Recipe Scaler
Scale a recipe up or down and adjust pan size and cooking time.
About Recipe Scaler
Ingredients scale linearly but cooking time does not, because heat must travel through depth rather than volume. Keeping the depth constant by using a wider pan preserves the original timing. Salt, spices and leavening often need less than linear scaling, which is why large scale-ups taste over-seasoned when scaled purely by factor.
Formula
Recipe Scaler
Scale factor = target ÷ original servings; time scales roughly with the cube root
- scale factor
- Multiplier applied to every ingredient by weight
- cube root
- Cooking time depends on depth rather than total volume
Worked example
With the default values below, Recipe Scaler returns Scale Factor of 2.5000. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Original servingsminimum 1
- 4
- Target servingsminimum 1
- 10
- Ingredient amount to convertminimum 0 g
- 250 g
- Original cooking timeminimum 0 min
- 35 min
Results
- Scale Factor
- 2.5000 x
- Scaled Ingredient Amount
- 625.00 g
- Adjusted Cooking Time
- 47.5 min
- Pan Area Factor Needed
- 2.500 x
- Guidance
- Keep depth the same by widening the pan rather than filling it deeper
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2Recipe Scaler
- 3Scale Factor= 2.5000 x
- 4Scaled Ingredient Amount= 625.00 g
- 5Adjusted Cooking Time= 47.5 min
- 6Pan Area Factor Needed= 2.500 x
- 7Guidance= Keep depth the same by widening the pan rather than filling it deeper
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Recipe Scaler calculated?
Scale factor = target ÷ original servings; time scales roughly with the cube root Ingredients scale linearly but cooking time does not, because heat must travel through depth rather than volume. Keeping the depth constant by using a wider pan preserves the original timing.
Why does Recipe Scaler matter?
Salt, spices and leavening often need less than linear scaling, which is why large scale-ups taste over-seasoned when scaled purely by factor.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 4 inputs: Original servings, Target servings, Ingredient amount to convert, Original cooking time. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.