Convert pt to cups US pints ↔ US cups Free Online Secure
Type a value in US pints and read it in US cups at once. The factor is exact by definition, the arithmetic happens in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere.
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Convert to US cups
Common values — Convert pt to cups (US pints ↔ US cups)
| pt | cup |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 4 |
| 3 | 6 |
| 5 | 10 |
| 10 | 20 |
| 20 | 40 |
| 50 | 100 |
| 100 | 200 |
Where these units come from
The litre has an awkward history. From 1901 it was defined as the volume of one kilogram of pure water at its densest, which sounds elegant but came out at 1.000028 cubic decimetres — close enough to be confusing and far enough to spoil careful work. In 1964 the definition was abandoned and the litre became exactly one cubic decimetre, which it has been ever since. The gallon has a messier story still: the US gallon descends from the English wine gallon of 231 cubic inches, while Britain redefined its own in 1824 as the volume of ten pounds of water. Nobody reconciled the two, so a US gallon is 3.785411784 litres and an imperial gallon 4.54609 — about a fifth larger. The gallon, pint, cup, fluid ounce and spoons on this page are the US ones.
Where you meet them
Millilitres and litres run through daily life almost invisibly: bottles, fuel, paint, dosage, the capacity of a kettle. Cubic metres belong to water bills, concrete, shipping and the air a ventilation system has to move. Cubic centimetres name engine displacement, cubic feet appear in freight and in appliance capacities, and cups and spoons live almost entirely in recipes — which is exactly where the difference between a US cup and a metric one quietly ruins a cake.
Questions people ask
Is a pint the same in the United States and Britain?
No. The US liquid pint on this page is 473.176 millilitres, one eighth of a US gallon, while the imperial pint is 568.261 millilitres. A British pint of beer is therefore about 20% more than an American one. The US pint also holds 16 fluid ounces and the imperial pint 20.
Are cups and spoons the same everywhere?
No, and this catches people out. The cup used here is the US one, 236.588 ml; a metric cup is 250 ml and an Australian one the same. The tablespoon here is 14.787 ml, while the metric tablespoon is 15 ml and the Australian one 20 ml. For a cake the difference rarely matters, but for yeast, salt or baking powder it does — when a recipe is precise, check whose spoon it means.
Is the answer exact?
Where both units are defined in terms of one another by whole numbers, yes — the page says so above the figure, and the only rounding is in how many digits are shown. Where the ratio has no finite decimal, the page shows twelve significant digits and says the relation is approximate rather than pretending otherwise.
Does anything I type leave my device?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded and there is no server to upload it to. Load the page once and it keeps working with the network switched off.
Why a cup is not always a cup: coffee makers, rice cookers and pints
A twelve-cup coffee maker does not make twelve cups of coffee in the American sense, a ten-cup rice cooker does not cook ten cups of rice, and a recipe that asks for two cups of milk wants a pint. To convert pt to cups in the plain measuring sense you multiply by 2, since a pint is exactly two cups. Three pints is 6 cups, and half a pint is 1 cup. This page multiplies as you type, and the text below explains the many kinds of cup you meet in the kitchen, and why the machines that bear the word do not follow the pint.
The page covers the rule with examples, a note on each unit, a comparison, a tour of cups around the world and the slips to avoid. All arithmetic happens in your browser; nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to convert pt to cups: multiply by 2
The rule
A US liquid pint holds exactly two US cups, sixteen fluid ounces. To convert pt to cups, multiply the pints by 2. So 1 pt is 2 cups, 2.5 pt is 5 cups, 4 pt is 8 cups and 6 pt is 12 cups. In the other direction, divide the cups by 2.
Worked examples
A pint of cream is 2 cups. Three pints of milk are 6 cups, 1.42 litres. A cook who wants 10 cups of stock needs 5 pints, 2.4 litres. A pitcher that holds 4 pints serves 8 cups of 8 ounces.
Why 2 and not 4
A quart holds four cups and a gallon sixteen, but a pint only two. The factor for a pint is 2, and using the quart's factor would double the answer.
