Measurement Units and Kitchen Scales

Cooking by volume (cups and tablespoons) and baking by weight (grams and ounces) require different tools. Cook:RE lets you configure how measurements are displayed and uses density-backed conversions so your measurements are reliable and repeatable.

Measurement Preferences

You can customize your measurement system at any time:

1. Open Cook:RE and tap the gear icon to open Preferences.
2. Select Measuring.
3. Choose your preferred Volume system:
   • Cups: US customary volume units (cups, tablespoons, teaspoons, fluid ounces).
   • Millilitres: Metric volume units (millilitres, litres).
4. Choose your preferred Weight system:
   • Grams: Metric mass (grams, kilograms).
   • Ounces: US customary mass (ounces, pounds).
5. Toggle Kitchen Scale:
   • Turn this on if you use a digital kitchen scale. When enabled, Cook:RE displays a weight alongside the volume measurement whenever the ingredient’s physical density is known.

Density-Backed Conversions

Converting a cup of all-purpose flour to grams is not a simple unit calculation because a cup of flour weighs roughly 120 grams, while a cup of granulated sugar weighs roughly 200 grams, and a cup of water weighs 237 grams.

Each ingredient is linked to a curated substance catalog containing physical density data:

• When an imported recipe lists 2 cups all-purpose flour, Cook:RE looks up the density of all-purpose flour to display 240 g if your scale preference is active.
• If a recipe lists grams and your preference is cups, Cook:RE converts grams back to volume using the substance’s specific density.

Kosher Salt Brands

Different brands of kosher salt have drastically different crystal shapes and packing densities:

• Diamond Crystal: Fluffy, hollow flakes weighing roughly 2.8 grams per teaspoon.
• Morton: Denser, flatter flakes weighing roughly 4.8 grams per teaspoon (nearly twice as salty by volume).

In Preferences → Measuring, you can select which kosher salt brand is in your pantry. When you view a recipe calling for kosher salt by volume, Cook:RE automatically adjusts the quantity to match your brand’s density, preventing accidentally over-salted or under-salted dishes.