Keeping Count: 5 Ways to Keep Track While Measuring

There is nothing quite as awful as that "uh-oh" moment that comes right after you pour one more cup of sugar in the bowl and realize you have no idea what number you're on. Or whether or not you already added the vanilla. Yes, oh yes, we've all been there. Here are a few tricks to help us keep track.

1. Mise en Place - Measuring things out ahead of time in their own little bowls can seem kind of finicky, but it's definitely the surest way to make sure you've measured accurately. And since everything is measured out ahead of time, you can clearly see if something has already been added or not.

2. Count Out Loud - We started doing this after several of you mentioned it when we were soliciting advice on this very subject a few years back. Somehow counting out loud really fixes it in your head so you don't lose track.

3. Hash Marks in the Surface - If we get interrupted during counting, we'll just make hash marks in the surface of whatever we're measuring so we know where to pick up when we come back.

4. Make a Clock Face - This is the same principle as the hash marks. If we get interrupted, we'll use our mixing spoon or measuring cup like the big hand on a clock and lay it facing the last number we counted.

5. Use a White Board - If you have a white board in your kitchen already, you can use it to make notes or hash marks to yourself to remember where you are in your counting. We find this handy for a big recipe with lots of steps and ingredients for both keeping count and also for remembering if we've already added an ingredient!

What other ways do you keep count while cooking?

(Image: Emma Christensen)

Comments (18)

I use this row counter that I originally got for my knitting projects: http://www.yarnmarket.com/yarn/Tools-Kacha_Kacha_Row_Counter_336-545.html Its surprisingly durable and super easy to use and reset when I need to.

Somewhat related: One way to make sure everything gets put in is to bring out all of the ingredients and put them on the counter before you start. Put things back where they came from after you include them in the recipe. May also seem finicky, but it works!

flyingsoba, I'm a knitter, too. Love the use of the row counter for this!

I generally put my ingredients to one side of my work area while preparing my mise en place and then either put them away or put them to the other side of my work area. However, I tend to lose count when I need to add multiple cups of different flours/grains to a recipe (such as my home-made waffle mix). In that case, I'll set out a pumpkin seed (or similar small treat) for each cup that I need to measure. I measure the cup, eat the seed... and keep going until the seeds are gone.

I make sure to drop the ingredients in different places in the bowl, so if it's 3 cups of flour, I would plop them in slightly different spots in the bowl. That way, when I look down I can see the piles and know where I'm at.

I've had to start pre-measuring and putting things out as I have had too many of these mishaps in the last year, I guess I'm getting old or something never had a problem until this year.

i usually count out loud and say what it is i need "3 cups of flour... 1...2...3" if someone interrupts, i hold my fingers in the number i've added or i say "remember 3" before they start talking.

I cook all the time and I have never once had this problem!

But I DO misread recipes and do things like add 6 quarts when it calls for 6 cups. Not good!!!

Uh, I use a scale and weigh ingredients.

If I think I'll forget how many of something I've added to a pot, I'll often lay out the same number of small items (coffee beans, popcorn kernels, etc.) on the counter. Then with each addition to the pot, I remove one bean.

Alphaville, I'm right there with ya'! Ever since I took a professional baking class for elective credit in school (it was a nice break from some other heavy coursework), I've been committed to weighing ingredients. Put that flour/milk/vanilla on the scale and let the scale tell you when to stop.

I tend to err on the side of adding the vanilla no matter what...a little extra usually just makes things better. Otherwise, mise en place, a scale, or the 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup (hard to over-measure when the entire amount is going in at once) all work pretty well.

Thirding (or fourth-ing) the suggestion to weigh ingredients.

Mise en Place ftw. Can't go wrong if everything is measured out before you start pouring into the mixing bowl.

Mise en Place for the win indeed! (If you have a scale even better!)

i'm a pastry chef and if i'm the only one in the kitchen i count outloud. if i'm not alone, i measure in a separate bowl and then measure again once i'm back at my station. i get distracted very easily while daydreaming...

On the couple of times I lost count between 4 and 5 or whatever, it was at the end of counting, in an "am I done yet?" manner. So I added just 1/2 measure more. Whether it's too little or too much, it's by not as great an amount.

@Ann-Marie, I do that too! I get everything out of the pantry and then put it away as soon as I'm done. I started doing it out of necessity because I have minimal counter space, so I want to clear my work space as efficiently as I can and get everything I'm finished with out of the way. It works! I also count out loud on occasion.