Measuring & Converting Ingredients

Dry pasta is sold by weight, but that measurement doesn’t tell you how much cooked pasta you’ll actually end up with. Here’s a handy guide to estimating how much dry pasta you’ll need to make one serving of cooked pasta. All of these estimates are based on a 2-ounce serving of dry pasta. For long pasta shapes, the measurement is based on the circumference of the dry pasta bundle; short shapes can be measured in a measuring cup.

On Cupcake Project, I’ve converted every imaginable kind of cake to cupcakes. I’ve made angel food cupcakes, pound cake cupcakes, upside-down cake cupcakes, cheesecake cupcakes, and more! It’s not hard to take your favorite cake recipe and translate it into cupcakes. Here’s the process that I’ve developed over the years. Here are eight steps to get from favorite cake to perfect cupcake recipe.

Shoot for this, and you're already on your way to eating more healthfully.

If you’ve done any significant amount of cooking or baking (particularly baking!), then it’s pretty likely you’ve seen some ingredients in the recipe written out in ounces. (Check out these recipes for a tasty layer cake and sugar cookies for two examples). But when you’re cooking, it’s important keep in mind that there are different types of ounces: fluid ounces and ounces by weight.

Do you know how much a cup of flour should weigh?

Bakers, this one’s for you.

No more sticking to the measuring cup.

We asked a handful of chefs from around the country for their best tips for scaling down the traditional Thanksgiving meal so you don’t end up with tons of leftovers or food waste.

When you buy pans at the store, their size is clearly labeled, but when you inherit them from family or find them at a garage sale, it’s a little harder to decide. You may have a good eye for these things, but for those of us less fortunate, here’s a quick and easy tip for finding the volume of baking pans. Knowing the size you have on hand can make or break a recipe. The trick is actually very simple and requires very little effort.

Herbs are confusing. Or maybe it’s the recipes that are confusing. If a recipe calls for a quarter cup of minced parsley, how much of the bunch will you need to pull from the fridge? How tightly should you pack the measuring cup? Let’s discuss.First, “1/4 cup minced parsley” vs. “1/4 cup parsley, minced.

Just to be clear, we’re talking about packing brown sugar into a measuring cup, not in our luggage! (Although…) Recipes with brown sugar almost always call for it “packed” while most other baking ingredients are sifted or merely scooped. Why the special treatment for brown sugar?Packing brown sugar just means pressing it firmly into the measuring cup. We find it easiest to fill the measuring cup first, then press the sugar gently down using the back of a spoon.

You may be surprised. And the answer might even help justify your spending a lot on really nice cheese; more raw material goes into making cheese than you think. Here’s betting that you’ll start appreciating each morsel just a little bit more. Get the answer, plus other cow, sheep, and goat milk musings, after the jump. 1 pound of cheese requires 10 pounds (or about 5 quarts) of cow or goat milk and about 6 pounds of sheep milk.

For bakers craving consistency between batches of scones or accuracy when making a tricky cake, weighing ingredients is the key to success. Since not all recipes provide both the volume measurements (cups) and the weight measurements (ounces), here’s a handy list of the most common conversions for both dry and wet ingredients. Keep it handy — save it, pin it, print it — this holiday season and beyond.

This is not the time of year for holding back. If I’m making a batch of cookies, I’m going to double it so I have enough to send to Mom, take to a weekend potluck, and still have some leftover for my own cookie cravings. If you’re of the same mind, check out these handy tips for doubling our favorite recipes.• Cakes, Muffins, and Other Quick Breads: These baked goods are the main offenders when it comes to unsuccessful doubling.

Q: The majority of my cooking is only for two people. Because of this, I frequently cut recipes in half. When the recipe calls for three whole eggs, what is the best way to reduce that quantity by half? Sent by GK Editor: It depends on the recipe. If it’s a simple weeknight dinner recipe where the exact amount of eggs isn’t crucial to the success of the recipe, like a frittata or even a casserole, I just use a whole egg and don’t bother measuring.

Making a layer cake is hard enough. You’ve got to worry about baking the cake layers, making filling, getting the frosting on crumb-free, and let’s not even talk about the final decorating! My first challenge has always been dividing the cake batter between the pans so they bake up uniformly, and just eye-balling it never seems to work for me. Here’s an easy, mess-free way to evenly divide your cake batter into the cake pans!

