And sure, there are a great many recipes drawn up this way, but sadly this is not always the case. Especially if you want to try recipes of more foreign cuisine.
For example, in Europe and in the UK, they don’t use the cup system at all, and instead of defining the ingredients in terms of volume, the ingredients are instead defined in terms of their weight.
A recipe for hand made bread, for example, may rather than say how many cups of flour are required, they will instead say what weight of flour is required.
For that reason, it can come in very handy to know things like how many cups of flour are in a pound, which is the focus of this article.
And, believe me, I would love to tell you that there’s a quick and easy answer I can give you. But the truth is that different types of flour have different weights per cup because some are heavier than others.
And this in turn means that how many cups of flour are in a pound depends entirely on the type of flour being used.
But don’t worry, this article is going to tell you everything you need to know, so you know exactly how much flour to buy or order for your recipe, regardless of what type of flour you’re going to use.
We’re going to cover how many cups you need for 11 different types of flour as follows:
1. White all-purpose flour
2. Pastry flour
3. Cake flour
4. Whole wheat flour
5. Self-rising flour
6. Sifted bread flour
7. Type 00 (AKA Durum) flour
8. Semolina flour
9. Rye flour
10. Barley flour
11. Coconut flour
We’ll also throw in how to calculate the number of cups of flour in a pound.
And without further ado, let’s get straight to it!
Let’s begin with all-purpose flour, given it is the type that’s most frequently used…
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of White All-Purpose Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of all-purpose flour, then you will need to use 3 ⅓-sized cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Pastry Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of pastry flour, then you will need to use 4 ¼-size cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Cake Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of cake flour, then you will need to use 4 ½-size cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Whole Wheat Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of cake flour, then you will need to use 3 1/3-size cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Self-Rising Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of self-rising flour, then you will need to use 7 ⅓-size cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Sifted Bread Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of self-rising flour, then you will need to use 4 cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Type 00 Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of Type 00 flour, then you will need to use 3 cups and 1 ½-size cup.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Semolina Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of semolina flour, then you will need to use 5 ¾-size cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Rye Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of rye flour, then you will need to use 4 cups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Barley Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of barley flour, then you will need to use 3 ups.
How Many Cups Of Flour In A Pound Of Coconut Flour?
If your recipe calls for 1 pound of high gluten flour, then you will need to use 4 cups.
Doing The Math
Another way to work out how much flour is required in cups for a particular recipe is by calculating the corresponding equation, which goes as follows…
The flour in cups is usually approximately equal to the flour in pounds multiplied by 3.628739.
Or in other words, through the magic of algebra, the number of cups of flour in a pound is approximately 0.27 cups. Expressed as a fraction, this comes to between a quarter and a third of a cup.
So, if you were to use this equation for a recipe that requires 5 pounds of flour, then all you’d have to do is multiply 3.628739 by 5, which gives you 18.143695 cups. This is less than a quarter cup but more than an eighth of a cup.
Factors That Affect The Number Of Cups
At this point, it is important to note that, in addition to the type of flour being used, the number of cups in a pound of flour can also be affected by whether or not the flour has already been sifted…
As a general rule, flour that has been put through a sieve will be lighter than flour that has not been sieved. And this means that you will need more cups of flour to make one pound.
Wrap Up
I sure hope this article has provided a handy guide that you’ll return to again and again, and that it has helped you with your recipe, and that it will continue to help you as you move on to try further recipes.
And you may do well to remember that there’s no law saying that you have to measure your flour in cups anyways…
You can buy a dedicated weighing scale for ingredients in the supermarket or online for a very reasonable price, and this can save you from doing any real math other than measuring and ensuring that you have enough ingredients for each dinner guest.
