Graters - My wife says that a cup of Parmesan cheese is not the same as 8 oz. of Parmesan cheese in a recipe?

My wife says that a cup of Parmesan cheese is not the same as 8 oz. of Parmesan cheese in a recipe?

My wife says that a cup of Parmesan cheese is not the same as 8 oz. of Parmesan cheese in a recipe? Is that true? If so how? To me that's like saying 10 pounds of beef weighs more than 40 quarter pounders.

Public Comments

a cup is 8 ounces VOLUME. Parmesean does not weigh the same as water, there is air and such in it. A cup of parmesean will weigh less than a cup of water, so 8 ounces and a cup are two different things.
1 cup of Parmesan weighs 4 oz. It is confusing. I've probably added incorrect amounts many times not thinking about the difference. =) http://health4u.msu.edu/_pdfs/classmaterials/FoodVolumeWeightConversionChart.pdf
Yes it is true. Just because it is a one cup doesn't mean that it will yield 8 ounces in the recipe. Every ingredient has it's own volume so therefore it is different. Just like how water is 8 oz to a cup but a cup of granulated sugar is 6.25 ounces to a cup. I mean there are some ingredients that are 8 oz to a cup like peanut butter.
8 oz is how much the cheese weighs. 1 cup is if you fill a 1 cup measuring cup to the top. The measurement in weight is more specific. If you shred the cheese thicker or finer it takes up more or less space so you don't have exactly the same amount of cheese depending on how fine the shred is.