Have a bake sale or cookie exchange coming up? Before you double your favorite recipe, there are a few things you might want to consider — like the size of your mixer and keeping the extra dough chilled between batches. Let’s get you set up for cookie success. You don’t want to get halfway through a recipe and then realize your dough is about to overflow in the bowl. Not only is that annoying, but it can lead to over-mixing as you struggle to work in all the ingredients.

Q: Your recipe for sweet and savory bacon jam is awesome. When you say two small sweet onions, how much weight or volume are you talking about? Sent by Tommy Editor: There’s really no hard-and-fast answer to the exact size of a small onion. In fact, the lack of specificity is often because the recipe works within a range of amounts. A part of knowing how much of an ingredient to add to a recipe is a matter of understanding how it works in a recipe.

If you’ve ever wondered why your homemade burgers or bolognese sauce aren’t nearly as good as the recipe your friend makes or that you’ve enjoyed at your favorite restaurant, you might think it’s the seasoning that’s off or the cooking method. But in fact, it could simply be a matter of the lean-to-fat ratio in the ground meat.

Have you ever found yourself in the grocery store trying to figure out how many onions to buy to equal one pound? Maybe you’re at a farm stand or market where there isn’t even a scale to weight them on. For those situations, it’s useful to know what a pound of onions looks like. Here are a few key pointers to help you out. Two medium onions, about the size of an average apple or navel orange, weigh about one pound.

Learning how to spot a pound of bananas without the aid of a scale is a game-changer. When you know how many bananas are in a pound, you can decide how many you want to buy and access the price in a snap. One pound of bananas is about three bananas, each about five inches in length. Now the next time you find this fruit on sale, you can quickly do the math to calculate how many to pick up for a pound and beyond. Shopping with an educated eye is powerful stuff!

Clamshell containers and pre-weighed cartons aside, knowing what one pound of raspberries looks like is great for those times when you don’t have access to a scale or need to make a quick judgement call on the amount. Luckily, you can size up a pound a raspberries just by looking at them. Here’s how to do it. One pound of raspberries is about four heaping palmfuls of marble-sized berries.

If you’ve ever gone blueberry picking, you know the general rule of thumb is pick two or three berries, then pop about 10 in your mouth. And while the carefree joy of eating berries fresh off the bush is half the fun, the haul you leave with is the main point. So now you have your bucket of berries. Before getting to the scale, you might want a sense of the weight. Here’s an easy way to size things up. One pound of blueberries is about four heaping palmfuls of berries.

I find kale to be deceptive when it comes to weights and amounts. Like most greens, you’d expect a pound of it to translate to several stalks and numerous cups, but it turns out kale is more conservative than that. Here’s what one pound of curly kale looks like. One pound of kale, leaves and stems included, is about five large stalks, about eight inches long. This same general rule applies for lacinato kale, as long as the stalks are around seven to eight inches long.

You’re at the market, in a rush and quickly need to pick up a pound of cucumbers for tonight’s dinner. There’s no time for a scale or maybe there isn’t even one to use. Here’s how you make sure you’re leaving the store with the pound of cucumbers you need. One pound of cucumbers is two medium cucumbers about five to six inches long and just wide enough to wrap your hands around.

Do you often reach for the bagged carrots at the grocery store only to have them wallow in the fridge, forgotten and unused? Maybe you need to skip the two-pound bag; maybe you even need to skip the one-pound in favor of buying carrots loose. Here’s how to eyeball one pound of carrots so you can scale up or down as needed. One pound of carrots is about 5 medium-size carrots, no wider than an inch, and about 6 inches long.

Want to know how to pick up a pound of fresh broccoli without the aid of a scale? All you need are your eyeballs, your hands, and a general understanding of what one pound of this vegetable looks like. One pound of broccoli, with the stems attached, equates to three stalks, with the stems measuring no larger the an inch in width, and the crowns about the size of a closed fist.

To keep my trips to the grocery store efficient, I’ve learned to judge the weight of a variety of fruits and vegetable simply by eye, with one of my favorite vegetables — cabbage — being no exception. So the next time you’re out food shopping, here’s how to pick up a head of cabbage that weighs about one pound — no scale required. This may come as a surprise, but one pound of cabbage is pretty small — generally only a bit bigger than a softball.

Making a salad tonight and have to swing by the grocery store or farm stand in a hurry? Well, if you’re looking to pick up a pound of tomatoes without relying on a scale, here’s how to do it. One pound of tomatoes equates to three tomatoes roughly the size of a baseball. Each tomato should fit comfortably in the palm of your hand.

