Types Of

Use these ingredient guides to identify varieties, compare flavor and texture, choose the right ingredient for a recipe, and understand common kitchen measurements. Chef Steven Pennington focuses on practical cooking details: how ingredients taste, how they behave in recipes, when they are in season, and how to substitute or measure them at home.

Start With High-Use Ingredient Guides

If you are choosing an ingredient for cooking, start with the guides that compare flavor, heat, texture, and best uses. The types of peppers guide helps you choose peppers by heat and flavor, while the types of fruit guide gives a broader look at fruit varieties for cooking, baking, and seasonal eating.

Peppers and Chiles

Peppers vary from sweet and mild to intensely hot, so the best choice depends on the dish. Use the pepper guides to compare fresh chiles, dried chiles, smoked peppers, Scoville heat levels, salsa peppers, and cooking methods. For common kitchen prep, the jalapeno conversion guide helps estimate peppers by pound, cup, and quart.

Tomatoes, Fruits, and Vegetables

Tomatoes, fruit, and vegetables can change a recipe depending on size, ripeness, water content, and variety. Use the tomato variety guide for flavor and cooking uses, then use measurement pages like how many tomatoes are in a pound, how many apples are in a pound, and how many plums are in a pound when a recipe needs a practical conversion.

Measurement and Conversion Guides

Ingredient size matters. A pound of small carrots, large tomatoes, or sliced fruit will not always equal the same number of pieces or cups. When accuracy matters for baking, canning, sauce, salsa, or batch cooking, use a scale first and treat cup counts as practical estimates.