Favorite Conversion Charts

[Wendy DeBord]

I was looking at Pastryscoop.com last night and it got me thinking we should have a thread listing our favorite sources for conversion charts. "Conversion Charts" in the broadest sense. This could be substitions charts, leavening, weight conversions, temp's, etc... Obviously keeping in mind that your posting in the Pastry & Baking Forum so all sources need to be related topics.

So please share a link to your favorite sources. A brief description labeling what your link is a chart/conversion of, for example:

Flour, from www.pastryscoop.com: conversions, subsitutions, protein content.

would be very helpful. My goal is to have a very comprehesive list. This should be helpful to all. In time, I'll go back and edit this thread to group together links into catagories, to further simplify and organize our sources.

I hope you all will participate and find this helpful! Thanks.

[Sarah Phillips]

 

So please share a link to your favorite sources. A brief description labeling what your link is a chart/conversion of

would be very helpful. My goal is to have a very comprehesive list. This should be helpful to all. In time, I'll go back and edit this thread to group together links into catagories, to further simplify and organize our sources.

I hope you all will participate and find this helpful! Thanks.

←

Here's some conversion charts:

Ingredient substitutions:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/substitutes_ingredients.htm

Baking pan substitutions:

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/substitutes_pansizes.htm

How to measure all types of ingredients with conversion calculators:

http://www.baking911.com/howto/measure.htm

A complete "How to" do techniques and baking tips guide:

http://www.baking911.com/howto/index.htm

A complete listing of baking ingredients, pots and pans, etc.

http://www.baking911.com/pantry/index.htm

Edited July 18, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[K8memphis]

[

←

Sarah, you should know how you saved my life with your egg conversion chart--I make the swiss meringue buttercream and I bought a different size of egg once or twice and I was making a huge quantity and just knowing where to get the information easily was a true godsend. I have your book too--I need to try that zucchini chocolate cake!

You da' bomb!!!

[chefpeon]

Try this.

[Sarah Phillips]

[

←

Sarah, you should know how you saved my life with your egg conversion chart--I make the swiss meringue buttercream and I bought a different size of egg once or twice and I was making a huge quantity and just knowing where to get the information easily was a true godsend. I have your book too--I need to try that zucchini chocolate cake!

You da' bomb!!!

←

WOW~ Thanks you so much. Thanks for getting my Baking 9-1-1 Book! Let me know how you like it! ~ Please note http://baking911.com/b911/book_corrections.htm

Edited July 19, 2005 by Sarah Phillips (log)

[carswell]

Don't forget the nifty Google calculator. Just go to the Google search page and enter the variables in the following format (sans brackets):

<what you want to convert> in <unit you want to convert into>

For example (click for results):

half cup in teaspoons

2.4 kg in pounds

9 inches in cm

200 degrees celsius in fahrenheit

Not that it's perfect. It won't tell you how many tablespoons there are in a stick of butter. Yet.

[onehsancare]

I'd like to find a site that outlines the storage limitations of different ingredients.

For instance, I opened a can of coconut milk on Friday, used some, and put the rest in a container in the refrigerator. How long can I feel comfortable using it?

(I tend to push the envelope on time--without visible mold or a stench, I go ahead and use an ingredient that's been in the refrigerator.)

[chantal]

Wendy, I keep forgetting to thank you for posting the pastryscoop address. It is very helpful. I wish I'd found it before, as I was compling a list of weights and measures a few weeks ago. The hormel web site has a chart that gives the liquid and volume that spring loaded cream scoopers hold from #30 to #6 which I thought was kind of cool Here.

[Swisskaese]

I use this one Online Conversion

[pbear]

A recent thread by Michael Ohene reminded me that I've been meaning to post a conversion table I worked up last year for the purpose of adding dual measures to my personal cookbook (not published, just something I share with family and friends).  There's a similar thread Chris Amirault started in 2011, but that was focused on testing converted recipes, so I felt this older thread was more appropriate for posting my table.  Notice, though, that the latter thread includes links to other converters, including a spreadsheet by Martin Lersch.

 

One reason I did this table was that I found the online converters a PITA to use, as you have to query a database with a lookup box.  There are a few tables one can skim by eye, but they're limited in scope.  For that matter, the databases also missed a lot of things.  So I built this table from the ground up, measuring everything myself (many times).  No doubt there are a few errors (and some measures depend on technique), but on the whole I thought it useful enough to warrant posting.  So folks will know what to expect, I'm inserting a picture of the table, followed by pdf's which can be downloaded and printed.  One pdf looks like the picture, the other is four regular sized pages.

 

ETA: To clarify, an American cup is 236.6 milliliters.  A tbsp is 1/16th of this, generally rounded for conversion purposes to 15 milliliters; by extension, this means a tsp is 5 milliliters.  In fact, except for large quantities, I convert water and similar liquids at 240 grams per cup, and use weight not volume; dairy and oil, etc. I do by true weight.  Here's a sample recipe which illustrates how I use this table: Trifle.pdf.

 

 

Metric Equivalents (4up).pdf

Metric Equivalents.pdf

Edited July 2, 2016 by pbear
define cup and tbsp (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I cannot read the data one way or the other.

[pbear]

Sorry.  Working fine for me in Firefox.  Closed my browser and reopened to make sure not loading from cache.  Maybe it's the gremlins.

 

ETA: Also working fine in Explorer and Chrome.

Edited July 1, 2016 by pbear (log)

[liuzhou]

1 hour ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

I cannot read the data one way or the other.

 

You do have a PDF reader?

