Cooking Information Help

1 pound of whole almonds, in the shell = ¼ pound of almonds after cracking

1 pound of apples = 3 cups peeled and pared

no baking powder, mix ¼ teaspoon baking soda with ½ cup buttermilk or sour milk---then reduced the liquid in the recipe accordingly

1 pound dry beans = 6 cups cooked---note that you don't want to salt the water when cooking, but near the end. Dried beans cooked with salt take much longer to cook and will break apart because of the long cooking time

1 stick of butter/margarine = ¼ pound---1/2 cup or 8 tbsp.

for coleslaw recipes; 1 pound cabbage = 4 cups shredded

make your own ketchup; bring 1 cup sugar with ½ cup cider vinegar to a boil, reduce the heat to low and add 1 28 ounce can of heavy tomato puree, simmer for 20 minutes---additional seasonings such as powdered cloves, cayenne, onion powder, ground allspice, coriander, cumin, garlic powder, dry mustard, ginger powder may be added in very small amounts such as a pinch to a 1/8 teaspoon

1 square of baking chocolate = 1 ounce----3 ounces of cocoa + 1 tablespoon of butter is an equivalent

1 pound of coffee will brew about 35-40 cups

12 ears of sweet corn will yield about 5 cups of kernels

1 pound of cornmeal is very close to 3 cups

1 cup of heavy cream will make 2 cups whipped

5 large eggs cracked= 1 cup---12 yolks = 1 cup---9-10 whites = 1 cup

measuring garlic---because of size differences, a standard chef measurement is that 1 tsp of garlic is = to 1 clove in a recipe

fresh herbs are always better than dried, but know that 1 teaspoon of dries is equal to about 1 tablespoon of fresh when used in a recipe---there are exceptions like cilantro, parsley, chives and basil where the reverse is true

bay leaves for seasoning---because of size differences, a standard chef measurement is that when a recipe call for 1 bay leaf you
think the size of a .50 cent coin---break a larger one to that size or combine smaller pieces to do the same---not doing this your
result will be too much or not enough bay flavor

a sprig of thyme---fresh thyme is great but how much is a sprig when a recipes calls for one, well another chef standard is to think about bending, folding and crumpling fresh thyme to compress into a teaspoon measure---there might be 1 sprig or ¾ needed to do this but you will have a consistent end result by applying this rule

how hot should your saute pan be before cooking---another chef secret that some chefs don't even know about---slightly pre-heat the pan with oil and put a pat of salted butter in, when the butter starts to turn straw brown the pan is hot enough to cook in. however remember that after placing something cold in the pan, like two or three chicken breasts you will need to maintain a high temperature so the items don't start to simmer in their own juices, you will need to turn up the heat to high and then sometime in to the cooking process, turn the heat down and up---up and down to keep things sizzling. if you can't heat it cooking---the pan isn't hot enough

1 pound ground meat is = 1 cup
1 large lemon, better known as (95 count) = 3 tbsp. juice
½ cup evaporated milk + ½ cup water = 1 cup whole milk---it won't taste as good but for baking this conversion works
1 pound pasta cooked yields about 6 cups
1 medium size orange known as (88 count) = ½ cup juice
1 pound peanuts in the shell = 2/3 cup nuts
1 pound fresh green peas shelled = 1 cup
1 pound white rice = 2 ½ cups and 8 cups cooked
1 ounce table salt = 1 ½ tbsp.---1 ounce Kosher salt - 2 tbsp.
1 pound sugar = 2 ¼ cups
1 pound brown sugar = 2 ¼ cups
1 pound confectioner's sugar = 4 ½ to 4 ¾ cups
1 package dry yeast = 2 ½ tsp. and 1 cake fresh
1 pound loose tea will brew 80 cups
a dash = 8 drops
1 teaspoon = 60 drops
1 gram = .035 ounces---1 pound = 453.6 grams
15 pounds of potatoes = 1 peck
50 pounds of tomatoes = 1 bushel
1 bushel of apples = 44 pounds
cooking potatoes for boiled or mashed potatoes when peeled and cut in quarters---it takes 20 minutes after coming to a boil to be cooked through when cut into 2 inch chunks
cooking a 20 pound prime rib roast---350 degrees for 3 ¼ hours will result in a rare center providing that you don't open the oven door.