What does it mean when someone says "parts" in relation to cooking?

Question

This is a stupid question, I know. But I don't cook and I hate math. If someone says like "3 parts milk" or something when talking about how much of an ingredient to use in a cooking recipe, what does that mean? What's a part? Is that like 3 parts of 10? I'm so confused.

Answer 1

A "part" is simply one of whatever unit of measurement you are using. If you're using cups as your base unit of measurement then 3parts milk means 3 cups of milk. Keep in mind though that you would have to use a cup as your uint of measurement for the entire recipe.

Answer 2

They are talking about proportions. Like 3 parts milk to 2 parts powder is like 3/3 milk and 2/3 powder. A part is not an actual measurement.

Answer 3

I would assume that you would take the same measurement and use it for your dry and liquid ingredients....example:

If you had a recipe that called for 1 part flour, 1 part sugar, 2 parts milk...then you could take 1 cup (or any size you want to make the recipe) and multiply it times each part (1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, 2 parts milk). Hope this makes sense!

Answer 4

I think it's usually something like 'two parts flour to one part milk' meaning you would put twice as much flour... Its a ratio thing