Conversions & Substitutes

Measuring Spoons (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Hi Everyone,

Picture this – you’ve just pulled out a recipe you had bookmarked or jotted down. You’re reading through the recipe to assemble the ingredients and you’ve come upon measurements in weight rather than volume, English versus American. Added to that, the recipe calls for ingredients that you may not have at hand but you do have other versions of the ingredients and you wonder if they can be used as substitutes. Sounds familiar? We’ve all been there. 20140809TasteslikehomeDon’t fret. Print this column and stick it on to your refrigerator, cupboard or wall in your kitchen so that you can access the information easily and readily.

There are certain things that need to be understood first.

All measuring cups and measuring spoons are not the same; some vary in volume.

Ingredients are packaged, labelled and sold differently from one country and region to another. For example, in some places you may be able to buy sticks of butter while in others, butter is sold in tubs or wrapped.

All-purpose flour is not created equal; some may have in more protein than others, some may be heavier while others are lighter.

Bread flour, pastry flour and cake flour are very different from all-purpose flour.