I find myself using Google a lot when making a meal, with searches ranging from unfamiliar techniques and terms (if I can’t find them under Kitchen 101) to substitutions and conversions. A simple query in search engine can send you down a rabbit hole of less-than-relevant search results as Yahoo Answers, WikiAnswers and Ask.com all come up with contradicting responses to the same question. In a noble quest to find particularly useful or unique sites, we have bookmarked these four to help you in your next adventure through the kitchen.

1. Eat-by Date

Printed dates – be they ‘sell by,’ ‘best by,’ ‘use by’ or unlabeled – tend to err on the side of caution, hoping to reduce the chance of food-borne illness lawsuits against manufacturers. In fact, most of the food in your fridge or pantry is actually still edible even after the ominous date has passed. EatbyDate tells you how long the food should last and how to properly check whether it’s still good (like Maia’s article). Think of it as the counselor that helps sustain the trust in you and your food’s relationship. As a loud and proud food waste opponent, I strongly recommend this site to anyone who owns food – not just cooks.

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Picture courtesy of eatbydate.com

 

2. Recipes 4 Us: Cups to Weight

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Photo courtesy of Recipes4Us.co.uk

This section of the expansive Recipes4us site performs the all-too-convenient function of converting one cup of food to a mass measurement. In other words, it’s perfect if you don’t have a food scale but do have one of those annoying recipes that goes by weight instead of volume. Trying to measure your sultanas, celeriac, and kangaroo meat? Don’t worry, this extensive site has you covered.

3. 100 Grams

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Photo courtesy of 100-grams.blogspot.com

Similar to Recipes4us, 100-Grams is meant for people who don’t have food scales. It’s a simple photo collection of foods in 100-gram quantities, complete with nutritional information. It’s useful in mass-using recipes as well as for your mass-conscious snacking, allowing you to forgo the awkward task of pouring dried mango into a measuring cup.

4. Busycooks: Equivalents

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Photo courtesy of Busy Cooks

Your cheesecake recipe calls for one cup of graham cracker crumbs – how do you know how many crackers to crush? This page provides a table of common food equivalents, such as how many cups of chopped dates come from a pound of pitted dates or the volume of one egg yolk.