Do you follow directions for a recipe to the letter?

zandi

zandi

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I think this might be my problem.

If something calls for a cup of flour or a teaspoon of salt, I just estimate. If a recipe calls for oil and I only have butter, I substitute. I will do the same thing with eggs, if the direction say add to two eggs and I only have one, then that is what I throw into my concoction. I use the world concoction literally because that is what my results seem to be.

Do you think it is okay to sometimes just go with the flow or should recipes be followed carefully?
 
Not when doing regular cooking. Only when baking, such as cakes, bread, rolls & desserts. :wink:
 
Usually, when I'm trying a recipe for the very first time, and it's something I've never made before, then I will follow the recipe exactly. After that, I will tweak it how I see fit, adjusting ingredients for flavor or even cooking time, etc, based on my personal preferences. Of course, there are some recipes that I make all the time that never had exact measurements to begin with...you know, those recipes that get passed down from generation to generation that call for a handful of this and a dash of that.
 
ReadWriteLearnLove said:
Usually, when I'm trying a recipe for the very first time, and it's something I've never made before, then I will follow the recipe exactly. After that, I will tweak it how I see fit, adjusting ingredients for flavor or even cooking time, etc, based on my personal preferences. Of course, there are some recipes that I make all the time that never had exact measurements to begin with...you know, those recipes that get passed down from generation to generation that call for a handful of this and a dash of that.
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Usually, that is me also, but in the process of doing the recipe, if I don't have what the recipe calls for, and I can improvise with a substitute, then I will. :wink:
 
pastry ,cakes and sweets always,i never find doubling or halving menu works the first time and needs adjusting,but most savoury dishes i do by eye and taste
 
For a cooking recipe, maybe never. That's the reason I put cooking way ahead of baking. In the cooking department you can tweak and cheat and you still can come up with something outstanding. When it comes to baking, I follow the recipe as closely as possible and hope for the best.
 
I also follow baking recipes precisely. Baking is all about science and you musn't mess with science.

I do however, mess with regular cooking recipes. And I don't care if it is the first time I make a recipe; if I feel it needs garlic, I put it in. Or more garlic, then I put that in too. I can usually tell when reading a recipe that it needs more or less of something. Or maybe a new ingredient altogether. And if it calls for rosemary, I leave it out. I abhor rosemary, even though I've tried to like it, to me it tasts like Pinesol, a pine scented cleaner. I'll put in bay leaves, or thyme, or basil. Anything but rosemary.

Cooking is very subjective and personal. If you like everything about a recipe except for a couple of ingredients, then leave them out or change them. Who's going to know? Believe me, the food police won't show up at your door if you make changes to a recipe.
 
As I bake more I am getting a little more adventurous. Perhaps I want to defy science so recently I have played around with some things. I still don't want to convey it's any major interference with the recipe. Things like a lot less sugar, adding fruits not called for and substituting some apple sauce for oil. Recently I added more cream where the recipe did not call for it and the result was just what I wanted.
 
For me it really depends on what I'm making as to whether I feel like I can deviate or improvise. If it's baking -- no way, I stick to the recipe. I do that because I've had one too many attempts at improvising which have gone terribly wrong because I feel like baking is more of a science.

With savoury dishes I'm far more comfortable with a bit of flexibility, changing ingredients, adding a little more of this and a little less of that. Mainly because I think there's far less likelihood of things going wrong. Usually, as long as the flavours are ones that mesh together, it turns out okay!
 
I'm definitely one of those who "riff" on non-baking recipes - often even the first time I try them. Sometimes it's because I'm missing an ingredient and feel too lazy to head to the grocery store. Other times I make creative decisions just because I think this or that will be a nice addition or change in terms of flavor/texture/etc. Most of the time the changes are fine. There are occasions, though, when I wonder what the heck I was thinking when I was getting creative in the kitchen. :)

When it comes to baking I always stick to the recipe. Since baking is not my strongest suit in the kitchen, I've found other than subbing something that's flavor based (like blueberries instead of strawberries) I'm best off sticking to the directions. There's so much science and chemistry in baking, too much experimentation usually leads to hockey puck scones or chocolate lava cake instead of chocolate soufflé.
 
I have never been one to follow a reason recipe to a tee. I always adjust it to my liking and for the most part it will work out just fine. There has been times were it didn't taste how I.wanted but I just keep making adjustments until I find the taste I am looking. If I don't have all the ingredients on hand I will make substations. That is what make cooking so enjoyable. It is always a bit of an adventure.
 
I just made some scones if you can call them that. I adjusted the measurement because I did not have enough white flour. When I realized the mixture a too mushy, I used some whole wheat flour to make it more workable. I was sure it was going to be a disaster as they say you should not fiddle too muchwith baking, it being a science and all. In the end, it was quite decent I think. Now I am not sure I want to follow the scone recipe to the letter when I try it again.
 
Not really I'm really experimental and creative when it comes to my food-- something that annoys my mother so much. I'll measure and follow recipes to the letter if it comes to baking though because you don't want to mess up the consistency of the batter. But when it comes to cooking in general I like to mix it up a lot and add more spices or less sugar, depending on the cuisine.
 
I rarely follow recipies to the letter. Sometimes I just don't have the ingredients, other times I am just too lazy to measure. Sometimes the results are not as good as they could be because of that, but other times it is simply fine. Especially when making salads and so forth it doesn't hurt to be a little creative. Some things I have made so many times I don't really need a recipie.
 
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