I don't see how a slide rule would substantially improve anything in my kitchen, honestly.
> Bakers understand the importance of proportions in cooking; they even write their recipes normalised to the weight of flour, meaning all other ingredients are given in proportion to the amount of flour.
I do more baking than cooking. Baker's math is an incredibly useful concept. But that math is trivial to do in my head, and that's much more convenient than a slide rule or other calculating device.
As a hobbyist cook, this article starts with a false (or at least misleading) premise:
maybe the recipe calls for 80 g of butter but you only have 57 g
The amount of fat is rarely critical, pie crusts and puff pastry the exceptions. Unless the situation is puff pastry, make the full recipe. There are also recipes, like Better Homes and Gardens cookbook "baked rice pudding", that you can fudge ingredients to an extent, but can't double. The heat transfer of a double sized batch of custard prevents the whole thing from cooking.
The point being that food is more and less than chemistry. It's more and less than thermodynamics or heat transfer. It's art.
PS
I own 2 slide rules. I don't use either one in the kitchen.
I don't see how a slide rule would substantially improve anything in my kitchen, honestly.
> Bakers understand the importance of proportions in cooking; they even write their recipes normalised to the weight of flour, meaning all other ingredients are given in proportion to the amount of flour.
I do more baking than cooking. Baker's math is an incredibly useful concept. But that math is trivial to do in my head, and that's much more convenient than a slide rule or other calculating device.
As a hobbyist cook, this article starts with a false (or at least misleading) premise:
maybe the recipe calls for 80 g of butter but you only have 57 g
The amount of fat is rarely critical, pie crusts and puff pastry the exceptions. Unless the situation is puff pastry, make the full recipe. There are also recipes, like Better Homes and Gardens cookbook "baked rice pudding", that you can fudge ingredients to an extent, but can't double. The heat transfer of a double sized batch of custard prevents the whole thing from cooking.
The point being that food is more and less than chemistry. It's more and less than thermodynamics or heat transfer. It's art.
PS
I own 2 slide rules. I don't use either one in the kitchen.