Unit equivalencies

Recipes rarely speak the unit you buy in. Garlic arrives by the kilogram; the recipe says “3 cloves”. Ground coriander is stocked in grams; the method says “1 tsp”. An equivalency teaches BatchDash what such a unit means for one specific ingredient, so it can convert, count, and cost across units.

Add an equivalency

On the ingredient page, in the Equivalencies section, click Add equivalency:

1. Name the Custom unit: clove, can, bunch, tsp.
2. Enter what it Equals in a base unit: 1 clove = 5 g, 1 can = 400 g, 1 tsp of ground coriander = 2.1 g.
3. Add a note if the number needs context (“weighed 20 cloves, took the average”).

Each unit name gets one equivalency; saving the same name again replaces the old value.

Where they apply

Anywhere a quantity for this ingredient is written in that unit. A recipe line of “12 cloves” converts to 60 g for costing and scaling, because all formula math runs in grams (mass-based formulas covers this). Fixed doses in scale rules convert the same way.

Weight to volume needs no equivalency: the ingredient’s density already bridges those. Equivalencies are for units the system cannot know, the ones only your kitchen can define.

The reverse case matters too. If you stock an ingredient by the piece (eggs, vanilla pods), add an equivalency like “1 unit = 90 g” and recipes can use it by weight while your stock keeps counting pieces.

Per-ingredient, on purpose

A teaspoon of ground coriander weighs about 2.1 g; a teaspoon of salt about 6 g. That is why equivalencies belong to the ingredient, and why the same unit name can mean different masses on different records without conflict. For a unit that means the same thing across your whole organization (a “bottle” that is always 330 ml, whatever is in it), define an organization custom unit instead.

This module is part of the larger plans.