Do You Measure Out Ingredients?

[Diane Lane]

Do you measure out ingredients exactly as described in a recipe, or do you approximate? I tend to do both, depending on whether I've used the recipe before, or it's my first time.

The first time I use a recipe, I tend to be somewhat exacting, and measure everything out exactly. But, after I've used a recipe a few times, I get a little cocky, and will sometimes eyeball the ingredients, rather than dirtying up a bunch of measuring cups and spoons.

What's your cooking style?

 

[winterybella]

I can't remember when last I measured anything related to any new dish I tried. I typically don't measure stuff and for the most part I have had decent success. HOWEVER when it comes to baking that is a completely different story. I take no chances where that is concerned. They say baking is a science and for that reason, I stick closely to measurements, no mistaking.

 

[Zyni]

I'm so bad about this. If I'm actually following a recipe, I usually do measure. More times than not, I skip recipes and just toss stuff in.

While it can be fun to be creative, the bad part comes when I try to recreate something or tell someone else how to make it. "About this much" as shown by the size of my hand, doesn't always cut it.

 

[Berties]

Cakes and pastries ,follow a recipe,it's a exact science with most cases but most savoury I wing it .....

 

[GadgetGuy]

Only for cakes & breads.
Sometimes for most pies.

 

[Pat]

Generally I just add untill I think it is right if it is something I cook all the time. The recipe may call for two cups of sugar and I may think that is too much I will change it.

 

[Berties]

I have to cost dishes so have to calculate the cost of ingredients to make sure the correct profit on a dish can be achieved , so even though I do wing it ,I do sometimes have to calculate!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

As above, anything that is baked (except for sourdough bread) then it is a follow the recipe and weigh things.
Sourdough I do by feel. Can't explain it, but I know what is going to work and what is not going to work and how long it needs, and it varies according to the room temperature which varies according to the weather outside and given it is Spring here in the UK, that is anything from freezing and snow to needing sunblock and all in the same day!

But, the first time I do a recipe, I follow it and weight things, cook according to instructions, but intercept if I can see things are going wrong.
Next time around, then I will freelance, change what I want when I want and cook it how I want it cooked.
By the time I have done a recipe several times and adapted it to our tastes, what we have available, what is seasonal etc, it often bears little resemblance to the original and my husband will despair of me yet again!

 

[pattyk]

As above, anything that is baked (except for sourdough bread) then it is a follow the recipe and weigh things.
Sourdough I do by feel. Can't explain it, but I know what is going to work and what is not going to work and how long it needs, and it varies according to the room temperature which varies according to the weather outside and given it is Spring here in the UK, that is anything from freezing and snow to needing sunblock and all in the same day!

But, the first time I do a recipe, I follow it and weight things, cook according to instructions, but intercept if I can see things are going wrong.
Next time around, then I will freelance, change what I want when I want and cook it how I want it cooked.
By the time I have done a recipe several times and adapted it to our tastes, what we have available, what is seasonal etc, it often bears little resemblance to the original and my husband will despair of me yet again!

LOL, I love your description of our Spring here in the UK! Mini heatwave last week, today my heating is on and there's a cold and blustery wind outside.

I'm a keen sourdough maker too, and I get what you mean about doing it by feel, although I admit to mixing mine in the standmixer with a dough hook, but only after I've mixed it first by hand to ascertain the hydration etc.

When I'm cooking a recipe for the first time I will always stick to it precisely, but after that I will tweak the amounts to suit my own tastes. It's not that important when it comes to cooking as nothing will be ruined that easily. Baking is a different animal entirely; I will always stick to the recipe no matter what, and I prefer to weigh ingredients rather than measure - measuring cups of flour is just too unreliable and far from acurate, for me anyway.

 

[winterybella]

I got to thinking of the baking which I am so afraid of and then I remembered that recently I have been adjusting the sugar measurements. Initially I would stick to the measurements of everything, but I was reading a recipe once and saw that you could cut back on the sugar and so I have done that every time recently.

 

[Diane Lane]

I appreciate that y'all distinguished baking from cooking. I, too, tend to be more precise with baking than other cooking. I have never made sourdough bread, but if I do, I think I will try the by hand technique mentioned above, so I can get a feel for the dough, that sounds like a good gauge.

 

[ChanellG]

Do you measure out ingredients exactly as described in a recipe, or do you approximate?

If it's something I've never done before, or if it's something where exact measures matter, like baking a cake, I will measure out ingredients beforehand and set them aside. If I am sauteeing vegetables or something like that, I just eyeball it. Much of cooking is done to taste anyhow.

 

[GadgetGuy]

If it's something I've never done before, or if it's something where exact measures matter, like baking a cake, I will measure out ingredients beforehand and set them aside. If I am sauteeing vegetables or something like that, I just eyeball it. Much of cooking is done to taste anyhow.

Yeah, that is Rachael Ray's motto. She likes to eyeball it a lot! She says that she does not bake at all because it requires measuring things. Our mom has always told us that good cooks don't measure things.

Just about ALL of my regular cooking, I like to eyeball it. I'll follow a recipe to the letter, but I don't measure things - especially since I've done the recipe many, many, many times! It has been that way for years.

I taste the food often, to check for possible adjustment of the seasonings. I can make a mean dish and not measure anything, but about the only thing that I DO measure is the rice & water ratio when cooking rice. To keep it from being too hard or too soft & gummy.

 

[winterybella]

I appreciate that y'all distinguished baking from cooking. I, too, tend to be more precise with baking than other cooking. I have never made sourdough bread, but if I do, I think I will try the by hand technique mentioned above, so I can get a feel for the dough, that sounds like a good gauge.

Alas, I am not alone. I have been seeing so many speak of sourdough bread and it's something I have never had far less bake. I always take a look at the recipe but still I don't "feel" it's something I could do a very good job of.

Shermie mentioned that she measures rice. I am a rice addict and I would not know where to begin measuring rice. It's purely whatever amount I feel to cook at the time and I have a very decent success result.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Alas, I am not alone. I have been seeing so many speak of sourdough bread and it's something I have never had far less bake. I always take a look at the recipe but still I don't "feel" it's something I could do a very good job of.

Shermie mentioned that she measures rice. I am a rice addict and I would not know where to begin measuring rice. It's purely whatever amount I feel to cook at the time and I have a very decent success result.

I'm a man, not a woman.

One cup of parboiled rice to 2 cups of water. In the case of Carolina, River or similar rice, it's one cup of rice & 1-3/4 cup of water.