News Flash!

ANOTHER Unit of Measure quiz! This one will be next Tuesday. Chef Stephanie suggested that we make a chart and post it in our bathrooms and study it between now and then. "What you write yourself, you learn. And you have lots of available time to review when you are in the bathroom. Make sure you ace this quiz, otherwise you will never be a chef."

so: metric weight: 1000 grams = 1 kilogram
metric volume: 1000 milliliters = 1 liter
US weight: 16 ounces = 1 pound
US volume: teaspoon x 3 = tablespoon x 2 = ounce x 8 = cup x 2 = pint x 2 = quart x 4 = gallon

Easy to see why metric is so much easier to deal with.

We did conversions from US to metric and back today (1 weight ounce [wz] = 28.35 grams, 1 fluid ounce [fz] = 30 ml), and worked more on our recipe templates, calculating unit cost from a price list that Chef provided. For example, how much is six ounces of bell pepper if you purchase a 25 pound box for $20? In the row behind me, Silvia muttered under her breath. "I came to cooking school because I hate math and I hate computers."

We have to bring another book to class, one that's been buried deep on the 18" high pile of books I got on the second day of class: The Book of Yields. This book will apparently be invaluable to us as we proceed to calculate the cost of chopped fresh herbs, determine drained weights, and price the individual parts of a whole chicken (with or without giblets.) Chapter 12: "The Proper Use of Cans, Scoops, Hotel Pans, and Sheet Trays in Costing." I'll keep you posted.