KITCHEN PRACTICE 2 — Scale a Recipe, Sensibly
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TASK
Take a recipe from earlier in this course and scale it up or down —
adjusting seasoning by taste rather than blind multiplication, and
checking whether your pan or pot size can actually handle the scaled
quantity.

WALKTHROUGH

Step 1 — Pick a recipe and a scale factor.
Something like the scrambled eggs (Chapter 6) or the vinaigrette
(Chapter 5) works well for a first attempt — simple enough to isolate
the scaling decisions clearly. Decide whether you're scaling up (say,
doubling for a second person) or down.

Step 2 — Scale the bulk ingredients directly.
Multiply the main ingredients — eggs, oil, vinegar, vegetables — by
your scale factor. This part genuinely is just arithmetic.

Step 3 — Do NOT scale the seasoning the same way.
Add roughly half the proportionally-scaled amount of salt, pepper, or
any strong flavouring to start. You can always add more; you can't
easily remove it.

Step 4 — Taste and adjust from there.
Using Chapter 5's own tasting discipline, taste and add seasoning
gradually until it's right — not until it matches some multiplied
number.

Step 5 — Check your equipment.
If you scaled up, look honestly at your pan or pot: is there
genuinely enough room to cook this without recreating Chapter 4's own
overcrowded-pan problem? If not, either use a bigger pan or split the
scaled batch into two cooking rounds.

Step 6 — Check cooking time by doneness, not by a formula.
Don't assume doubling the quantity means doubling the time. Check
actual doneness the same way you would at the original scale — by
sight, by texture, or with a thermometer where relevant (Chapter 7) —
rather than trusting a scaled-up time estimate.

Step 7 — Compare to the original.
Taste the scaled version against your memory of the original (or a
side-by-side batch, if practical). It should taste essentially the
same, just a different quantity — if it tastes noticeably different,
that's a sign the seasoning scaling needed more adjustment than a
simple multiplication gave it.

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WHY THIS MATTERS
This directly tests Chapter 9's own two "doesn't scale linearly"
warnings — seasoning and time — on a real dish, rather than leaving
them as abstract advice. Scaling recipes badly is one of the most
common real causes of a home-cooked "double batch" turning out worse
than the original.