How exactly do I measure shredded cheese by the cup?
When a recipe calls for a cup of shredded cheese does that mean an 8 ounce block of cheese shredded or what will fit in an 8 ounce (2 cups) measuring cup?
ANSWER:
Basically, when a recipe is asking for shredded cheese in cup measurements, it is suggesting the amount of "shredded" cheese it takes to levelly fill a measuring cup, in other words, by volume. When measuring semi-hard cheeses, such as cheddar, Swiss or mozzarella, by weight, it is generally accepted that 4 ounces yields 1 cup shredded cheese, or in answer your question, yes, 8 ounce of shredded cheese will fit into a 2-cup volume measuring cup. (When measuring hard cheeses such as Parmesan or Romano, the weight is slightly less in that 3 ounces will yield 1 cup shredded.)
Tip: Don't worry too much about having the exact amount of cheese in recipes calling for cup (volume) measurements, a little more or less is not going to make much of a difference -- say if you only had 7 ounces of cheese, it probably wouldn't negatively effect the overall outcome of a recipe calling for 2 cups shredded cheese.
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