Need to grab a pound of oranges and don’t have a scale available? Here’s how to pick up a pound by sight. A pound of oranges is about 2 medium-sized pieces of fruit, close to two inches in diameter. They should fit in your hand, much like baseball. This applies to oranges of all varieties, as long as you stick to this basic size principle.

Lemons are deceptive. I’ve stood in the produce aisle countless times marveling at the range of sizes they come in. Picking up a pound of lemons that haven’t been pre-bagged largely depends on the individual size of the lemons you select. One pound of lemons is about four average-sized lemons, with average being a lemon you almost completely cover when holding it in your hand.

When peach season is upon us and the cobbler recipes are calling, nothing beats heading to the farmers market or farm stand to purchase fruit for dessert. If you find yourself without a scale and need to ensure you leave with a pound, here’s how to assess a pound of peaches by sight. I use the one-hand, two-fruits test when buying peaches by sight. I look for two peaches that can fit in one outstretched hand pretty comfortably. Then I buy four of them that meet that criteria.

What a pound of grapes looks like will surprise you. So often, we get into the habit of buying fruits and vegetables that have been pre-measured and pre-packaged for us — and while the convenience can’t be beat when we’re in a rush, it does disconnect us from knowing what a pound should look like. Here’s how you can confidently purchase a pound of grapes by sight. One pound of grapes is about two swags that are six to seven inches in length.

So you’ve decided to ditch the pre-packaged spinach in favor the lush bundles you see nestled amongst the other greens in the produce aisle. Or perhaps you’re at the farmers market or in your own garden and looking to harvest a pound for dinner. Here’s how you pick up a pound of spinach without the aid of a scale. One pound of spinach (with the stems still attached) is about two large bundles or bouquets, each only slightly too large to wrap one hand around.

While there’s always good reason to rely on the scale when you need specific amounts, at the grocery store I’ve found immense value in being able to estimate the weights of vegetable simply by sight and feel. Being able to do this is a skill, one that you can easily develop by first educating your eye, and then putting into practice. Here’s a list of what one pound of common vegetables looks like and a few general tips on how to size them up without a scale.

While there’s always good reason to rely on the scale when you need specific amounts, I’ve found immense value in being able to estimate the weight of fruit simply by sight and feel. Being able to do this is a skill — one that you can easily develop by first educating your eye, and then putting into practice. Here’s a list of what one pound of common fruit looks like and a few general tips on how to size them up without a scale.

Those giant, oblong watermelons that flock the grocery stores and farmers markets these days have always intimidated me. I can barely wrap my head around how I am going to carry one out of the store, let alone how I’ll tackle it on my cutting board when I get home. But know the ins and outs of melon math and suddenly those heavy melons aren’t so scary.

Most of the time, all I want to do with a ripe cantaloupe is slice it up and eat it as is, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be tossed in salads, smoothies, or cocktails as well. When using cantaloupe in a recipe, often a specific amount of cups are called for. How many cups of fruit are actually in that cantaloupe? The average medium-sized cantaloupe weighs about three pounds and yields roughly four-and-a-half cups of cubed fruit.

Pick up a giant watermelon at the grocery store and what’s inside is a bit of a mystery. Knowing the answer to that can be incredibly useful when you’re making a recipe that calls for a certain amount of the fruit. So, exactly how many cups of fruit are in there? According to the Watermelon Board, an average large watermelon weighs about 20 pounds and contains roughly 32 cups of cubed fruit. That means one pound of watermelon is equal to 1.

We measure many things in the kitchen — we use scales, measuring cups, measuring spoons, liquid measuring cups, and timers all to our advantage — but one tool of measure is often overlooked in building a better tool jar: the ruler.

Go to a farm stand or head out on an Pick Your Own excursion and you may be faced with a difficult question: bushel or a peck? Besides both being rather fun, rarely used words, I honestly don’t know what each term means, so I usually just smile, nod, and point to what seems like the amount of peaches or apples I am looking for. Of course, they do mean specific sizes — here’s what they are and how they are different from each other. Both are a dry volume measure of quarts.

Halving a recipe is a common kitchen chore — whether you’re cooking for one or two, or trying to scale down a colossal casserole to feed your family of four. While some may argue that you’re better off making the whole recipe and freezing or giving away the leftovers, there are many benefits to making just what you need. Halving recipes reduces waste and saves groceries and time. Here are a few simple tips for halving success.

