How often do you make a recipe exactly as written

[The Late Night Gourmet]

I just realized that I never make recipes as they're written.Oh, sure...I used to. I didn't know what I was doing at first, and I didn't have a sense of what my style was. I used to look at the "4-star +" recipes, only to find that people who gave them high ratings tended to put something like "Great recipe...except, I changed oregano to thyme, added saffron, halved the garlic, added more oil, and added 10 minutes to the cook time." WHY DID THEY GIVE IT A GREAT REVIEW IF THEY CHANGED SO MUCH OF IT??

Review techniques aside, I started to notice that I did the same thing with recipes: I looked at them for ideas, and then usually went my own way when I made them. Every once in a great while, I do find a recipe that's so close to perfect that I don't do a thing to it. But, even then, I feel an urge to tweak it.

Now, I usually make changes just by eyeballing the recipe: I know how things taste, and how they work together, so I know what to change. The only exception now is if it's something I've never made before.

 

[Andy M.]

OTHER.

I usually follow a recipe the first time. When I don't it's because I like the recipe overall but not a fan of one of the ingredients so I'll sub a different item or leave it out.

For classic recipes, I tend to follow the recipe as I feel it's a classic for a reason.

 

[Cooking Goddess]

My "the first time" comes with a disclaimer: If it includes an ingredient that I know I despise (I'm looking at you cilantro), I substitute or omit. In the case of some spices such as cumin, since I know it gives me indigestion, or I just plain don't like the flavor (most curries), again I omit or sub.

Most of the time I'm faithful to the recipe the first time. Then it's time to personalize it. I'm especially guilty of coming up with a dish idea, search online to see what others have done with the ingredients, pick and chose parts from some of them to fine-tune my original plan - and then sigh satisfyingly when I taste it and think "perfect".

I think half the fun of cooking is playing with your food. The other half is composed of thinking about food, planning your food, shopping for the ingredients, eating the food, dreaming about food...

 

[Steve Kroll]

I rarely use recipes at all. When I do, it's usually more an amalgam of several recipes, utilizing what I consider to be the best parts of each.

The one exception is baking, in which case I'll follow the recipe verbatim the first time, but adjust as needed.

 

[GotGarlic]

I rarely use recipes at all. If I do, it's usually more an amalgam of several recipes, utilizing what I consider to be the best parts of each.

The one exception is baking, in which case I'll follow the recipe verbatim the first time, but adjust as needed.

This is pretty much what I do.

 

[Dawgluver]

I agree about the reviews, LNG. It always amuses me when someone gives a very low rating because they subbed out all the recipe's ingredients, then proclaimed it swill, and they will never make it again. "I made your boef Bourgignon, but I substituted chicken for the beef, and beer for the wine. I didn't have any vegetables, so I used leftover tofu. It was awful. I give your recipe one star."

That said, I too look to recipes as inspiration and ideas. I also pick and choose and combine. I rarely follow a recipe precisely, another reason I rarely bake.

 

[roadfix]

I often follow recipes as I don't have the creative skills or knowledge to switch things around. I'm still just an experienced newbie when it comes to cooking....

 

[Just Cooking]

I do a bit of what the posts above me say, depending on the recipe and the blogger I'm following or the cook, if its someone I admire...

What makes me laugh (often frown) is when someone comments on a recipe, usually in a blog, about it not coming out right when "all I did differently was substitute this for that, changed this amount", etc...

Making a recipe my own is fine, complaining about the finished product isn't..

I was once asked what made a family crab dip recipe so good.. I said that simplicity and quality ingredients were the key... I gave her the recipe... A week later she told me that it didn't turn out well.. "All I did differently was added garlic and snipped some chives into it", she said.. I smiled and wrote her off...

 

[blissful]

I don't follow recipes often. I know what I like and dislike.

BUT, if I am making something I don't care for, I will follow the recipe, so I don't wreck it. For example, cake, I don't care for cake, so I follow the recipe exactly. If THEY like it, I keep the recipe.

If I am learning something new, I follow the recipe. I am making cheese, and I have no idea what I'm doing, so I follow the recipe.

When I was first learning curries, I followed the recipe. Now I give myself some leeway and I don't follow it exactly, every time.

