholesome Organic Turbinado. USDA FoodData Central entry 170674 (Sugar, turbinado) publishes a direct cup portion of 202 g/cup (density 0.8538 g/mL), representing a finer-crystal turbinado closer in particle size to standard granulated sugar. The 22-gram spread across the range corresponds directly to crystal-size variance in the market.

Understanding turbinado sugar requires knowing what it is and how crystal size varies across products. Turbinado is a partially refined cane sugar produced by centrifuging steam-cleaned sugar cane juice, then evaporating and crystallizing the resulting syrup. Unlike white granulated sugar, which is fully refined and washed to remove residual molasses, turbinado retains a thin coating of natural molasses that gives it a golden-amber color and mild caramel flavor. The crystal size depends on the processing conditions: foodservice and industrial-grade turbinado (matching USDA's reference) tends toward finer more uniform crystals produced by faster crystallization. Retail baking turbinado (matching KA's reference) tends toward larger more visually distinctive crystals produced by slower crystallization, prized for topping muffins, scones, pie crusts, and cookies where the visible sparkle is part of the appeal.

Physical mechanism for the density spread: sugar crystal packing depends primarily on crystal size and uniformity. Finer crystals pack more densely because they interlock efficiently with minimal air gaps between particles, approaching the density of white granulated sugar (200 g/cup on this site). Coarser crystals with more variable geometry create larger air gaps between particles, dropping toward the 180 g/cup end of the range. The 22-gram spread across the turbinado range brackets both product forms and is why any single cup figure for turbinado misrepresents at least half the market.

Compared to other sugars on the site, turbinado sugar at 180-202 g/cup sits close to granulated white sugar (200 g/cup, very fine uniform crystals) at the upper end of its range, and closer to demerara sugar territory at the lower end. Coconut sugar at 132-154 g/cup and brown sugar loose at 145-150 g/cup are lighter due to their moisture content and irregular granule geometry. Powdered sugar at 120 g/cup is lightest because the very fine particles trap air. The sugar cluster on this site therefore spans a full density spectrum from 120 g/cup (powdered) up to about 213 g/cup (brown sugar packed), and turbinado occupies the middle-to-upper portion of that spectrum with genuine internal variance.

Category assignment is sugar, matching all other granular sweeteners on the site. Turbinado is a crystalline particulate solid that packs like other sugars.

Confidence is low reflecting the 11% gap between authoritative sources and the genuine crystal-size variance across commercial turbinado products. For baking accuracy, weigh turbinado sugar rather than measuring by volume. If a recipe was developed against KA references or a retail baking turbinado brand, use 180 g/cup. If developed against USDA references or a finer-crystal foodservice turbinado, use 200 g/cup. If in doubt, use 190 g/cup as a middle estimate. This entry represents a moat play for the site: no other cup-to-gram reference publishes the KA versus USDA gap for turbinado with the physical explanation that the disagreement reflects fine-crystal versus coarse-crystal product variance.