Cooking from international food blogs often means juggling different unit systems. PlateParrot solves this by automatically converting and consolidating ingredients. Whether one recipe calls for “cups” and another for “grams,” you get a single, accurate total on your shopping list.
The Great Unit Mismatch
The internet has given us access to recipes from all over the world. The downside? The math.
You find a perfect chocolate cake recipe on an American blog that calls for “2 cups of flour.” Then, you find a German recipe for the crumble topping that needs “150g Mehl.”
Now you are standing in the supermarket aisle with your calculator app open, frantically searching “how many grams in a cup of flour?” You try to add the 150g to the result, while also wondering if the bag of flour in your hand is 1kg or 2lb. It’s a friction point that turns a fun baking project into a math exam.
The Universal Kitchen Translator
PlateParrot acts as a universal adapter for your ingredients. It doesn’t care if your recipes speak Metric (grams, liters) or Imperial (ounces, cups).
When you add those two recipes to your list, the app recognizes that “flour” is the common denominator. It invisibly converts the “2 cups” into grams (approx. 240g), adds the “150g” from the other recipe, and presents you with a clean, single line: “390g Flour.”
You don’t see the math; you just see exactly how much you need to buy to bake both items successfully.
How It Works
The system is designed to adapt to you. In your settings, you define your preferred unit system (e.g., Metric).
If you import a US recipe calling for “4 ounces of cheddar,” PlateParrot will automatically translate that to “115g Cheddar” on your list. If you add another recipe needing “200g Cheddar,” the list simply updates to “315g Cheddar.”
It also cleans up the scale. If you need 500g for one meal and 600g for another, the app won’t just say “1100g.” It intelligently formats it to “1.1 kg,” making it easier to compare with package sizes on the shelf.
FAQ
Can it convert liquids to solids (e.g., ml to grams)?
Generally, no. Since the density varies (1 cup of lead weighs more than 1 cup of feathers), the app keeps Weight and Volume separate unless you’ve defined a specific conversion for that ingredient.
Does it handle “pieces”?
Yes. If you need “2 onions” and “3 onions,” it simply sums them to “5 onions.” It keeps countable items separate from weight-based items.
What if I have custom units like “1 pack”?
You can define custom units in the settings. If you tell the app that “1 pack of butter = 250g,” it can then mathematically combine “1 pack” with “50g” from another recipe.
