What’s your go to website for recipes?

[JustJoel]

Say there’s a dish that’s fairly well known, but you’ve never made it, and you don’t have a recipe. Something like split pea soup, maybe, or lamb with mint jelly. You fill in the blank.

What’s your go to website or websites to research recipes like that? ATK? Bon Apetit? AllRecipes? Food52? Do you pop onto YouTube and just plug the dish into their search engine? Do you have different sites for different types of food?

There are literally hundreds, plus all the smaller bloggers’ sites (thousands?). Which ones give you consistent results? Which ones do you trust?

I was going through my recipe database (Copy Me That, available on the App Store and that store for non-Mac users. Best recipe app I’ve found!), and I have a large number of recipes from Bon Apetit, several from ATK and their affiliated sites, a good number from Food Network, and a lot from Food52.

What are your go tos?

 

[larry_stewart]

I still like going Old School, and hitting my cookbook collection or even going to the book store and buying a new one.

But clearly, times have changed.

I do a lot of youtube searching. I like videos so I can see with my own eyes how "browned' they want something, or the actually sizes things are cut, specific brands of canned ingredients ....

I've gotten recipes from Food52, Allrecipes.

Indian I usually check out:
Manjula's Kitchen | Indian Vegetarian Recipes | Cooking Videos

Ill always search for multiple recipes from multiple sources just to look for consistency as well as variations. Then, Ill kinda make up my mind which ill use, or if Ill kinda pick and choose between recipes, and come up with mix of multiple recipes.

Ive also been using Pinterest more frequently. I like pictures, so its a nice way for me to get the visa first, and then make up my mind if I want to actually see the recipe. In addition, it allows me to organize things pretty well too .

 

[JustJoel]

I still like going Old School, and hitting my cookbook collection or even going to the book store and buying a new one.

But clearly, times have changed.

I do a lot of youtube searching. I like videos so I can see with my own eyes how "browned' they want something, or the actually sizes things are cut, specific brands of canned ingredients ....

I've gotten recipes from Food52, Allrecipes.

Indian I usually check out:
Manjula's Kitchen | Indian Vegetarian Recipes | Cooking Videos

Ill always search for multiple recipes from multiple sources just to look for consistency as well as variations. Then, Ill kinda make up my mind which ill use, or if Ill kinda pick and choose between recipes, and come up with mix of multiple recipes.

Ive also been using Pinterest more frequently. I like pictures, so its a nice way for me to get the visa first, and then make up my mind if I want to actually see the recipe. In addition, it allows me to organize things pretty well too .

I do like, more and more, getting the visual from a YouTube video. Written recipes can be vague and sometimes contradictory. Even **gasp** poorly written! But even if I find a great video, I always end up going back to the written recipe.

Currently, all of my cookbooks (not that many, actually) are all in digital format on my tablet. Not many pictures. But the cookbooks I have I treasure more for the commentary that accompanies the recipes than for the recipes themselves.

 

[Andy M.]

I google the recipe I’m interested in and scan the websites offering a recipe. I trust some site more so will start with them.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

Unlike some, I cannot watch videos. The one exception might be if there is a particular technique I just can't figure out by reading. When I watch a video, I feel like I'm wasting so much of the time I could be using to actually prepare the dish!

...Ill always search for multiple recipes from multiple sources just to look for consistency as well as variations. Then, Ill kinda make up my mind which ill use, or if Ill kinda pick and choose between recipes, and come up with mix of multiple recipes....

This is more of my approach, too, larry. All I do is google a recipe name, or a list of the main ingredients I want to use. I then look over a number of recipes from websites I may be familiar with, along with those that seem to know what they are talking about in the bit of info that shows up in the search page post. I've actually found a number of good recipes from further down the search results - like heading straight to page 3 or 4. I then pick and chose through the recipes, blending something to my liking. Usually, I come up with a winner dish for us. *phew*

 

[Cheryl J]

I get a lot of inspiration from tried and true recipes (and pics) here at DC. I also browse my fave cookbooks...but as far as online, I suppose I use Allrecipes most often, and read the reviews.

I've done a little Youtube browsing, but often they're too long, wordy, or otherwise annoy me. My fave go-to Youtube channel is our own PowerPlantOp's.

Ross posted a blog that I've been browsing. I'll have to look it up for the name - it's scaled down dishes for two. Many of the recipes sound really good.

 

[Rocklobster]

Google..I usually scan a few, also..then I take the best parts from each one and concoct my own based on what ingredients I have and like, time I want to spend, and ultimately what I envision as the finished product..
Over the years I have come to the conclusion that the best recipes are usually the ones with the least amount of ingredients and more importantly it is about adhering to the origins of the dish, and concentrating on technique and quality of ingredients...

 

[buckytom]

Much like Rock and others have mentioned, I do a brief search and then look at several sites (including DC) and quickly glance over the list of ingredients to see if it fits into what I think I am able to make. I don't have a great preference for any particular site, except for here since I'm able to ask questions and almost always get a helpful response.

The only site that's my "go-to" is ATK for equipment and gadgets. I like their testing methods, and how they break down their recommendations.

