If you’re a fan of meat, you probably order cuts of steak by the ounce. The most common cuts of steak weigh 8 ounces, but you can buy them at different weights from your local butcher. But what if you want a 1-pound steak? How many ounces is that?
1 pound is equivalent to 16 ounces, regardless of what you’re measuring. So, a pound of meat, a pound of flour, or a pound of steak sauce will weigh exactly 16 ounces.
In this guide, I’ll explain how many pounds or ounces you would need to serve each guest at a dinner party, the metric equivalents of pounds and ounces, and how US pounds differ from UK pounds.
Pounds to Ounces and Vice Versa
Converting one unit of measurement to another is pretty simple as long as you’re using the same system. For instance, pounds and ounces belong to standard imperial, while grams and kilograms are a part of the metric system.
If you wanted to convert the weight of something from pounds to ounces, all you have to do is multiply the pound figure by 16 since there are 16 ounces in a pound. So, let’s say you ordered a massive 2-pound T-bone steak. 2 multiplied by 16 equals 32, so you would have a 32-ounce slab of meat sitting on your plate.
Conversely, if you wanted to figure out how many pounds of something you have based on its weight in ounces, simply divide the ounces by 16. So, a 32-ounce steak divided by 16 equals 2 pounds!
The following table will show the conversions of pounds to ounces and vice versa.
| Pounds | Ounces |
| 0.0625 | 1 |
| 0.1250 | 2 |
| 0.1875 | 3 |
| 0.2500 | 4 |
| 0.3125 | 5 |
| 0.6250 | 10 |
| 1 | 16 |
| 1.5 | 24 |
| 2 | 32 |
| 3 | 48 |
| 4 | 64 |
| 5 | 80 |
| 10 | 160 |
| 20 | 320 |
Common Cuts of Beef and Their Weights
The next time you pay your local butcher a visit, you should probably familiarize yourself with the different cuts of meat, as well as their common weights.
| Cuts | Cut Weight (oz) | Cut Weight (lbs.) |
| Chuck | 3 | 0.1875 |
| Rib | 24 to 64 | 1.5 to 4 |
| Loin | 64 to 96 | 4 to 6 |
| Short loin | 3 | 0.1875 |
| Sirloin | 6 to 8 | 0.375 to 0.5 |
| Round | 5 | 0.3125 |
| Flank | 8 to 24 | 0.5 to 1.5 |
| Brisket | 160 to 256 | 10 to 16 |
| Shank | 320 | 20 |
| Steaks | 8 to 12 | 0.5 to 0.75 |
| Roast | 224 | 14 |
Pounds and Ounces to Grams and Kilograms
If you were to purchase meat at a specialty butcher, or if you’re shopping for meat while vacationing abroad, then you should try to memorize the ounce-to-grams and pounds-to-kilogram conversion rates.
1 ounce is the same as 28.3495 grams, whereas 1 gram is the same as 0.0353 ounces.
1 pound is equal to 0.4536 kilograms, and 1 kilogram is equal to 2.2046 pounds.
Remembering that 1 pound is equal to 16 ounces, we can easily convert pounds or ounces to grams or kilograms and vice versa. If you’re short on time, feel free to use the following conversion chart.
| Ounces | Pounds | Grams | Kilograms |
| 0.0353 | 0.0022 | 1 | 0.001 |
| 0.0705 | 0.0044 | 2 | 0.002 |
| 0.1058 | 0.0066 | 3 | 0.003 |
| 0.1411 | 0.0088 | 4 | 0.004 |
| 0.1764 | 0.0110 | 5 | 0.005 |
| 1 | 0.0625 | 28.3495 | 0.2834 |
| 2 | 0.1250 | 56.6990 | 0.5670 |
| 3 | 0.1875 | 85.0486 | 0.0850 |
| 4 | 0.2500 | 113.3980 | 0.1134 |
| 5 | 0.3125 | 141.7480 | 0.1417 |
| 16 | 1 | 453.5920 | 0.4536 |
| 32 | 2 | 907.1850 | 0.9072 |
| 48 | 3 | 1,360.7800 | 1.3601 |
| 64 | 4 | 1,814.3700 | 1.8144 |
| 80 | 5 | 2,267.9600 | 2.2680 |
| 105.8220 | 6.6139 | 3,000 | 3 |
| 141.0960 | 8.8185 | 4,000 | 4 |
| 176.3700 | 11.0231 | 5,000 | 5 |
US Pounds vs. UK Pounds
To make matters even more confusing for everyone, there are two different types of pounds—US pounds and UK or metric pounds.
1 US pound is the same as 16 ounces, which can be converted to 453.5920 grams. A UK pound, on the other hand, is slightly lighter at just 373.24 grams. However, if you’re in the UK and shopping for cuts of meat, you’d usually be offered portion servings in grams or ounces.
How Many Ounces of Meat per Person?
The amount of meat you should prepare per person depends on whether it’s a main dish or a side dish.
The recommended serving portion for meat as the main dish is 0.5 pounds (8 ounces) per person, though you can push it to 12 or even 16 ounces per guest if they’re a big eater.
On the other hand, if you want to serve meat as a side dish, you can usually get by with just 4 to 6 ounces for each person.
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