 

[Thanks for the Crepes]

I can read it fine by right clicking on pbear's posted image in the thread and selecting "open in a new tab". My eyes aren't as good as they used to be though, and it is pretty small print. 

[rotuts]

once you DL the pdf, open it then enlarge it.

[Michael Ohene]

.nice pbear, this seems to be a good cooking equivalents. Am I correct? I did not see wheat germ, almond paste, or different size of eggs. This is good to true up my equivalents. Also, I liked the fact you used a realistic figure for all purpose flour (132g/cup) as opposed to 120g/cup

[liuzhou]

For all the reasons given here, it is impossible for any volume to weight conversion to be "accurate". Too may variables.

 

Anyway, I very seldom need a conversion, so I don't need a chart. I avoid all recipes that work in Fahrenheit and cups etc.

 

I am 100% metric in my daily life and have no need of antediluvian, illogical systems.

[pbear]

5 hours ago, Thanks for the Crepes said:

I can read it fine by right clicking on pbear's posted image in the thread and selecting "open in a new tab". My eyes aren't as good as they used to be though, and it is pretty small print. 

 

FWIW, I read the 4up version with a magnifying glass myself.  But it's a handier size for keeping on the wall.  The text size for the regular version (second link) is pretty easy, I think.

 

4 hours ago, Michael Ohene said:

.nice pbear, this seems to be a good cooking equivalents. Am I correct? I did not see wheat germ, almond paste, or different size of eggs. This is good to true up my equivalents. Also, I liked the fact you used a realistic figure for all purpose flour (132g/cup) as opposed to 120g/cup

 

Wheat germ is there (88g per cup); it's just that it's listed under flour.  Whether to group related items was a difficult decision because it leads to problems like this.  I went with grouping because it helps see patterns.  Also, the recipes have the conversions already calculated, so it's not like someone has to find this entry to cook the dish.  Neither of the other two come up in my recipes and, so, didn't make the list.

 

3 hours ago, liuzhou said:

For all the reasons given here, it is impossible for any volume to weight conversion to be "accurate". Too may variables.

 

Anyway, I very seldom need a conversion, so I don't need a chart. I avoid all recipes that work in Fahrenheit and cups etc.

 

I am 100% metric in my daily life and have no need of antediluvian, illogical systems.

 

I do dual measures for two reasons.  First, they help give a sense of scale.  Even if I at some point flip priority and lead with metric in my recipes (for the time being, it's the other way round), pretty sure I'll always retain volume for that reason.  Second, I share recipes with folks who mostly aren't accustomed to working by weight.  It's a cookbook, not a polemic. 

Edited July 1, 2016 by pbear (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

8 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

You do have a PDF reader?

 

 

When I responded I did not realize there was a PDF of the same chart.

[EatingBen]

I originally learnt metric and have since learnt imperial and freakin jocky screams it's hard to get your head around. 

Metric, 1's, 10's, 100,s 1000's so in grams 1gram, 10grams, 100grams and 1000grams (which equals a kilo) 1 into 10 into 100 into 1000. Wherelse the imperial scale of measurement is "I'venofreakinidea, somesortofnutorberry, athingythatnoonehasseenin100years, something, a lamb, two nuggets, a thumb, someonesmaimedfoot, afootballfield and a gallopinghorse(sizeunspecifiedipresumeapony)  or something along those lines. 

 

I'm not saying Metric is better or worse since if you understand either you'll end up with the same results but metric is a lot more linear then imperial so once you start to understand it it becomes a lot more simple. 

[chromedome]

It's muddled, here in Canada. I think in Celsius when it's the weather, but Fahrenheit when cooking or baking. The oven at my current rental displays Celsius, so I'm belatedly starting to get a feel for it, but still refer frequently to the conversion table I printed off and taped up by the stove. 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I actually cook sous vide only in Celsius.  (Speaking for once seriously.)  Thanks to my training as a quondam scientist I have appreciation for what 60 degree water feels like.  And I know what 100 degree water looks like, at least at atmospheric pressure.

 

Ovens on the other hand are all in Fahrenheit.  There is no choice.  And as for weather, in Celsius I have no clue.  My good thermometer I switch appropriately.  Plus I have two thermapens, one for Fahrenheit and one for Celsius as needed.  I like the orange one better.

 

[rotuts]

I cant's see why one system is more useful than another.

 

what matters is the numbers mean something to you.

 

I also can't see using both.  

 

I use F.  I report in F.   If my friends N.of the Border use C , I don't mind.  if its really important for me to have a feel for their work in C Ill look it up and change it 

 

to F.

 

having a personal feel for both would use up valuable energy I try to save for finding my car keys.

 

but to each their own.  Tastes the same Out of the Bag  Id guess.

Edited December 23, 2016 by rotuts (log)

[kayb]

automaticconversion.com is my friend. ML to tablespoons or cups, grams to ounces, etc. That on my phone, along with a C-to-F converter, lets me sail through whatever I need to sail through. (As someone who often deals professionally in capacities of utility systems, the first time I had to convert "acre-feet" of water to cubic meters of water, the above website saved me. I've been a convert ever since.)

 

I grew up on ounces and pounds, feet and inches, cups and quarts and gallons, teaspoons and tablespoons. And Fahrenheit. I don't expect I'm going to easily convert at my age. But as long as I have a phone that will do it for me, that's OK. Eventually, it would be most handy to have a world that was all one or the other (with nods to Lincoln in his Cooper Union speech, because I am a history nerd as well as an enthusiastic amateur cook).

[KennethT]

You can also just type in your conversion into Google... like "60 degrees C in F" and it will pop up the conversion...