multiplying and dividing recipes

[thecuriousone]

HI All-

Are there any rules for multiplying and dividing recipes? I have recipes for punch and a old style red roquefort dressing that I would like to multiply. Does the whole recipe just get multiplied by the number of portions? or are there different rules for ingredients like spices?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[K8memphis]

The only rule I have followed for all these years is use my own judgement and multiply and divide. Even when you blow the math you learn something.

[thecuriousone]

Yes, but I'm hoping not to start tot learn as the company rings the doorbell!

The only rule I have followed for all these years is use my own judgement and multiply and divide. Even when you blow the math you learn something. 

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[Pallee]

I think it depends on what it is and by how much you are multiplying. With punch, I wouldn't think there'd be much problem. With your dressing, I'd hold off on some of the salt and add it to taste. As well as other spices. It gets trickier in baking - you can multiply a baking recipe by 10 and maybe only need to increase the leavening by a factor of 7. If you have recipes that go by weight, especially metric, it is alot more accurate and I trust the conversion a bit more.

Sorry for the wishy washy answer, but I've never found an iron clad rule on this. Always go a little light on things you can add to taste at the end, and you'll be fine.

Except for garlic, vanilla and bacon.....add with a heavy hand!!!

[K8memphis]

Well, for most of my professional baking years, I did not know about the x factor for leavening and have always used the same straight multiplication/division for increasing/decreasing a recipe. I've prepared for 2000 and 200 and always multiply/divide all of the ingredients equally.

There are no hard and fast rules for this. Rose Berenbaum has a theory about increasing leavening, but my way worked fine so I never experienced the need for it.

If you don't want to learn as the company rings the doorbell, then test first.

[Pierogi]

As someone who routinely cooks for one, I have a LOT of experience in dividing down recipes. Not so much going up.......

The only time I have ever had problems is with baked goods, but then I am not a proficient baker by any means. Workin' on it, but it is a work in progress. I *think* its because baking is much more based on chemical reactions than cooking is.....and so the proportions of each ingredient relative to all the others is more critical.

For routine, non-baked goods recipes I just divide everything by the same factor. If the recipe serves 4, I cut everything in half. If it serves 6, I reduce everything by 2/3s. I've not had any problems, but I am really good about tasting as I go, to make sure the spices/seasonings/etc. meet my palate.

I'd say for the punch and the dressing just factor up straight across the board, add the seasonings/flavorings judiciously, tasting as you go, and you should be fine.

[dougal]

... Does the  whole recipe just get multiplied by the number of portions? or are there different rules for ingredients like spices? ...

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Basically just multiply/divide - which is much easier with metric units!

Spices and seasonings: as suggested above, hold back a little if there is the possibility of topping up to taste later on. The last thing you want to do is over-season a large batch of anything!

Baking: the main thing is the piece size. If you are making a bigger or smaller cake/loaf it will need different oven time and temperature. And if your oven is unusually crowded with lots of items, then watch it carefully as it may perform differently due to different air, and therefore heat, circulation - potentially giving hot and cool spots.

[Pallee]

It also seems to me that yeast amounts would need to be less when multiplying up. I had a cook make a focaccia recipe from "Baking with Julia" and times it by 20, including the yeast, and the dough almost took over the walk in. Which is funny because so many of the recipes in the book started as commercial large batches and had to be scaled down for the book, and here he was, scaling them back up.