Recipe Scaler That Speaks Cups and Spoons: Multiply a Whole Recipe by One Factor

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Opens on Chapter 6’s example: Tamsin’s black-bean chili serves 6, and the potluck is 15.

The factor

Servings wanted

Recipe makes

Or: I have of the key ingredient

the recipe uses

The recipe, one ingredient a line: amount, unit, name

Ingredients units: cup, tbsp, tsp, fl oz, oz, g, can, whole

Load another example from the book

Enter your numbers, then press Work it out.

How it works

The factor can come from servings (15 ÷ 6 = 2 1/2) or from an ingredient you have a set amount of (20 oz of tofu for a recipe that uses 14: 20/14 = 1.43). Every line is multiplied by the same factor, kept as a fraction so nothing drifts. Cup, tablespoon and teaspoon amounts are turned into teaspoons (a cup is 48), then written back as cups in quarters or thirds, tablespoons and teaspoons to the nearest eighth. Check by dividing back: the scaled amount ÷ the factor should give the original.

From the book, Chapter 6. Chili for 15 is a factor of 2 1/2: 3 3/4 cups of beans, 2 1/2 cans of tomatoes (70 oz), 5 onions, 5 tbsp of chili powder (1/4 cup + 1 tbsp), 2 1/2 tsp cumin and 7 1/2 tbsp oil (1/3 cup + 2 tbsp + 1/2 tsp). Half of 2 1/4 cups of flour is 1 cup + 2 tbsp; 20 oz of tofu for 14 is a factor of 1.43. Every chapter and its calculator →

Amounts can be typed as 3, 0.75, 3/4, 1 1/2 or 1½. They’re worked as exact fractions and written as a cook measures them: cups in quarters or thirds, then tablespoons, then teaspoons to the nearest eighth. Everything stays in your browser: no sign-up, nothing stored or sent.