How often do you head to the grocery store with a long list of things to buy and very little time to do it? Pretty often, I’m guessing. Having to weigh out ingredients in the produce aisle can feel like one more task you don’t have time for, which is why I recommend you learn what they look like instead. If it’s pears you’re picking up, here’s how to spot a pound. For a pound of pears, look for a pair. Easy enough to remember, right?

You’re in the grocery store and need to pick up a pound of strawberries, and you need to do it without a scale or one of those handy clamshell containers that will tell you all you need to know. No worries — this is how you eyeball a pound of strawberries. One pound of strawberries is 15 to 20 medium berries. These are strawberries about the size of a ping-pong ball. Any larger than that and a pound will be closer to 10 berries.

Have a Dutch oven recipe you really love, but don’t feel like turning on the oven or stove? Get out your slow cooker! It takes a simple adjustment, but for most recipes these two pieces of cooking equipment can be used interchangeably. So many recipes that call for a Dutch oven, like soups, stews, and braises, all cook using the same principle as a slow cooker — low, slow cooking.

I’m usually cooking for two, so when I find recipes that are written to make just a few servings, I count it as a personal victory. In reality, those little victories are not the norm. A lot of recipes I make are designed to serve six, eight, or even 12 people — far more food than our little family of two needs. Scaling down recipes isn’t always the most intuitive process, but when you’re doing most of your cooking for one or two, it’s a helpful skill to have.

Stash this ratio in your brain the next time you need a quick, easy meal.

Q: I am single and often look for ways to successfully and reliably scale down recipes I want to try to serve 2. I was so happy to to see the cooking for two cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen and I quickly purchased it. So far, I love it. However, my burning question is: for the rest of the recipes I want to try from other sites and magazines or cookbooks, how can I scale down the recipe to work for me?

Yesterday I explained how I catered a friend’s wedding earlier this spring, and I offered up the five questions I think you should ask yourself before tackling a project like this. I should have added one more criteria: Are you good at math? Because catering takes a lot of it. Here’s the first piece of math required — estimating and calculating how many bites per person you are going to need.

If you’ve been baking or cooking for awhile, this will sound like a no-brainer, but it’s a life-changing tip for those who have never thought of it. Ready? Get rid of that ring that holds your dry measuring cups together. Forever. Do this and baking will instantly be an easier, cleaner and altogether happier experience.

When I was very young and learning how to bake, I was shown something called the Water Displacement Method. I haven’t seen this method for measuring solid fats mentioned recently, so perhaps it’s gone out of fashion. Is this still being taught today?

Q: I’m just getting into baking, and while I know I need to invest in a scale, I’m not there yet. When a recipe calls for 1 cup of sifted flour, do you sift and then measure out 1 cup or do you take a cup of flour and then sift it? Thanks!Sent by Virginia-MarieEditor: If the recipe says “1 cup sifted flour,” then that usually means that you should sift the flour first and then measure it (or sift the flour directly into the measuring cup as you sift).

Q: I want to try making macarons (the French ones, not the Italian oneswith coconut) but all the recipes I’ve read say I need a scale to measure out the ingredients. Is it possible to make French macarons without a scale?Sent by EstherEditor: Esther, it depends on how precise you want to be. With a little research online you can convert the weight measurements in a macaron recipe into volume.

Casserole recipes are usually sized for a crowd. They are often designed to feed 6, 8, maybe even 10 people! But if you’re just cooking for one or two, that’s too much. The good news is that most casseroles are extremely easy to size down. Here are a couple of tips and guidelines for taking any one of the recipes we’ve posted during Casserole Week and adjusting it to a half-batch size.

As part of our ongoing efforts to minimize redundancy and conserve space in our small kitchen, we’ve often thought about keeping either our dry or our liquid measuring cups and ditching the other set. Ultimately, we think it’s worth keeping both, and here’s why!It’s true that if you measure a cup of rice with a dry measure and pour it into a liquid measuring cup, it will come right up to the one-cup mark.

Q: I have a good friend from Texas who is getting married at the end of this month and then moving to Switzerland. I am making her a cookbook with traditional Texas recipes.It takes a certain knack to work with the metric system when you’re used to American measurements, so I would like to convert the recipes to metric to make life a little easier for her. Any good ideas for converting recipes to metric? I have found calculators for flour and sugar, but what about other ingredients.