Kitchen Math: Essential Cooking Conversions

The Mathematics of Cooking

Great cooking relies on intuition, but baking relies on precise math.

1. Scaling Recipes

Doubling a recipe is easy for cups and spoons, but scaling spices doesn't always work linearly. When doubling a recipe, start with 1.5x the spices and taste as you go.

2. Volume vs Weight

Professional bakers use weight (grams) instead of volume (cups) because it's far more accurate. A cup of flour can vary from 120g to 150g depending on how it's scooped!

3. Common Conversions

• 3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
• 4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup
• 16 tablespoons = 1 cup