For Good Measure: Kitchen Conversions

What's Cooking?

You've finally bought your Denver or Boulder dream home with an impressive center island that's perfect for prepping gourmet meals and shaping epic sourdough boules while guests gather around to witness your culinary prowess.

Now, whether you're a novice cook or a skilled home chef, kitchen math can be tricky. Just how many teaspoons are in a tablespoon? How many cups are in a quart or a gallon? 

Here we provide an easy solution—a handy kitchen conversion chart that you can stick on your fridge and refer to whenever you're cooking or baking. You'll also find some tips below to help you create even more culinary magic without breaking a sweat. 

For Good Measure

If you’re doubling or cutting a recipe in half, adjusting measurements can be a whole task in itself. And frankly, kitchen math is hard. To clear things up, we’ve provided the chart below for easy conversions whether you’re cooking or baking. You can also download a printable PDF here.

A few pro-tips for measurements. If a recipe calls for a dash, that’s about 1/8 teaspoon. The smaller “pinch” is 1/16 teaspoon. That should give you a good jumping-off point for adjusting recipes. If it says season to taste, there’s no measurement involved. So start light, taste as you go, and add as needed. This typically comes up with salt, pepper, spices that add eat, and acids like lemon or lime.

Everything In Its Place

Once you start pouring and spooning properly measured ingredients, keep up the prep momentum with a French method known as mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs). This means getting everything ready all at once–before starting any cooking.

Trim meats, chop vegetables, prepare pans, grease that baking dish, and finish measuring out all ingredients. Make sure what you need is at your fingertips and ready to go. Taking the time to do this gives you so many benefits:

• If you’re missing an ingredient, you’ll know before you’re midway through making chili and realize you’re out of chili powder.
• For complicated or new recipes, you won’t need to keep stopping to review how much you need of this or that ingredient.
• You can line things up in the order that you’ll need them according to the steps of your recipe. If you have guests gathered around your kitchen island, it's a great way to basically create your own cooking show for them!
• You’ll avoid multitasking which can lead to turning your back on the stove to chop the next veggie while the garlic burns in your pan.
• And you can clean up your prep space before you start cooking, so there are fewer dishes to do after you’re done enjoying your culinary creation.

As you get everything ready, you may run across a few terms that may or may not be familiar to you. Here’s a quick breakdown:

• Chop – This is cutting veggies into large squares, recipes might specify a size
• Cube – Similar to chop but in smaller squares or cubes, about half an inch
• Dice – Chop your cubes into even smaller pieces, 1/4 to 1/8 inch in size
• Mince – The smallest chop (typically for garlic), you’ll cut as small as possible
• Grate – Use a grater or food processor to cut cheese or veg into small shreds
• Slice – A vertical cut with the needed thickness typically stated in the recipe
• Julienne – Here, you’ll cut veggies into long, thin strips, about 1/4 inch thick

You may also need to combine or apply other techniques during prep such as dredging which requires lightly coating fish, chicken or other food items with flour, bread crumbs, cornmeal or another dry ingredient. If you need to whisk things together, grab a whisk or fork and beat your ingredients until combined. 

And to fold in an item, you’ll combine light ingredients, such as whipped cream or beaten egg whites, with a heavier mixture, using an over-and-under motion. Scoop up from the bottom and fold over the top until you have a unified concoction.

Bring the Heat

Now that you’ve chopped, measured and have everything ready to roll, it’s time to turn up the heat and bring it all together. And there are quite a few methods of cooking. Let’s take a look at those to provide a little clarity:

• Bake/Roast – This is simply cooking food, like a turkey, in an oven using dry heat
• Broil – Direct heat is great for melting cheese or creating a golden-brown crust
• Pan Fry – Over medium heat, you’ll cook larger foods in hot oil, flipping once
• Sauté – Similar to pan-frying, use medium-high heat and oil to brown small foods
• Sear – You’ll briefly brown the surface of meat over high heat to seal in the juices
• Brown – Similar to sear, you’ll cook on the stove at high heat to brown the outsides
• Braise – Sear, then cover and slow simmer partially submerged in liquid using a Dutch oven or crockpot. Unlike stew below, this is typically for large, tough cuts of meat.
• Stew – Cook covered on low heat, fully immersed in liquid for a long amount of time
• Steam – Using a rack or steamer basket to cook above boiling or simmering water
• Poach – Gently simmering over very low heat, using just enough water to cover
• Boil – Using a high temperature, this is cooking food in water or another liquid
• Parboil – This is partially cooking by boiling, then finishing using another method
• Simmer – Bring a pot to a boil, then reduce the heat until there are minimal bubbles.

That about covers it. So, find that recipe you’ve always been wanting to try out and put these measurements and techniques to work. Invite your friends over to the house and host your cooking show. And enjoy an incredible, perfectly prepared meal. Bon appétit!