Cooking Ratios Part 2

 This is the continuation of the ratios I began this past Monday.  Although we often discuss ratios and mention they are used in cooking, we don't usually provide details.  So I'm doing that here.

9.  Biscuits - use three parts flour, two parts liquid and one part fat to create the best biscuit.  My father usually used those pop and bake biscuits to go with gravy for breakfast.  I usually prefer eating biscuits with stew or soup.

10.  Crepes - those thin pancakes from France have a ratio of one half part flour, to one part liquid, to one part egg.  For this mixture, it is best to let it sit for a couple hours or over night.

12. Muffins or quick breads use the same ratio of two parts flour, two parts liquid, one part egg, and one part fat makes up the basic structure.  Baking powder is added to help it rise along with sugar to sweeten it.

13. Vinaigrette - the vinegar based dressing is always going to use three parts oil to one part vinegar.  The choice of oil, vinegar, and herbs changes the flavor of the Vinaigrette.

14. Brines - the solution used to make corned beef, or soak chicken in is based on twenty parts water and one part salt.  Cooks then add sugar, and spices to create the unique taste of the brine.

15. Stock - the ratio of parts water to one part bones based on weight is the starting point for any good cooking stock.  Use this for left over chicken, turkey, pork, or beef bones.

16. Bread - is based on five parts of flour to three parts liquid with one teaspoon of yeast per pound of flour.  If a person uses eggs in their bread, those are considered as part of the liquid.  The flour must be weighed out because the volume varies from type to type.

17. Homemade Pasta - is based on three parts flour to two parts egg.  There is usually no other liquid added to the mixture.

18.   Coffee -the ratio depends on the method used to make the coffee.  If you use the drip method of brewing, it requires one part coffee to 17 parts of water.  On the other hand, if a person uses a French press, it works out as one part coffee to 14 or 15 parts of water.

19.  Rice - this depends on the type of rice.  In general if you cook white rice it is one part rice to two parts water while brown rice uses a ratio of one part rice to three parts water.

20.  A simple sugar syrup is made from one part sugar to one part water.

There are so many more ratios associated with cooking out there but these 20 are the basic ones.  We spend so much talking about ratios in class but we usually choose examples that compare boys to girls, or chickens to turkeys or something else but these are real life ratios that are used by professional chefs and cooks.  If you have any budding cooks in your class, they will really love this.

Perhaps you can have students compare various recipes to the actual ratios.  Perhaps you can grab a couple scales from the science department and actually weigh many of the basics before measuring them in cups to see how they compare with the recipes.  Let me know what you think, I'd love to hear.  Have a great day.