Determining the quantity of an ingredient needed for a recipe. Particularly useful for understanding obscure terminology, converting between different standards, or interpreting historical recipes.
Questions tagged [measurements]
171 questions
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What is the substitution ratio for mini marshmallows to large marshmallows?
I have a recipe calling for 12 large marshmallows, but I only have minis. How many should I use?
Vicki
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Best way to measure Spaghetti/Linguini portions?
What's the best way to measure how much Spaghetti/Linguini is 1-portion. I know there are tools which basically measures the diameter of the bundle of dry spaghetti. But are there simpler tricks which don't require any tools?
notthetup
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How much is "1-2 cents worth" of yeast in an old recipe?
I'm looking through an old cookbook, ''The Art of German Cooking and Baking'' by Lina Meier (2nd Ed., 1922, Milwaukee, file on wikipedia). There is a recipe for waffles here which calls for "1-2 cents worth of yeast." How much yeast actually is it…
Roddy of the Frozen Peas
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Why is there a fluid ounce?
My wife and I have noticed that a lot of the drinks or liquids we buy have a measurement of "fl oz".
I was surprised to ascertain that fl oz. is indeed a measure of volume. I might be a little dense here but why the hell do I need the "fl"? Does…
blankip
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Can I weigh without a set of scales?
So I'm at my sister's house, and it turns out she doesn't have any scales.
I need to weigh 120g of castor sugar.
What can I do?
Sam Holder
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10
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Is steam lost in boiling negligible?
If I bring 20 ounces of water (2.5 cups) to boil in a kettle, and promptly remove it from the heat, is the amount of water lost (by volume/mass) a negligible quantity?
To be more precise about my own intent for this knowledge; if a pour over guide…
mfg
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How can I adjust a recipe for different grades/brands/types of gelatin?
I'm trying to reproducibly make a specific jelly recipe. How can I achieve consistent results, using different grades/brands/types of gelatin?
Depending on what I can find in grocers nearby, I may have gelatin granules from a variety of…
DamonJW
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2 answers
How to measure food acidity
I am asking about a method or a trick to measure (or guess) how acidic is food.
Please don't suggest any expensive tool; this will be for home usage only.
mmonem
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9
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1 answer
Do successful french macarons really need precise weight measurements?
I have no problem with measuring ingredients by weight, in fact, I prefer using a scale; it is much easier. After looking at multiple recipe's for macarons, I have not found a single common ratio in all the recipes. If weight is so important, then…
Jeff
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3 answers
Do professional cooks use measuring cups and spoons?
I watched some TV shows showing cooks working in their restaurants. I use measuring cups and spoons when cooking almost everything, but do not see any of the TV cooks measure anything. They mostly just grab things and throw them in.
Do skilled cooks…
Village
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How much is a cup of graham cracker crumbs in crackers and weight?
I have a recipe that calls for one cup of graham cracker crumbs. How many crackers am I going to need to crush?
I'm having trouble finding an answer partly because different people consider a "cracker" to be of various sizes. I would consider a…
Stephen Ostermiller
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3 answers
What is the correct flour, sugar, butter ratio for crumble?
Looking through a number of fruit crumble recipes I see that there is a wide range of ratios used for crumble topping. Some use equal amounts of flour (or other dry ingredient), sugar and butter. Others use about half the weight of butter and sugar…
Chris Steinbach
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Where to learn what ratios to use in cooking?
I am learning to cook. I want to know whether there is a good resource at what ratios of ingredients to use when I am cooking. Thank You. :)
user712092
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Why is a tablespoon defined as 20mL in Australia?
In Australia, a tablespoon is defined as 20mL whereas it is 15mL in nearly all other countries.
I'm interested to know where this comes from, and also what other Australian people do about this because the shops here seem to favour the 15mL variety…
Flash
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What is 1 scallion?
When a recipe calls for 1 scallion / green onion / spring onion, what does it mean?
Is it A (a bundle as sold), B (a bunch of connected shoots), or C (one shoot)?
Usually I just ignore the count and put in as much as I think makes sense, but I've…
Jason C
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