Following a Recipe Exactly...or Maybe Not?

[weinoo]

Over in this Carrot Safety thread, one of the posters cut their finger while following a recipe exactly.

Because, you know, the recipe said to do it that way.

Do you always follow a recipe exactly? Or, if you think something might be a little silly in the recipe, do you adapt?

[Panaderia Canadiense]

I tend to think that most recipes, especially salt-kitchen recipes, are guidelines..... For baking formuae, I'll follow them to the letter the first time round, then I'll tweak and adjust. For dinnery type things, though, I use the recipe as a starting point and go from there - if something seems silly or dangerous, I'll modify it.

[dcarch]

If you follow recipes exactly, you will end up with a pantry with more spices than a spice store, and leftover ingredients in your refrigerator to feed an army.

There are many recipes, by the nature of the science, must be exact, like how many grams of baking soda, and what temperature for chocolate, otherwise, have fun with substitutions.

dcarch

[liuzhou]

Yeah, what everyone else has said. I almost never follow recipes to the letter, unless the are for baking (who I rarely do, anyway).

I tend to read two or three recipes close to what I want to do, then riff around those.

[Martin Fisher]

If it's something that's totally new to me I try to follow the recipe as close as possible the first time.

More often, I incorporate what I think are the best features of more than one recipe.

[weinoo]

If it's something that's totally new to me I try to follow the recipe as close as possible the first time.

More often, I incorporate what I think are the best features of more than one recipe.

This is what I'll do, except I'll substitute that if it's a baking recipe, I follow it as closely as possible.

[Norm Matthews]

I consider a recipe a list of suggestions.

[dcarch]

Certain aspect of religious based recipes, it is a good idea to be very close to the recipes.

And don't be too creative with special recipes (vegetarian, vegan, etc) and health related recipes (no peanuts, gluten free, etc).

dcarch

[gfweb]

I consider a recipe a source of inspiration and only follow it closely if it is a new technique for me.

[HungryC]

I dislike recipes with ridiculous notes about technique. Seriously--I don't want the author telling me how to cut a carrot. It is tedious, clogs up the instructional portion of the recipe, and assumes that the reader knows nothing. Tell me in the ingredients list what I need to have: "8 oz carrots, cut lengthwise, with cores removed", for example. I can figure out, all by myself, how to do that.

So no, I don't follow savory recipes to a T. I would never, ever bother to cut the cores out of carrots (unless a specific shape was necessary, but then I'd probably say "f the precise shape" anyway).

RE: (sweet) baking, if you bake long enough, you'll begin to wander into improv territory. Learn enough about baking chemistry, and you'll know whether the ratio of ingredients will produce a texture you like, or whether the recipe is decently written...or whether it's over-leavened, etc. Ditto for bread.

[cakewalk]

I agree with a lot of things said here. I'm more into baking than cooking, and baking demands a different type of precision than cooking. But one important thing for me is the recipe source. Is it a trusted source? For example, if I'm following an Alice Medrich recipe, I know that recipe has been tested and it works. If I do make adaptations, I'm very aware that I will end up with something "other" than what was intended, even if it is good. If I find something on Allrecepies.com or something like that, I really have no idea where it's from and how accurate it is, so I'm more likely to make adaptations. I don't trust the source at all, so I see it as more of a general idea that looks interesting, and I take it from there.

[mm84321]

I read recipes a few times before attempting them to gain an understanding of what it is I am trying to accomplish. Then, I do not bother with constantly referring to the recipe, or following exact measurements (unless it involves baking or the addition of a precise amount of an ingredient, as already stated). I instead simply follow my taste and judgement. Though, in the beginning, it was very helpful for me to follow recipes word for word, as it built a foundation of skill and technique where there otherwise was none. It is with that gained knowledge that I am free to work independently and intuitively. Also, trying the same thing in different ways, for example, making a veal stock 3 times, each time using a different recipe, is helpful to create individual preference, and allows one to experiment a bit more. It is important to never be restricted by a recipe. They are tools, and it is how you use them which is most important.

[weinoo]

The first thing I learned in cooking school was when using a recipe to read it all the way through (before starting!) and then proceed.

[scubadoo97]

When dealing with a cuisine I'm not too familiar with I will look at several recipes of the same dish and look for common threads and then once I have a better understanding I will wing it

I almost never follow a recipe to the letter. Consequently my dish will vary a little each time I make it. I've made peace with that

[quiet1]

For baking I usually stick close to the recipe to start with because I'm not that comfortable making many substitutions yet re: the chemistry of the whole thing.

For other stuff, it depends a lot on why I'm using that particular recipe. My grandmother's meatloaf recipe? I follow that pretty much exactly (within the realm of changes she would also make sometimes, like exactly what proportions of types of meat) because the end goal is to produce my grandmother's meatloaf, and anything else wouldn't taste right. Random recipe that I found because I want to use some ingredients I have on hand, or something I saw on a cooking show? Eh. I'll wing it and use the recipe as inspiration.

