What is your deal breaker, recipe wise?

[Addie]

When looking at a recipe what is the deal breaker that makes you stop reading and go to another recipe? For me it is :

Too many steps
Too many bowls or pans
And way too many ingredients!!!

 

[Steve Kroll]

I find most recipes online these days, and what I generally look at first are the reviews. If there aren't any reviews at all, or if there are too many that are negative, I tend to keep looking.

If it's a weeknight, I look at a recipe more with an eye on what's already in my pantry and fridge. If I have to make a special trip or pick up more than a couple of ingredients, it will probably get passed up (though I may still bookmark it to try for a later date).

 

[taxlady]

• canned soup
• MSG
• Soy that can't be left out (I'm not supposed to have it)
• Sweet with a meat or vegi dish
• Too much stuff that has to be made ahead of time

 

[Andy M.]

It depends on the recipe.

If I'm looking for an 'authentic' recipe for a classic dish such as Boeuf Bourguignon or Fettucine Alfredo, etc., I want the recipe I choose to be as close as possible to the origins of the dish. I realize there is more than one way to make most classic dishes. I want to come close.

If I'm looking for a dinner dish, I look for a recipe with flavors SO and I will both like and that uses basic ingredients (no convenience foods as ingredients).

I often compare several recipes for a specific dish and choose one or take some of each recipe to make one I like.

 

[Addie]

I find most recipes online these days, and what I generally look at first are the reviews. If there aren't any reviews at all, or if there are too many that are negative, I tend to keep looking.

I am always looking for those five stars. Once they get down to three, I don't even look. I think I would trust a recipe from DC first. They are usually family friendly meals that have been handed down or really tested over time.

 

[pacanis]

My needs are simple, I want a picture of the finished dish. If I don't have a pic, I rarely make the dish, or I find a different version that does have a pic.
I try to follow a recipe as closely as possible, because after all, if I'm going to change a bunch of things, I'm not really following the recipe am I? If it's something I have never made before or have never seen, I need that picture to help me with consistency and such.
And as a disclaimer, I have looked at three different recipes and combined parts of all that I like, but I don't consider that following a recipe.

 

[Timothy]

My first deciding factor is if msmofet is the source of the recipe. She makes the most fabulous meals and provides the clearest instruction and methods that can be used. She's a kitchen professional and one fine cook! If she were cooking for me every day, I'd look like Moby Tim, the whale man, and wouldn't be able to clear doorways!

I guess my "deal breaker" would be the degree of difficulty in making the recipe. Those that have "stir constantly for 45 minutes" are immediately discarded.

One pot dishes or slow cooker meals are my favorites. Simple to make usually and easy to clean up from.

I use the "Fasta Pasta" gadget and have to tell you all, it has impressed me in it's simplicity. For a person who cooks mostly for only myself, it's handy as can be. Veggies, taters, pasta...all done in the microwave and done very well.

Also, the Presto Pizza Pizzazz is awesome for anything that is usually put under a broiler. Using the right tool for the right job can sometimes make the job much easier.

 

[babetoo]

if i would have to make a trip to store, for ingredients,it more than likely not be made.

 

[buckytom]

i'm with taxy on her first deal breaker: canned "cream of something" soup.

i'm not being snobbish, but i prefer to add my own cream, or milk, salt, and other ingredients.

 

[pacanis]

i'm with taxy on her first deal breaker: canned "cream of something" soup.

i'm not being snobbish, but i prefer to add my own cream, or milk, salt, and other ingredients.

If you run into a recipe that calls for a can of... you don't make it at all, or you substitute your version of the creamed soup they are calling for?

 

[Addie]

i'm with taxy on her first deal breaker: canned "cream of something" soup.

i'm not being snobbish, but i prefer to add my own cream, or milk, salt, and other ingredients.

Me too. Too much sodium for one reason. I like to cook from scratch. I feel like I have accomplished something good.

 

[buckytom]

yup, the salt and other chemicals that i can't pronounce kill it for me. i'm sure i've had good dishes made with canned stuff, but i probably also thought whatever i ate was too salty.

 

[taxlady]

If you run into a recipe that calls for a can of... you don't make it at all, or you substitute your version of the creamed soup they are calling for?

I would probably make it if I had some of the right kind of soup already made. It would have to sound really, really yummy for me to remember to save some of that kind of soup the next time I made it, just so I would have some for the recipe.

 

[Addie]

yup, the salt and other chemicals that i can't pronounce kill it for me. i'm sure i've had good dishes made with canned stuff, but i probably also thought whatever i ate was too salty.

With the holiday time upon us, it is time for that revolting green been, onion ring casserole. I have yet to taste it. Just looking at it turns my stomach.

 

[buckytom]

a year or two ago, my eldest sis - the great cook in the family - decided to kill off the green been gunk and replace it with a dish of steamed stringbeans, fresh savory, s&p, and the best, grassy evoo she can find (in a small bottle), topping it with fresh, flash fried onions.

the difference is amazing, and you still feel like you've had the traditiinal dish.

 

[Addie]

a year or two ago, my eldest sis - the great cook in the family - decided to kill off the green been gunk and replace it with a dish of steamed stringbeans, fresh savory, s&p, and the best, grassy evoo she can find (in a small bottle), topping it with fresh, flash fried onions. the difference is amazing, and you still feel like you've had the traditiinal dish.

Now that is a dish I would eat.

 

[GLC]

I find the photo of the finished dish is important to me, too. Really, it's part of a larger matter of being able to get a reasonable idea of what the dish will be like. Of course this only applies to unfamiliar or untried dishes, but I want a descriptive review or a good photo or some narrative in the instructions that explain what's happening taste and texture wise. But, yes, the photo is real important, especially when it's something for which there are many versions. It's a little silly, because we don't often know much about the photo. All it really does is tell, yes, that's what you thought they meant. But people don't much buy things on eBay without a photo, either, no matter how good the description. Humans are visual animals. Our other senses aren't that good.

On an entirely different level, no recipe calling for prepared soup, canned fried onions, or margarine need apply.

 

[sparrowgrass]

I don't cook from recipes much, but I would avoid one that has ingredients I can't find around here, or 'exotic' stuff that I don't already have. The grocery stores here in town are abysmal--my sis-in-law came to visit, decided to make borscht, and we had to drive 25 miles to find fresh beets.

 

[roadfix]

Too many ingredients. About 5 is all I can handle.
I like the simple life.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Exotic spices or alcohol stop me cold, I already have too many bottles that have no real use in my day to day cooking.

I am at a point in my life where I have to restrict my intake of food so I am constantly looking forward to making some old recipe that I really enjoy.