A quick sanity check
The cup is the smaller unit, so the number doubles. If your “convert pt to cups” calculation result is four times the original, you used the quart factor, and if it is eight times, the gallon's.
The pint
Two cups, sixteen ounces
The US liquid pint is 473 millilitres. It is the size of a tub of cream, a bar glass of beer and a container of takeout soup. Cooks often use it for liquids when they want to avoid counting cups.
Where it appears
Dairy tubs, pubs, delis and recipes.
The cup
Eight fluid ounces
The US customary cup is 236.6 millilitres, eight fluid ounces, half a pint. Nutrition labels round it to 240 millilitres. It is the basic measure of American recipes, for solids as well as liquids.
Where it appears
Recipes, measuring cups and nutrition labels.
Pint and cup compared
A pint contains two cups, but the word cup on a machine has a mind of its own. A coffee maker labelled twelve cups makes 60 ounces, which is 7.5 US cups, 3.75 pints. A rice cooker cup holds 180 millilitres, three quarters of a US cup. The measuring pint and the measuring cup are the only ones that relate exactly.
The factor 2 is exact for measuring cups. For machines, check the manual for the real volume in ounces or millilitres.
Where the conversion appears
Coffee makers
A coffee maker counts a cup as five ounces, 148 millilitres. A 12 cup machine makes 60 ounces, 1.77 litres, 3.75 pints. An 8 cup model makes 40 ounces, 1.18 litres, 2.5 pints, and a 4 cup 20 ounces, 1.25 pints. When you convert pt to cups for a recipe in cups, remember that the machine's cup is smaller than a measuring cup.
Rice cookers
The cup supplied with a rice cooker is 180 millilitres, a Japanese gō. A 10 cup cooker has a capacity of 1.8 litres, 3.8 pints, 7.6 US cups, and cooks up to 10 cups of raw rice, which swell to roughly 20 cups cooked. Using a US measuring cup instead gives about a third more rice, so the water ratio has to follow the same cup.
Measuring cups around the world
The US cup is 237 millilitres. The metric cup in Australia, New Zealand and Canada's metric recipes is 250. The Japanese cooking cup is 200, and the old British cup was 284, half an imperial pint. A recipe from abroad may need adjusting, and the pint conversion is exact only for the US set.
French presses and moka pots
A French press marked 8 cups holds 34 ounces, 1 litre, 4.25 US cups, a little over two pints, since the cups are of 4 ounces. A moka pot marked 3 cups makes about 130 millilitres, 4.4 ounces, half a US cup. These coffee pots define a cup as a small serving, so you cannot convert them to pints with the plain factor. Check the volume in the instructions.
Flour, sugar and weight
A cup of all-purpose flour weighs about 120 grams, of sugar 200, of butter 227, of honey 340. A pint is twice that, though one would not normally measure flour by the pint. Scales are more accurate than cups, and recipes from American blogs often list grams in brackets. For liquids, though, the pint and the cup are exact and convenient.
Batches for a crowd
A punch for 30 people at one cup each needs 30 cups, 15 pints, 7.5 quarts, 1.9 gallons. A pitcher of 2 quarts holds 4 pints, 8 cups, so four pitchers are needed. Hosts plan in cups for servings and in pints or quarts for the shopping list, and the factor 2 is the bridge between the two.
Restaurant and café portions
A café sells a small hot chocolate of 8 ounces, a cup, a medium of 12, and a large of 16, a pint. A day's sales of 100 large drinks use 100 pints of milk, 200 cups, 12.5 gallons. The cafe orders milk by the gallon and the staff pour by the ounce, and a conversion lets the manager reconcile the two.
In a spreadsheet
Put pints in column A and use =A2*2 in column B. For the reverse, =B2/2. Add =B2*236.588 for millilitres and =B2*240 for the labelling cup. A further column can hold the grams for dry ingredients. Format with one decimal, and keep the source column so you can trace each figure.
