scale drawings, and we said that often in such drawings, ¼" = 1'. That’s a ratio. Every ¼" on the drawing corresponds to 1' in the real world. Because ratios are usually written with a colon, we could have represented this ratio as 1': ¼".
We often use the word
part
when we’re talking about ratios. That’s because we use ratios to show the relationship between different things. For example, Joe likes a stiff drink after work each day. If he mixes three ounces of Scotch with one ounce of water, the ratio is 3:1.
Here’s another example. Felice finally has her own place in the Big Apple. She plunked down a crazy amount of cash for her studio apartment, which means she’ll be on a tight budget from now to eternity.
But that’s okay with her. If she can make it here, she can make it anywhere.
Felice has a futon, which does double duty as both bed and couch. Her grandmother gave her a card table and four folding chairs. And she picked up a pot, a skillet, and a set of mismatched dishes at a flea market in The Village. The can opener and a handful of flatware were left behind by a former roommate.
In other words, she’s all set, as long as she doesn’t need to make any fancy meals. For now, she’ll live on leftover pizza, salads, and canned soup.
But these menus get old quickly. Before she knows it, Felice is ready for something different. She can’t afford to buy any specialty cooking tools—not even a measuring cup—and she still needs to eat on the cheap.
Long-grain white rice is a great option. It’s versatile, and she can make it with everything she has on hand. Her grandmother not only gave her a place to eat but also taught her how to make rice—using a 2:1 ratio, or 2 parts water to 1 part rice.
That means Felice can use a regular coffee mug to measure her rice and water. It doesn’t matter how big the coffee mug is, as long as she keeps the ratio the same. She fills her mug with rice and pours it into the pot. Then, using the same mug, she adds 2 mugs of water. She brings it all to a boil, turns down the heat, and covers it with the lid. In 15 to 20 minutes, she has fluffy white rice to serve with sautéed veggies.
Yum!
But what if she wants to entertain? Changing a ratio is simple. To double the recipe, she merely doubles each part: 4 parts water to 2 parts rice. And what if one day she isn’t as hungry as usual? She can simply reduce the ratio: 1 part water to ½ part rice.
Here’s hoping that rice doesn’t get too old too soon.
Revealing Ratios
A ratio is just a way to show the relationship between numbers. Mathematically speaking, ratios compare only two numbers.
Ratios can be written in the following three different ways.
• 2:1
•
• 2 to 1
Ratios can also be written as fractions, which means they can also be written as percents.
All you need to do is divide the denominator into the numerator and change the answer to a percent, like this:
3:4 = ¾
3 / 4 = 0.75
0.75 = 75%
In other words, ratios are more flexible than the most adept chef or baker. Despite the fact that, mathematically speaking, a ratio shows the relationship between two numbers, in the kitchen, cooks may use more complex “ratios” with more than two numbers.
Technically, these aren’t real ratios because they can’t be written as fractions or percents, but they do show the relationships among ingredients. For example, the typical ratio for baking biscuits is 3:2:1—that is, 3 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part fat. How does this work in the kitchen?
If you had 3 cups of flour, you would need 2 cups of liquid and 1 cup of fat. But what if you had 6 cups of flour? Well, 6 = 2 • 3, so you would need to multiply each of your other numbers in the “ratio” by 2.
2 • 2 = 4
1 • 2 = 2
You would need 4 cups of liquid and 2 cups of fat.
And of course you can reduce a recipe this way, too. If you had 1 cup of flour, you would need to reduce the other ingredients by 1∕3. (That’s because 3 =
We often use the word
part
when we’re talking about ratios. That’s because we use ratios to show the relationship between different things. For example, Joe likes a stiff drink after work each day. If he mixes three ounces of Scotch with one ounce of water, the ratio is 3:1.
Here’s another example. Felice finally has her own place in the Big Apple. She plunked down a crazy amount of cash for her studio apartment, which means she’ll be on a tight budget from now to eternity.
But that’s okay with her. If she can make it here, she can make it anywhere.
Felice has a futon, which does double duty as both bed and couch. Her grandmother gave her a card table and four folding chairs. And she picked up a pot, a skillet, and a set of mismatched dishes at a flea market in The Village. The can opener and a handful of flatware were left behind by a former roommate.
In other words, she’s all set, as long as she doesn’t need to make any fancy meals. For now, she’ll live on leftover pizza, salads, and canned soup.
But these menus get old quickly. Before she knows it, Felice is ready for something different. She can’t afford to buy any specialty cooking tools—not even a measuring cup—and she still needs to eat on the cheap.
Long-grain white rice is a great option. It’s versatile, and she can make it with everything she has on hand. Her grandmother not only gave her a place to eat but also taught her how to make rice—using a 2:1 ratio, or 2 parts water to 1 part rice.
That means Felice can use a regular coffee mug to measure her rice and water. It doesn’t matter how big the coffee mug is, as long as she keeps the ratio the same. She fills her mug with rice and pours it into the pot. Then, using the same mug, she adds 2 mugs of water. She brings it all to a boil, turns down the heat, and covers it with the lid. In 15 to 20 minutes, she has fluffy white rice to serve with sautéed veggies.
Yum!
But what if she wants to entertain? Changing a ratio is simple. To double the recipe, she merely doubles each part: 4 parts water to 2 parts rice. And what if one day she isn’t as hungry as usual? She can simply reduce the ratio: 1 part water to ½ part rice.
Here’s hoping that rice doesn’t get too old too soon.
Revealing Ratios
A ratio is just a way to show the relationship between numbers. Mathematically speaking, ratios compare only two numbers.
Ratios can be written in the following three different ways.
• 2:1
•
• 2 to 1
Ratios can also be written as fractions, which means they can also be written as percents.
All you need to do is divide the denominator into the numerator and change the answer to a percent, like this:
3:4 = ¾
3 / 4 = 0.75
0.75 = 75%
In other words, ratios are more flexible than the most adept chef or baker. Despite the fact that, mathematically speaking, a ratio shows the relationship between two numbers, in the kitchen, cooks may use more complex “ratios” with more than two numbers.
Technically, these aren’t real ratios because they can’t be written as fractions or percents, but they do show the relationships among ingredients. For example, the typical ratio for baking biscuits is 3:2:1—that is, 3 parts flour, 2 parts liquid, 1 part fat. How does this work in the kitchen?
If you had 3 cups of flour, you would need 2 cups of liquid and 1 cup of fat. But what if you had 6 cups of flour? Well, 6 = 2 • 3, so you would need to multiply each of your other numbers in the “ratio” by 2.
2 • 2 = 4
1 • 2 = 2
You would need 4 cups of liquid and 2 cups of fat.
And of course you can reduce a recipe this way, too. If you had 1 cup of flour, you would need to reduce the other ingredients by 1∕3. (That’s because 3 =
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