Weight and measurement conversions in cooking can make you wish all recipes use the metric system. It can even get confusing when you're dealing with fruits like berries. We did the math, so you don't have to. Read on for help with figuring out how much does a pint of blueberries weigh.
How Much Does A Pint of Blueberries Weigh?
The weight of a container of blueberries depends on the size of the container and the berries.
Grocery store blueberries are most commonly available in three weights: six-ounce, pint, and pound-sized containers. This is odd because ounces and pounds are units of weight, while pint is a measure of volume. Also strange is the fact that pound-sized containers of blueberries don't weigh a pound.
Typically, as the name suggests, a six-ounce container of blueberries contains six ounces. In contrast, a pound-sized plastic clamshell typically holds not a pound, but 18 ounces of blueberries (that is, one pound and two ounces).
Because they are not advertised based on weight, Pint containers can range in weight. Typically they weigh around ten ounces.
Why Don't All Pints of Blueberries Weigh The Same Amount?
The weight of blueberries sold by volume (such as a pint) will also depend on the container and blueberry size. While it might seem counterintuitive, a pint of small blueberries weighs more than a pint of large blueberries.
The larger the blueberries are, the less neatly they will fit together in the package. That means bigger blueberries have bigger air gaps between them, and smaller blueberries have smaller air gaps. Keep in mind that the more air in the package, the less room for blueberries.
In our home experiments, a pint of medium/mixed-size berries weighed around ten ounces, while a pint of small blueberries was closer to eleven ounces. On the other hand, a pint of large blueberries was only nine ounces.
How Many Blueberries Are in a Pint?
The size of blueberries affects the weight of a container and the total number of pieces that can fit in the container.
In this photograph, the top row is three rough circles of sorted blueberries - one pile of small berries, one of medium berries, and one of large berries. Each circle is the same weight - one ounce.
One ounce comprises more than three times as many small berries as it does large berries.
In the second row are three rings, each containing ten blueberries - ten small, ten medium, and ten large. As you can see, the mass of the ring of ten large berries is about triple that of the ten small berries.
The enormous difference in size between the large and small rings demonstrates that counting blueberries is not a useful way of measuring blueberries for cooking unless you're using them for decoration.
How Else Can Blueberries Be Measured?
In addition to weight, volume, and individual count, you can measure blueberries in fluid ounces, especially if you're making smoothies or using blended or liquified blueberries in your recipe. This is because it eliminates variation based on blueberry size.
In our home experiment, a 10-ounce pint of mixed-sized blueberries processed in a blender produced approximately eleven fluid ounces of blueberry puree.
Fluid ounces can be confusing because of their misleading name. Unlike ounces (a measure of weight), fluid ounces do not measure weight; they measure volume. That is why measuring cups sometimes include fluid ounce measurements alongside cups, pints, and milliliters.
Some kitchen scales even have an option to choose fluid ounces as the unit of measurement. How is that possible if fluid ounces aren't a measure of weight?
These scales measure the weight in ounces, then divide that by the density of water (62.4 pounds per cubic foot), giving you total volume in fluid ounces. However, this is an inaccurate measurement for something like blueberry pulp, which is denser than water. So if you're measuring blueberry puree, rather than water, it's better to measure fluid ounces using your measuring cups, rather than your kitchen scale.
Have Your Blueberry Cake, And Eat It Too
The truth is, most recipes will turn out just as delicious if you use a nine-ounce pint of huge blueberries or an eleven-ounce pint of tiny blueberries. The real problem is not measuring them but stopping yourself from eating them straight out of the carton before making it into your recipe!