Rounding
The factor is exact, so rounding is mainly about convenience. Recipes round to the nearest quarter cup, so 1.6 pints, 3.2 cups, is measured as 3 and a quarter. For baking, use grams or millilitres when precision matters. When you convert pt to cups for an amount that you will pour from a jug, one decimal is enough.
A mental shortcut
Doubling is all it takes: 3 pints is 6 cups, 5 is 10, 0.75 is 1.5. For halving, 7 cups is 3.5 pints. The simplicity explains why cooks prefer pints and cups for liquids: the arithmetic is done in the head while the hands are busy with the mixing bowl.
Reference values
0.5 pt is 1 cup, 1 pt is 2 cups, 1.5 pt is 3 cups, 2 pt is 4 cups, 3 pt is 6 cups, 4 pt is 8 cups, 6 pt is 12 cups and 8 pt is 16 cups. If you convert pt to cups and land far from this ladder, repeat the multiplication.
Checking by reversing
To make sure your “convert pt to cups” calculation result is right, divide it by 2. If 3 pt gave 6 cups, then 6 divided by 2 returns 3. A second check is the size of the answer: it should be double the original. If it is four times, you used the quart factor.
Smoothies, shakes and blenders
A smoothie for two uses 2 cups of fruit, 2 cups of milk, one pint, and half a cup of ice. A blender jar of 6 cups, 3 pints, 1.4 litres, should not be filled past the maximum line. A shake of 16 ounces is a pint, 2 cups. When you convert pt to cups for a family of four, you need 4 pints, 8 cups of liquid, which is two batches in a standard jar.
Pancake and waffle batters
A pancake recipe for four uses 1.5 cups of flour, 1.25 cups of milk, about half a pint and a quarter, one egg and a few spoonfuls of fat. A waffle recipe may call for 2 cups of milk, a pint. Doubling for a brunch of eight needs 4 cups, 2 pints, of milk. The batter's thickness depends on the ratio, so the cups should be measured carefully.
Coffee ratio and the 12 cup pot
A common guide is 55 to 60 grams of coffee per litre of water. A 12 cup pot, 1.77 litres, needs 97 to 106 grams, about 18 to 20 level tablespoons. A pint of water, 473 millilitres, takes 26 to 28 grams, a bit under 5 tablespoons. If you convert pt to cups for a recipe that asks for 4 cups of water, you need 2 pints and about 52 grams of coffee.
Soup for the week
A big pot of lentil soup uses 8 cups of stock, 4 pints, 1.9 litres, and makes six portions of 12 ounces. Stored in pint tubs, each tub holds 2 cups, so four tubs are filled with a little left over for tasting. Measuring in cups while cooking and in pints while storing is a habit most home cooks fall into, and the factor of 2 connects the two.
Cocktails and mixers
A bartender mixing 16 gin and tonics at 2 ounces of gin each uses 32 ounces, 4 cups, 2 pints, of gin. The tonic, at 4 ounces per drink, takes 64 ounces, 8 cups, 4 pints. Pints are a convenient size for bar bottles, and a bartender who tracks stock converts quickly between ounces, cups and pints.
Baking for a school sale
A bake sale batch of 48 cupcakes needs about 4 cups of milk and 3 cups of oil in total, 3.5 pints between them. A cooking class planning ten batches buys 35 pints of liquids. Adding the cups from every recipe and converting to pints once gives the shopping list, a method that works in any units.
Scaling a recipe from another country
A British recipe that calls for half a pint of milk means 284 millilitres, 1.2 US cups, not a US half-pint of 1 cup. A Canadian recipe may use the metric cup of 250 millilitres. If you convert pt to cups for a US pint, you assume 473 millilitres, but the source may mean 568. Check the country of the recipe, and if in doubt use the volume in millilitres printed alongside.
Storage jars and containers
A storage jar marked 2 cups holds a pint. A pantry jar of 6 cups holds 3 pints, 1.42 litres. Labelling jars in both cups and pints saves effort when a recipe calls for one or the other. A cook who stores flour, rice and sugar in matched jars can see at a glance how many cups are left, and convert to pints for the shopping list.