 

[Kayelle]

If I know the author of the recipe, I'm more inclined to follow the recipe exactly, at least the first time. I think that's just respectful.

Like most of you, I'm only inspired by recipes.

 

[Zagut]

I do my best to follow a recipe as closely as I can the first time I make it.
After that all bets are off and I'll tweek it to my desires.
I follow temps but times are always subjective to me.
I want things done to my taste and temps are more important then timing as to when things are done.

Ingredients are also subject. If it's something I know I don't like then it's omitted or substituted for as long as I feel it doesn't change the basic concept of the dish. Why make it if I don't like what's in it?

Baking is another science in itself and I'm more strict in following the instructions provided. I don't bake as much as I used to so I've fallen off the wagon in that regard.

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Other.

I use recipes to help determine proportions or ratios of ingredients, although I may not actually measure everything. Recipes are more a guide than a standard for me, and yes, they are helpful to determine what do I have / what would I like to add or deduct or substitute. And Andy makes a valuable point, if it's a c;assic recipe, don't mess with it.

Now when baking, I follow the recipe. well maybe not pies, they are pretty forgiving.

Nowadays, I check several recipes on line before I start cooking a dish.

It's on my "to-do" list to make a whole meal from Real cookbooks. They are taking up valuable real estate on the bookshelves..

 

[Janet H]

I will still follow a recipe if it's something I've never cooked before and new techniques. The older I get however, the less frequently this occurs.

Some recent things I have followed a recipe for exactly are Torrone (Italian Nut and Nougat Confection), Spun sugar and spaetzle.

 

[caseydog]

The only time I follow a recipe exactly is on the rare occasion that I bake something. You pretty much have to for baked goods. Cakes are not forgiving.

My policy on recipes is to look at three or four of them for a particular dish, and see what they all have in common, and then come up with my own game plan.

20 years ago, that would not have worked for me, but now that I'm an old fart, I can read a recipe, and imagine what it would taste like. If I see an ingredient I don't like, or an ingredient measure that seems to heavy, I adjust it.

To me, that is a big part of the joy of cooking. Get inspired by recipes, then create. If it doesn't work, well, you just don't do that again. But, my experience is that it works most of the time, and all I need to do is make subtle adjustments when I make the same dish again.

CD

 

[CWS4322]

Rarely. When I bake, I use ratios, so I start with the weight of the flour. The rest of the time, I cook according to taste. Just not one of those kinda people or I rely on the years and years of experience to get it right. I grew up on a 7-day military meal rotation schedule. Not happening in my life. Love to play with food and flavour profiles. Go bold or go home.

 

[rodentraiser]

I pretty much follow a recipe the way it's written, especially the first time. I mean, the reason I'm doing the recipe in the first place is because it appealed to me the way it was put together. The only thing I do is leave out something I know I won't like, like cilantro or capons or something. If I find a recipe I like, I keep it the way it is. To me, that's the point of trying new recipes all the time, is to find something I like.

 

[msmofet]

I rarely use recipes at all. When I do, it's usually more an amalgam of several recipes, utilizing what I consider to be the best parts of each.

The one exception is baking, in which case I'll follow the recipe verbatim the first time, but adjust as needed.

Other ^^^^ +2

Sort of like Captain Jack Sparrow "... Their more of a guideline ..."

 

[larry_stewart]

Like many others, Ill usually try to follow a new recipe as close to exact when trying it the first time, unless there is an ingredient I want to omit. After the first time, Ill either make changes as I see necessary ( even during the first time), or Ill make written note what to change for the next time ( amount, adding, removing certain ingredients), or just flushing the recipe all together , and considering it a failure, wondering what was I thinking.

Sometimes, Ill do what others do, search for a recipe, accumulate several versions, then kinda mix and match based on experience, taste, and what I have.

If it is a classic recipe, maybe something Ive eaten somewhere, or maybe something passed down, Ill rarely, if ever, make any changes at all.

 

[dragnlaw]

"all of the previous 18 comments"

 

[letscook]

Always the way it is the first time, How do you know if it is good or not if you don't. I usually make half the recipe when I first try it so that if it isn't good I don't feel so bad.
I always read comments but I figure we all have different taste and likes so try it and see.