Weight has its place. So does length and distance. Of course, we know all about speed and temperature rather well. Well, the title should tell you I am talking about different types of measurements and the way we convert between them using the defined units laid down. Cooking measurements aren’t in that exalted league yet, but it will get there if cooks take up its cause with the same gusto as they throw about their skillets and knives.
As an amateur “chef” who is just about warming up the frying pan, I really need to get the right amount into the recipes for lip-smacks and compliments. The difference could be a pinch of salt.
I wrote about 10 Websites For Unit Conversions & Calculations. I found a converter for calculating recipe amounts on just one of the sites. So, here I am in search of more online kitchen converters.
Every cooking site worth its name in salt has a conversion calculator. But if you are a cook in a hurry and don’t have the time to dig it up, head straight to the recipe measurement page like the one here. This single page on Cook.com gives you loads of information from the basics of cup measure to how to measure accurately. I didn’t even know that there’s a particular measure called the Scant cup. Check out the abbreviations for the measures if you are confused and then use the conversion calculator on top. Two other important measures are Common oven temperature conversions and Temperatures and tests for Syrups and Candies.
BBC GoodFood is one of those cooking sites that’s very pleasing to the eyes. Apart from the usual measurement converter, you have a guide on oven temperatures, cake tin sizes, and sugar temperature guide. The metric to imperial converters are a good aid for those who cook the English way.
Food.com has a neat food conversion calculators that is simply arranged in dropdown boxes. There’s the liquid conversion calculator for getting the pints and quarts right. What’s missing is a corresponding dry conversion calculator for dry measures. Oh well, you can use the weight converter but it is missing some units like how much would a tablespoon of solid butter be in ounces.
Epicurious is one of the well- known recipe search and food sites there is. It has a neat food measurement chart that shows you the multiplication factors for all metric equivalents, whether you are using imperial units or measuring with a teaspoon and cup. The data is taken from The Food Lover’s Companion.
The Culinary Arts guide at About.com has a dead simple conversion tool that calculates for you cooking measurement units like ounces, tablespoons, teaspoons, cups, pints, quarts. About.com has various other cuisine specific guides too like Southern Food, Kosher Food, German recipes etc. You can expect to find more calculators there. Essentially, depending on where in the world a recipe originates from, there are all sorts of different measures that may be referred to. Check out more conversion tools on About.com. Also, go over the article that teaches you how to scale up a recipe.
Diana Baker Woodall’s personal site is basically on baking. She shares her love for cooking though this site, and it must have good footfalls because it ranked high when I searched for measurement converters. The conversion calculator which you can use for your own baking recipes is neat and tidy. It covers butter measurements too and one for temperature between Celsius and Fahrenheit. There’s also a listing that covers cup to gram conversions for common ingredients used in baking.
I have primarily focused on web app kitchen converters here. There are lot more handheld aids to be found for smartphones. If you have an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, you can check out – Kitchen Calculator PRO ($3.99) and Smart Chef Conversions – Kitchen Calculator ($1.99).
How do you do your recipe measurements? Do you go by the book and scale up with your experience, or do you have your own rule of thumb? We would love to know them if you do. Send us your experience via the comments. Also, check out our archive of cooking and recipe sites for culinary pleasure.
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