In the past I have used the Crisco sticks for my buttercream, but after reading good comments about using a high ratio shortening instead, I'm thinking about switching. This may sound like a dumb question, but how many cups does 1 pound of Sweetex high ratio shortening make? I've seen online that you can purchase single lbs, 12 lbs and 50 lbs of it. The crisco sticks come in packs of three (total package is 20 oz (1lb 4 oz) that makes each stick 6.6666 ounces. This isn't a full cup. I'm just trying to figure out how much I will need when making my frosting. Thanks!

A1 pound = 16 oz. = 2 cups

A cup is a cup by volume, but a cup's weight can vary by ingredient.

For example, butter weighs 8 oz., but solid shortening weighs 7.24 oz (doesn't specifically mention Crisco) while honey weighs 12 oz.:

http://allrecipes.com/howto/baking-ingredient-conversions/

Checking the Crisco website, the shortening sticks do equal 1 cup (so less than 7.24 oz. mentioned above):

http://www.crisco.com/About_Crisco/faqs.aspx#faq_sub

It's been my experience that canned Crisco and Sweetex both weigh 7 oz. per cup using my kitchen scale.

This says Crisco weighs 7 oz. a cup and that they're 2-1/3 cups per pound:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/1_cup_Crisco_equals_how_many_pounds