logoalt Hacker News

kqryesterday at 11:37 PM1 replyview on HN

Less known optimisation: have a slide rule handy[1]. They are amazing for working with proportions which happens all the time in the kitchen.

Just today I needed 200 g of chocolate for a dessert. The bars were 160 g each and made into 21 rectangles. Set the slide rule to 200:160 and read out the value of x:21, which turns out to be 26.25 -- the number of rectangles needed. So convenient to be able to do that quickly and with messy hands.

[1]: https://entropicthoughts.com/kitchen-slide-rule


Replies

queseratoday at 1:59 AM

My method for that is:

  - I need 200g
  - Bars are 160g
  - So I need 1 bar + 40g
  - 40g is 25% of 160g (this one's easy, but precision is rarely critical -- and if you think it is, ask Siri)
  - So I need 1 bar + 1/4 bar