Most recipes can be boiled down to a ratio of their ingredients. There is an interesting range for many ingredients, and in the tables below a tilde (~) denotes a moderate difference, and explicit ranges are given for ingredients that matter more. You’ll find that the ranges can lean a recipe towards one set of flavours or another, or adjust for differences between ingredients like acids that can be stronger or weaker (or sweeter, saltier, etc.).
I find that a digital scale is helpful, and using the metric system you can often treat grams and millilitres as equivalent for things that contain mostly water. Dry ingredient weights are not usually interchangeable with millilitres, especially dried spices.
TODO
This chapter is a work in progress, and I still need to develop and test ratios for a number of recipes.
Breading (for deep frying)
Gravies
- roux
- reductions
- starches
- bouillon or stock
Breads by type
Pizza
- 100% (1 kg) flour (1000 grams)
- 70% water (700 grams) ← adjust
- 1% yeast (10 grams)
- 3% salt (30 grams)
Pasta doughs (by type)
Sausages by type/texture
Dressings and sauces
Salad dressing
| Ingredient | Ratio | % of oil | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil | 4 | 100% | 175 ml |
| Vinegar | ~1 | ~25% | ~45 ml |
| Water | 0–1 | 0–25% | 0–45 ml |
| Emulsifier | ~0.2 | ~5% | ~10 ml |
| Seasonings | ~0.04 | ~1% | ~2 g |
| Salt | ~0.04 | ~1% | ~2 g |
- Water can be added to balance the strength of the vinegar (especially as most mustard emulsifiers also include vinegar)
- Salt can (and should) include some glutamate or equivalent (like anchovies, Worcestershire, MSG, etc.)
- If blending or grinding spices, take care as both can cause bitterness
Mayonnaise
| Ingredient | Ratio | % of oil | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oil | 4 | 100% | 250 ml |
| Large egg | 1 | 25% | 62.5 ml |
| Lemon juice | 0.2 | 5% | 12.5 ml |
| Dijon | 0.2 | 5% | 12.5 ml |
| Salt | 0.04 | 1% | 2.5 g |
| MSG | 0.02 | 0.5% | 1.25 g |
- Sugar, fat, and additional glutamates (or dashi) can be added to make more of a Kewpie mayonnaise
- Other seasonings can be added, or mixed in afterwards
- Use a large deli container and immersion blender by adding everything but the oil to the bottom of the container, covering ingredients with the blender head. Pour oil over the blender head, and blend. The oil will get pulled in slowly (much simpler than drizzling it in).
Brines (TODO: add pickling, which feels like a subset of brines)
Wet brine
| Ingredient | % of water | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Water | 100% | 1000 ml |
| Salt | 2.5–7.5% | 25–75 g |
| Sugar | 0–5% | 0–50 g |
| Seasonings | ~5% | ~50 g |
| MSG | 1% | 10 g |
| Baking soda | < 1% | < 10 g |
A wet brine is typically 2.5–7.5% salt to water (5% is a good default), with sugar from none up to about the weight of the salt
Wet brines can be used on both meats and vegetables (and tubers)
- Tubers like potatoes become softer
- Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower taste more like themselves, and can have a softer internal texture
Brine time is proportional to the size of the pieces of food
Brining longer makes foods:
- more salty, and sweeter if using sugar
- more seasoned (if using seasoning), though the effect of this depends on the solubility of the spice
- juicier
- softer in texture
- slightly watered down in flavour
For meats, longer brines make foods behave more like ham or deli meats
- If aggressively mixed at cooler temperatures, minced meats can become more like Vienna sausage (or mortadella)
With a higher pH (more alkaline), you can achieve a bouncy Asian meatball texture (with the addition of < 1% baking soda)
- Works well for chicken or turkey patties (similar to fast food)
- Higher pH (baking soda) is also how you velvet sliced meats
With a lower pH (more acidic), you can achieve a softer texture if used carefully
- Works well for Southern-style fried chicken (using buttermilk instead of water)
Dry brine
| Ingredient | % of salt | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Salt | 100% | 240 g |
| Sugar | 0–100% | 0–240 g |
| Seasonings | ~5% | ~12 g |
| MSG | 1% | 2.4 g |
| Baking soda | < 1% | < 2.4 g |
Generally, you should use about 1% salt by weight for the food you are dry brining
- e.g., 1 kg of chicken needs 10 g of salt; the rub as a whole weighs more once sugar and seasonings are added
- 10 g of kosher salt is about a tablespoon (depending on the brand)
Dry brines can tend towards salty, sweet, or balanced
- Savoury red meats do better with less sweet (generally)
- BBQ style foods can handle more sweet
- Poultry and pork do well with a balanced sweet/salty
General wet brine rules work well for dry brines (in terms of times and effect)
- Less water is absorbed (so less flavour dilution)
- I suspect salt/sugar absorption is slower
- It’s simpler and less messy for weeknight cooking, and flavour is generally more meaty
Note that dry brines cause meats to
- expel moisture, and then
- re-absorb it
- if the meat is still wet, let it brine for longer
- frozen meats will expel more moisture due to cellular tearing via freeze/thaw