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I read on Wikihow that when you double batch that you should multiply seasonings times 1.5, then adjust to taste. Similarly for alcohol, multiply by 1.25.

I am writing a story in which one character is making a triple batch of baked macaroni and cheese. What would the multipliers for seasonings? What if my character makes a recipe involving alcohol?

Kate Gregory
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Caters
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  • no but what if I want to triple batch a recipe that does have alcohol in it? – Caters Jun 16 '14 at 16:45
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    Where did you come up with these multipliers? I've never heard these specific values and I don't think that's precisely true (see: http://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/9458/is-there-any-truth-to-the-idea-that-you-shouldnt-multiply-seasonings-when-multi) Also, I have absolutely no idea what you mean by "9x9 cube" in this context. – logophobe Jun 16 '14 at 16:49
  • Wikihow says for seasonings multiply original by 1.5 for a double batch and for the alcohol in a double batch multiply by 1.25. By 9x9 cube I mean a Rubiks cube in my story which has 9 layers. – Caters Jun 16 '14 at 16:52
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    If you're just writing a story, who cares? You might say he used 4 tsp of something and really it would be better if it was 3, or 5, or even 7. So? It's not going to affect the story. Heck, don't even say how he adjusts the seasonings, just say he made a triple batch and was careful to adjust the salt and pepper appropriately, then move on. If you actually want to make a mac and cheese, then it matters. – Kate Gregory Jun 16 '14 at 16:56
  • @caters A direct link would be best so we can evaluate the quality of the source. I'm pretty dubious about WikiHow as a definitive reference. Scaling recipes does take some care but I don't think it can be reduced to these exact ratios. – logophobe Jun 16 '14 at 17:03
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    As @KateGregory points out, the multipliers are to be adjusted to taste anyway. Is someone going to suspect that your fictional character's fictional pepper is actually pretty old, so they should have added extra to compensate? – SourDoh Jun 16 '14 at 17:13
  • If the way the character doubles the multipliers matters for your story, you'd need to tell us more about his character. Is he the cook who will believe everything on WikiHow? Is he a smug know-it-all, Nero Wolfe style? And so on. In general, I would advise against emphasizing character traits through behavior you cannot differentiate well yourself. You can visit us in cooking chat if this is important for your story, but the discussion of what would a certain cook do (as opposed to what we think is the correct solution, which is answered in the duplicate) is not on topic. – rumtscho Jun 16 '14 at 21:33

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