Rice and water
The usual ratio is one cup of water to one cup of rice for some varieties, 1.5 for others. With the rice cooker cup, 180 millilitres, a 1 to 1.2 ratio works for short grain. Three cooker cups of rice, 540 millilitres, take about 650 millilitres of water, 1.4 pints. Switching between a rice cooker cup and a US cup spoils the ratio unless you convert.
Tea pots and kettles
A teapot sold as 6 cup holds about 36 ounces, 1.06 litres, 2.25 pints, since the tea cup is 6 ounces. A kettle of 1.7 litres holds 57.5 ounces, 7.2 US cups, 3.6 pints. Tea makers measure leaves by the teaspoon per cup, so it helps to know whether the pot's cup is the same as yours.
Slow cookers and multicookers
A multicooker comes with a rice cup of 180 millilitres, and its bowl is marked in cups of the same size, up to 10. The inner pot of a 6 quart model holds 24 US cups, 12 pints, 5.7 litres. When a recipe asks for 3 cups of broth, check the markings on the pot to see which cups are meant. A conversion table printed on the lid prevents mistakes.
Baby bottles and formula
Baby bottles are marked in ounces and millilitres, 4, 8 and 9 ounces, 120, 240 and 270 millilitres. A pint of prepared formula is 16 ounces, 473 millilitres, four small feeds. Feeding quantities are set by a doctor or the label, so conversions are only for reading the markings. Follow the preparation instructions exactly for each brand.
Cream, half-and-half and dairy
A pint of heavy cream is 2 cups, and whipped it gives about 4 cups. Half-and-half comes in pints and quarts, and coffee creamer in smaller cups. A recipe that says "a cup of cream" needs half a pint. Buyers compare cartons of a pint, a quart and a half-gallon by price per cup, which is easy once you know each size in cups.
Soups and sauces from a can
A can of condensed soup of 10.5 ounces holds 1.3 cups, and when diluted with a can of water makes 2.6 cups, a little over a pint. A jar of pasta sauce of 24 ounces is 3 cups, 1.5 pints. Recipes written for a family often call for one jar, three cups, and a pint of water, so the sum is 5 cups, 2.5 pints.
Measuring cup types
A liquid measuring cup, usually glass or clear plastic with a spout, is read at eye level. A dry measuring cup is levelled with a knife. The liquid cup of 2 cups holds a pint to the brim, though it is marked well below. Using the wrong type changes the amount, since dry cups are heaped slightly, so use the right tool for each ingredient.
More values for convert pt to cups
A longer list of conversions
If the value you need is not in the first list, these further conversions may be close enough to read off directly:
- 0.1 pt = 0.2 cup
- 0.5 pt = 1 cup
- 3 pt = 6 cup
- 4 pt = 8 cup
- 7 pt = 14 cup
- 15 pt = 30 cup
- 20 pt = 40 cup
- 75 pt = 150 cup
- 200 pt = 400 cup
- 500 pt = 1,000 cup
- 2,000 pt = 4,000 cup
- 10,000 pt = 20,000 cup
Where cooks go wrong with cups and pints
Machine cups
A coffee maker's cup is 5 ounces and a rice cooker's 180 millilitres. Only a measuring cup is 8 ounces.
The quart factor
Four cups make a quart, two a pint. Check the unit before you multiply.
Wrong direction
If 3 pt came out as 1.5 cups, you divided instead of multiplying.
Short answers
What is 1 pint in cups?
2 cups.
How do I convert pt to cups?
Multiply by 2.
What is 1 cup in pints?
0.5 pints.
What does 3 pt come to in cups?
6 cups.
Does the page send my figure anywhere?
No, everything happens in your browser.
Related tools and a final note
Other volume converters sit nearby: Convert pt to qt, Convert fl oz to cups, Convert cups to fl oz, Convert km to mi, Convert mi to km, Convert °C to °F, Convert °F to °C, Convert bar to Pa, Convert Mach to mph. To go the other way, use Convert cups to pt.
To recap: you convert pt to cups by multiplying by 2 and you write the unit beside the result. Everything is computed locally, with no account and no upload.