Cooking Math

Updated 24 December 2020; Original 22 March 2019

Cooking as Art, Craft or Science

Archaeology can point to proof that cooking started at least ~1M years ago, by humans no doubt, burning some dinner somewhere. Wiki states, “Cooking or cookery is the art, technology, science and craft of preparing food for consumption.”

I used to think of cooking as just art and craft, and baking as pure science. My reasoning was that I could change recipes in little ways and still have a good dish; even if I followed a recipe exactly the results would often taste differently to what I had made before; and when I am sick, my cooking is off and frankly does not taste as good. Over the last several years I have changed my mind and have come to see cooking as art, craft, and a hint of science; especially math. (Baking is still science: math + chemistry.)

Math in Cooking

I am certainly not a math whiz, and use cheat sheets when I need to do something complicated. But I have learned that you never know when math comes into play, and the need for math skills crop up in nearly everything we do; especially when cooking. Here are some examples of math I use in everyday cooking.

• Doubling recipes calls for working with fractions.
  • 2x 1/4 Cups = 1/2C
• Counting nutrition is all about the application of calculations.
  • Counting calories: of 1C food, where 1T = 5 calories
  • Convert 1C to T = 16T
  • Multiply 16T by 5c = 80 calories/C
• Converting international measurements to USA measurement.
  • What is 1/2C in grams and ounces
  • 1/2C = 64g = 2.25oz
• Converting F to C so you know what temperature to set your oven.
  • The temperature T in degrees Fahrenheit (°F) is equal to the temperature T in degrees Celsius (°C) times 9/5 plus 32
  • T_(°F) = T_(°C) × 9/5 + 32  or T_(°F) = T_(°C) × 1.8 + 32
• Properly using measurement tools.
  • Measuring cups, spoons, a scale, ruler, thermometers
  • and Google queries
• Figuring out how many portions you can get from a dish
  • Make the dish, measure the amount made, divide by appropriate portion size
  • 6C soup made, 2C per person = 3 people served
• Figuring out how long to cook an item given its weight
  • Usually we run into this with meat, especially turkey!
  • Use on line calculators or follow recipes

Culinary Arts Math Requirements

Basic Measurements

To have a career in the Culinary Arts you really do need to know math, and are tested in culinary schools on basic calculations. In fact, many people who work in kitchens, assume you already have the following math skills:

• Know universal abbreviations or notations for weight or volume measurements.
• Understand common conversions: cups to pints, to quarts, to gallons.
• Know how many ounces in a pound, half pound, and quarter pound.
• Understand the difference between dry and liquid measurements and tools.
• Master basic conversions between weight and volume for liquid and dry ingredients.

Cooking Ratios

When I started really cooking, the one thing I had not expected, but should have, was that there are a variety of cooking and baking ratios. Knowing these ratios is what allows a great cook to “whip something up” quickly, and apparently without following a specific recipe.

• Brines: 20 liquid : 1salt + whatever flavorings you want
• Flavored Salts: 1t flavorings : 1/4C salt
• Herbs: using fresh or dried herbs remember the ratio 3:1 fresh to dry which is true for woody herbs and soft herbs
• Hollandaise: 5 parts butter: 1 part egg yolk: 1 part liquid
• Lentils + Barley: 1 part lentil or barley : 3 parts liquid (water, broth)
• Meat broth: 3 parts water; 1 part bone by weight (I sometimes add more bones just to get rid of items too long in the freezer)
• Rice: Cook 1 part rice: 2 parts liquid (water, broth)
• Pesto: 1 nuts : 2 oil : 2 grated cheese : 8 herbs leaves (+ garlic, lemon, and salt and pepper to taste)
• Quinoa + Farro: 1 part quinoa or farro : 2 parts liquid (water, broth)
• Vinaigrette Salad Dressings: 3 parts oil: 1 part acid (vinegar or citrus)

Baking Ratios

There are also plenty of baking-specific ratios, here are just a few:

• Biscuits: 3 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part fat
• Homemade pasta: 3 parts flour; 2 part egg by weight
• Bread is 5 flour to 3 liquid
• Cookies 3 flour to 2 fat

Cooking Is Also Chemistry

Cooking utilizes math, measurements, and also chemistry.

• Maillard reaction
• Emulsification
• Spherification
• Caramelization
• Sous vide cooking

All of these cooking results, rely on specific chemical reactions. Many colleges actually offer classes on these chemical reactions, such as MIT’s on-line cooking chemistry course.

It Is Art, Craft + Some Science

But the definition Wiki offered included that this is both art and a craft as well. This means we can all learn how to cook, and how to cook well, with training or practice. Even being poor in math, will not prevent someone from cooking exciting foods.

I hope this helps you in cooking better and quicker. I have not included many baking ratios, and there certainly are many of those, as I am not a good baker. But if there are other ratios you use that I have not included let me know and I will add them.

A big thank you to those folks who have written in or liked a post or recipe, appreciate the feedback.

–Patty

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