Kitchen reference
Cooking ratios
100 starting proportions chefs actually use — mostly by weight. Kitchen measures sit underneath so a 3 : 1 is something you can pour. A packaged food is still not a ratio: if the label disagrees, follow the label.
Kitchen measures
Parts are only useful if you know the spoon. Volume is how we pour; weight is how we bake. Don’t mix a cup of flour with a cup of water and call them equal.
Volume
- 3 teaspoons1 tablespoon
- 2 tablespoons1 fluid ounce
- 4 tablespoons¼ cup
- 5 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon⅓ cup
- 8 tablespoons½ cup
- 16 tablespoons1 cup / 8 fl oz
- 2 cups1 pint
- 2 pints1 quart
- 4 quarts1 gallon
- Pinch about ¹⁄₁₆ teaspoon
- Dash about ⅛ teaspoon
- Smidgen about ¹⁄₃₂ teaspoon
Weight
- 1 ounce28 grams
- 1 pound16 ounces / 454 grams
- 1 kilogram2.2 pounds / 1000 grams
One US cup, in grams
- Water240 g
- Milk245 g
- All-purpose flour120 g
- Bread flour127 g
- Granulated sugar200 g
- Brown sugar, packed220 g
- Powdered sugar120 g
- Butter227 g
- Oil218 g
- Honey340 g
- Cocoa powder85 g
- Rolled oats90 g
Approximate, scoop-and-level. Salt brands differ enough that a cup of salt is a bad idea — weigh it, or use teaspoons.
Baker’s percent
- Flour100%
- Water (lean bread)60–70%
- Salt1.8–2.2%
- Instant yeast0.5–1%
Flour is always 100%. Everything else is a percent of the flour weight. That’s how a country loaf stays 100 : 70 : 2 : 1 when you double it.
Scale a proportion
Enter the parts, then the amount of the first one. The rest follow.
Part 1
75 g
Part 2
25 g
Chef proportions
1 ratio
Pesto
3 oil : 2 basil : 1 cheese : 1 nut
Pulse, don’t puree, if you want it textured.
Closest Match still follows the package. If water is listed before oil, we do not force a 3:1 vinaigrette. How reconstruction works · Emulsification