5 cooking ratios worth knowing

A ratio gives you a starting point when you have oil and vinegar but no dressing, or a bag of bones you’d rather turn into stock than throw away. Keep the proportions, then work with what’s in the kitchen.

Use a digital scale for the pie dough, bread, and stock below. Their ratios are by weight, so you can halve or double a batch. The vinaigrette uses tablespoons; the mayonnaise uses a yolk and a cup of oil. Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio goes further into this way of cooking.

1. Vinaigrette: 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar

Put 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) balsamic vinegar in a jar with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Screw on the lid and shake. That’s 3 parts oil to 1 part vinegar or other acid.

Taste before adding more oil if you like a sharper dressing. Red wine vinegar has a brisk, winey bite; apple cider vinegar tastes softer and a little fruity. Lemon juice is bright and tart, while lime is sharper and good with cilantro. Avocado or grapeseed oil gives you a quieter base than olive oil; toasted sesame or walnut oil will stand out. A teaspoon (5 ml) of Dijon mustard helps the dressing stay mixed longer. Honey, minced garlic, shallot, or chopped herbs can go in too.

For a first batch, shake the oil and vinegar together, then dip in a lettuce leaf to taste. It gives you a better sense of the dressing than a sip from the jar. A wilting bunch of herbs is reason enough to make one.

2. Pie dough: 3 parts flour to 2 parts fat to 1 part water

For a single-crust pie, weigh 3 parts flour, 2 parts fat, and 1 part water: 10.6 oz (300 g) all-purpose flour, 7.1 oz (200 g) cold, cubed butter, and 3.5 oz (100 g) ice-cold water. Shortening or lard can stand in for the butter.

Rub the butter into the flour until some pieces are still about the size of peas. You should feel those firm bits when you pinch the mixture; if it feels uniformly sandy, you’ve worked it too far. Add just enough of the measured water for the dough to hold together when pressed, then stop. Keep the butter cold and chill the dough before rolling it. Warm butter and extra kneading make a tougher crust.

3. Mayonnaise: 1 yolk to 1 cup of oil

Use 1 egg yolk for every 1 cup (240 ml) neutral oil. Add about 1 teaspoon (5 ml) lemon juice or white vinegar and a pinch of salt. Because the yolk stays raw, use a pasteurized egg yolk.

Whisk the yolk, acid, and salt first. Add the oil drop by drop, whisking constantly. Once the mixture thickens, pour the rest in a thin, steady stream. Rush the first few spoonfuls and it can separate. An immersion blender is another way to bring it together. Keep the finished mayonnaise refrigerated.

Stir in roasted garlic for sandwiches or roasted potatoes.

4. Bread: 5 parts flour to 3 parts water

Weigh 5 parts flour to 3 parts water for a dough at about 60% hydration. It’s a manageable starting point for a sandwich loaf or rustic boule. You’ll also need salt at about 2% of the flour’s weight and yeast at about 1–2%.

For 17.6 oz (500 g) flour, use 10.6 oz (300 g) water, 0.35 oz (10 g) salt, and 0.18–0.35 oz (5–10 g) yeast. In a simple white sandwich loaf, this makes a firm dough you can knead and shape without much sticking; expect a closer crumb than you’d get with a wetter dough. More water can give you a chewier loaf with a more open crumb, but makes the dough harder to handle. Start here before changing the water for whole-wheat or rye flour, which handle differently.

5. Stock: 3 parts water to 2 parts bones

Use 3 parts water to 2 parts bones by weight, plus aromatics. For 4.4 lb (2 kg) chicken or beef bones, that’s about 6.6 lb (3 kg), or 12⅔ cups (3 liters), cold water. Add onions, carrots, celery, a bay leaf, and peppercorns.

Bring the pot to a very gentle simmer and skim off the scum that rises. Allow roughly 3–4 hours for chicken stock or 6–8 hours for beef stock, keeping the liquid below a boil. For a darker beef stock, roast the bones and vegetables in a hot oven until deeply browned before adding them to the water. Cool the finished stock in shallow containers and refrigerate it within 2 hours.