The one exception is if I'm doing a trial run of a recipe I intend to cook for a major dinner/event - the goal is to know that I'll get the same results when I make it for the event, so I stick close to the recipe or if I alter it for some reason, I make a note of exactly what and why so that I can do it again. It'd defeat the purpose of doing a test run in the first place if I just completely winged it both times.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I am the unfortunate who cut herself. Usually I do not slavishly follow recipes. However many modernist ones are unfamiliar to me and at least the first time through I try my best to do as the recipe says. The recipe in question is MC@H caramelized carrot soup (pp 178-179). I quote:

"Carrot cores, rich in calcium, can add a bitter taste and unpleasant texture to this delicate soup, so we always remove them. It's an optional step, however; you can try the soup both ways and compare."

The first step is "Slice the carrots lengthwise into quarters..." I was trying to do exactly that! I confess, looking at the picture for step 1 makes me a little ill. If Nathan is reading this, no, I don't intend to sue.

[Tri2Cook]

If I'm trying a recipe that caught my attention enough to want to make it, I usually follow it as closely as possible. I like to know what the person who created the recipe wanted me to taste before adjusting It or discarding it. If I think I need to make a bunch of changes before I've even tried it then I probably won't even bother with it. I've been cooking long enough that I can read through a recipe and know if it's even worth trying (for me) so, in the event I decide to do it, I do it their way the first time. I always laugh when I see recipe reviews where people give it a really low score, state that it wasn't good and then go on to say "but I left this out, changed this, substituted that, didn't bother to do the other". So, in other words, you didn't try the recipe and you don't know if it's good or not. I don't like the long-winded explanations of how to peel a potato or measure a teaspoon of vanilla or whatever but I make the assumption that it's not there for me, maybe someone new to cooking is reading the recipe too and is happy to see detailed explanations.

[Martin Fisher]

I always laugh when I see recipe reviews where people give it a really low score, state that it wasn't good and then go on to say "but I left this out, changed this, substituted that, didn't bother to do the other".

That is one of my biggest pet peeves!!!!

[Hassouni]

Overall, I treat recipes as guidelines rather than absolute instructions. Sometimes if it's something I'm really not familiar with, such as the first time cooking from Land of Plenty, years ago, I may follow the recipe to the letter on the initial run, but then I'll modify it in later preparations.

Nearly universally, several things I don't follow when using a printed (or online) recipe"

• Browning/caramelising/sweating onions. IT NEVER TAKES FIVE MINUTES, but every recipe says five minutes
• Same goes for browning meat, it often takes longer than the recipe specifies, but I have a specific shade of brown I want
• If making something spicy, upping the spices considerably. I used to cook a lot of Indian food and most recipes say "a teaspoon of cumin/coriander". Try tablespoon. Same goes for doubanjiang, gochujang, garlic, etc.
• I very rarely measure out liquids, except for cocktails or my very limited baking experience. Other than my jiggers I don't have precise table/teaspoon measures

I will say a big exception to this is if I'm making a recipe from Kenji from Serious Eats's Food Lab. The man does his research and his instructions are usually spot on.

Edited October 1, 2013 by Hassouni (log)

[Nancy in Pátzcuaro]

For me, as I think for many others, a recipe is a starting point. Because I've lived in small rural towns and now in México, there are ingredients that for one reason or another aren't available, either to me personally or in general. So substitutions are common, though I try to stick to the original intent of the recipe as much as possible.

One of my personal pet peeves is to read through a recipe, and when I get to an instruction that says, "Stir in the lemon juice" I find myself saying, "What lemon juice?" It has been omitted from the list of ingredients, and this happens more than one would think. Mostly recipes downloaded from the Internet--cookbooks tend to be much better about this.

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

[judiu]

For me, as I think for many others, a recipe is a starting point. Because I've lived in small rural towns and now in México, there are ingredients that for one reason or another aren't available, either to me personally or in general. So substitutions are common, though I try to stick to the original intent of the recipe as much as possible.

One of my personal pet peeves is to read through a recipe, and when I get to an instruction that says, "Stir in the lemon juice" I find myself saying, "What lemon juice?" It has been omitted from the list of ingredients, and this happens more than one would think. Mostly recipes downloaded from the Internet--cookbooks tend to be much better about this.

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! And a whole lot more common than you think!

Edited October 2, 2013 by judiu
Fix quote tags (log)

[Smithy]

For me, as I think for many others, a recipe is a starting point. Because I've lived in small rural towns and now in México, there are ingredients that for one reason or another aren't available, either to me personally or in general. So substitutions are common, though I try to stick to the original intent of the recipe as much as possible.

One of my personal pet peeves is to read through a recipe, and when I get to an instruction that says, "Stir in the lemon juice" I find myself saying, "What lemon juice?" It has been omitted from the list of ingredients, and this happens more than one would think. Mostly recipes downloaded from the Internet--cookbooks tend to be much better about this.

Nancy in Pátzcuaro

Yes! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! And a whole lot more common than you think!

Ha! The reverse can also be true, and just as frustrating. I have a cookbook by a well-respected author with a recipe for carrot cake. The ingredient list specifies the grated carrots, but the instructions never get around to stating where or when those carrots should be added! II've looked and cooked my way through that recipe many times. I have not overlooked the darned carrots in the instructions; that addition step is simply overlooked..

...and yes...for those of you who are experienced bakers, this may seem like a no-brainer. But to this writer, it seems that "carrot cake" should explain exactly when the carrot should be added to the mixture.