 

[GotGarlic]

I also often do a general search and put together a recipe from the results; sometimes I check my cookbook collection. But there are a few websites that I trust to have reliable recipes and information about how they work.

- www.seriouseats.com - they rigorously test their recipes and explain the science behind what works and what doesn't. Over the years, they've made practically everything I want to make.

- www.cooksillustrated.com - same as above. I have a print subscription and a subscription to the website, so I can read the magazine and search for recipes later.

- Chef John's videos on YouTube - he's funny and gives good tips. The videos are short enough that they keep my interest.

I don't trust most bloggers - it's such an easy thing to do, lots of people think they're great recipe writers but the recipes are generally not tested enough and sometimes they're very poorly written. Sometimes I get ideas for ingredients to include, but I don't use their recipes as a whole.

Joel, if you like digital cookbooks, keep an eye out for Amazon deals. I read cookbooks like novels (the good ones with history and stories as well as recipes) and I've gotten some good ones for just a few dollars - one by Bravetart (Stella Parks), the pastry chef from Serious Eats; a couple by David Lebowitz; Bobby Flay's Bar Americain cookbook; and Ruhlman's Twenty by Michael Ruhlman - which is an excellent book for techniques and has gorgeous photos.

 

[roadfix]

I usually go to You Tube and look for the shortest, to-the-point videos. Most are terrible, but some are very good.
I don't like long tutorials with long intros and lots of blah, blah, blah, blah...

 

[Kayelle]

Most of you feel the way I do about recipes so I'm in good company as usual. I compare several recipes and put together what sounds right to me and go from there. Most of the time I end up with something we really like because I know our tastes well. Chef John is a favorite and he's never disappointed. Damn Delicious is also a favorite blog along with a few others.

I can almost always spot a flawed recipe so that's a good thing. The exception was when I made a cranberry "cake" from Ina Garden and it was terrible because I discovered her "professional" recipe was flawed and it was her fault instead of mine for a change.
That just further justified my "hate to bake" attitude.

 

[Dawgluver]

I google and scrounge as well. I rarely have the patience to sit through You Tube (I'm mentally editing as I watch). I like Allrecipes, they are pretty good for old-timey recipes.

 

[Rocklobster]

genius Kitchen is one that I do notice that I use more often. The recipes are usually less complicated and procedures are short and to the
Point. No fluff

 

[JustJoel]

Most of you feel the way I do about recipes so I'm in good company as usual. I compare several recipes and put together what sounds right to me and go from there. Most of the time I end up with something we really like because I know our tastes well. Chef John is a favorite and he's never disappointed. Damn Delicious is also a favorite blog along with a few others.

I can almost always spot a flawed recipe so that's a good thing. The exception was when I made a cranberry "cake" from Ina Garden and it was terrible because I discovered her "professional" recipe was flawed and it was her fault instead of mine for a change.
That just further justified my "hate to bake" attitude.

Ina Garten isn’t perfect? **clutches pearls**
I’m certainly glad to hear it. I think she’s one of the most obnoxious chefs on food network. “Haughty” is a seldom used word; it suits her perfectly.

You’ve got me curious, though. What was the recipe, and how was it flawed? Let’s gossip a little!

 

[buckytom]

Ina Garten isn’t perfect? **clutches pearls**!

Lol!

 

[Addie]

Much like Rock and others have mentioned, I do a brief search and then look at several sites (including DC) and quickly glance over the list of ingredients to see if it fits into what I think I am able to make. I don't have a great preference for any particular site, except for here since I'm able to ask questions and almost always get a helpful response.

The only site that's my "go-to" is ATK for equipment and gadgets. I like their testing methods, and how they break down their recommendations.

Ditto here Buckytom. I start with a Google search, and more times than not, end up at ATK or Cook's Country. I also will search You Tube for ATK or CC. The only thing that drives me nuts is when the say "I let it cook for two minutes. Does any cook stand there and stare at the second hand on their watch?

 

[buckytom]

My wife does sometimes.

Actually, it looks like that from behind, but if you see what she's actually doing, she's standing in front of the stove playing Spades online on her phone, and quietly cussing out bad partners.

I sit down and play Backgammon against the computer.

 

[buckytom]

What's the proverb, a watched pot never boils?

 

[caseydog]

I have always used recipes as basic guides, and rarely follow them verbatim. If I want to try something new, I will read three or four recipes, and see what they have in common, and go from there to make my own "recipe" in my head.

Obviously, that works better for cooking than for baking.

Like Joel, I also like watching YouTube videos to see something done, but again, I don't follow them step-by-step. I just like seeing someone do it before I dive in and do it myself.

Getting back to written recipes, I will Google search a particular dish, read a handful of recipes (which will all be at least a little different), and see what they have in common. The site allrecipes.com comes up almost every time, and I can find multiple recipes there to compare.

CD

 

[Andy M.]

Interesting how many of us have become skeptical of published recipes. The process of comparing recipes to find norms or inconsistencies seems to be the norm.

Back to the original question.

Seriouseats.com is probably the first place I check.
Food52.com
The ATK/CC complex
177Milk Street (Christopher Kimball's new home)

I have not had good luck with:

Food.com
Allrecipes.com