![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Sugarnips62.jpg/640px-Sugarnips62.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Sugar nips
Tool used to create individual servings of sugar / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a sturdy tool used in the kitchen. For delicate utensil used at the tea table, see Sugar tongs.
Sugar nips are a large pair of pincers with sharp blades, designed to cut sugar from a block.[1] Before the introduction of granulated and cube sugars in the second half of the 19th century,[2] the domestic consumer purchased sugar in the form of a sugarloaf,[3] or at least a part of one, and pieces were cut from it by hand using sugar nips.[4] Greater leverage and improved safety was provided by heavier sugar nips set in a wooden base for counter- and table-top use.[5]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Sugarnips62.jpg/640px-Sugarnips62.jpg)
![Metal sugar nips](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Metal_sugar_cutters_-_DPLA_-_46ce984558a28b754c2e79024b0e696d_%28cropped%29.jpg/640px-Metal_sugar_cutters_-_DPLA_-_46ce984558a28b754c2e79024b0e696d_%28cropped%29.jpg)
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Sugarloaf_Box_-_Open.jpg/640px-Sugarloaf_Box_-_Open.jpg)
There was also an all-in-one version; a box that could serve as container for the sugarloaf with built-in pliers and collector drawer for fine-grained residues from the sugar cutting.