Accuracy Project

As any cook knows, improperly measuring ingredients is one of the quickest ways to ruin a recipe. Below you'll find the cooking equivalents for the terms pinch, dash, and smidgen. Anyone who's spent much time in the kitchen has likely run across these vague terms while baking.

A pinch, a dash and a smidgen, have all historically been a small, indefinite amount. In recent years however, several companies have begun selling tiny measuring spoons with the atypical cooking designations smidgen, pinch and dash. Using these as a guide, the precise measurements for those terms follows.