Notes
Occasional writing about measuring things accurately, and about what is actually in the packet. Posts here are paired with ones on SwapGenie, because the two questions turn out to be the same question.
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Yuka alternatives: 6 grocery scanner apps compared
29 October 2026
Yuka vs Open Food Facts, Fooducate, EWG, Fig and SwapGenie: how each grocery scanner app scores a barcode, what allergy alerts cost, and what they all miss.
Paired with Scan a barcode against your own allergens and diet on SwapGenie
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One can of pumpkin is not two cups of pumpkin
17 September 2026
The standard 15-ounce can of pumpkin holds 1.73 cups by USDA measurement, not two. That gap is why pumpkin breads vary from squelching wet to dry as spice cake.
Paired with Reading what is actually in the packet on SwapGenie
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A teaspoon of kosher salt is not a teaspoon of kosher salt
16 September 2026
Diamond Crystal and Morton weigh nearly twice as different by volume. Same crystal, different shape — and half your recipe's salt if you swap them.
Paired with Reading what is actually in the packet on SwapGenie
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A cup of milk does not weigh 227 grams
16 September 2026
Milk, yogurt and heavy cream all appear in King Arthur's chart at 227 grams per cup. Milk is denser than water, so that number cannot be right. Here is why.
Paired with Reading what is actually in the packet on SwapGenie
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The label says grams, the recipe says cups
14 September 2026
Packaged food is sold by weight and cooked by volume, and the gap between those two habits is where most kitchen mistakes live.
Paired with Reading what is actually in the packet on SwapGenie
SwapGenie
Scan a grocery barcode, get a better version of the same thing.
We built SwapGenie for the problem this site cannot solve: the label. It reads a barcode, scores the product against your own allergens and diet rather than a generic grade, and suggests what to buy instead. On Android now; iOS on February 15, 2027.
Coming February 15, 2027