Looking at recipes is one thing.

[maxman]

...but understanding them is quite another.
I have no formal training in the culinary arts.

Quite a while ago, I was digging through some recipes on the interet for brownies.
My wife was doing some catering and needed a good brownie recipe.
She couldn't find the one that she had used when working (she is a Chef and managed a bakery for a long time).

I dug up a few that looked really good to me.
She glanced at them and discarded them all.

Back to the computer I went and found some more.
Nothing special, no FoodTV or top chef award winning recipes, just some google searches and allrecipe.com stuff.
I came back with a few more and she chose one saying "Yes, this is a real brownie recipe. It will be rich and have the right texture". Needless to say it was wonderful. Not the best health wise, but wow they are good.
To this day, people ask her to make them all the time.

So I want to know how she knew that that specific recipe would be the one. The perfect brownies. How did she know?

It turns out that it had the right ratio of chocolate to something-or-other (fat? flour? I wasn't paying too close attention).
The point is, she actually read the recipe and applied her knowledge of baking to make an educated guess on the outcome.

Look over your recipes with a critical eye.
The results will be worth it.

 

[JoshuaNY]

Good post. It is definitely a learned skill. When I first started cooking I had to follow recipes exactly or else it would be a disaster. Now I can look at a recipe and I know how I would like to change it and if it will taste good when I am done.

Baking is a whole other ball game, so it is definitely tougher to do. I still follow all baking recipes to a T, and can't really come up with any of my own. I am not sure what you do for a living Marc, but I am sure that if you asked her to do something for your line of work it would be the same thing in reverse.

 

[YetiDave]

It is a learned skill, but it can also be a curse. I often find myself deliberately skipping over recipes in favour of ones with ingredients that I really love, so I've probably ignored quite a few that would've been really good (anything Chinese involving Sichuan pepper and chillies and I'm there!)

 

[maxman]

Good post. It is definitely a learned skill. When I first started cooking I had to follow recipes exactly or else it would be a disaster. Now I can look at a recipe and I know how I would like to change it and if it will taste good when I am done.

Baking is a whole other ball game, so it is definitely tougher to do. I still follow all baking recipes to a T, and can't really come up with any of my own. I am not sure what you do for a living Marc, but I am sure that if you asked her to do something for your line of work it would be the same thing in reverse.

I fix computers. My wife is notorious for breaking pretty much any technology she gets her hands on.
We were meant to be together.

 

[_JP_]

I judge a new recipe by how it seems to "taste" while reading it. There definitely is the experience factor at work there.

 

[JoshuaNY]

I fix computers. My wife is notorious for breaking pretty much any technology she gets her hands on.
We were meant to be together.

Love it!

 

[maxman]

Here is a quote that's on my bread maker recipe. The recipe is from Michael Smith, though I can't say he actually said this:

"A recipe is merely words on paper; a guideline, a starting point from which to improvise. It cannot pretend to replace the practiced hand and telling glance of a watchful cook. For that reason feel free to stir your own ideas into this dish. When you cook it once, it becomes yours, so personalize it a bit. Add more of an ingredient you like or less of something you don't like. Try substituting one ingredient for another. Remember words have no flavour, you have to add your own!"

 

[Luc]

Baking in particular is like being a chemist. You got to play with your ration very well to make a soufflé or a flat piece of bread that will be very heavy. Chefs are trained to know their flavours (what mix well and what doesn't) and they are also trained to know the proportions (even more if you are a baker or make cakes for a living).

I also do not have any culinary training but really enjoy cooking. All I can say, I made a lot of things that were horrible and a lot that tasted really good. I used to follow a recipe to the dot. Now, I play with the stuff a bit more (I don't always know what I'm doing) but it's getting there. Like shaving, practice makes it perfect.

I think it was Robert Rodriguez that said something like a home cook doesn't make everything. Practice your favourite 2-3 recipes and make them extra good! Then you can move on to another one.

 

[JoshuaNY]

I also do not have any culinary training but really enjoy cooking. All I can say, I made a lot of things that were horrible and a lot that tasted really good. I used to follow a recipe to the dot. Now, I play with the stuff a bit more (I don't always know what I'm doing) but it's getting there. Like shaving, practice makes it perfect.

I think it was your spatula angle.

 

[Luc]

I think it was your spatula angle.

Possible! I use a 90 degree angle!

 

[saf]

Baking and cooking are two totally different beasts. Cooking you can play around with most things and if it is a little off with one thing you can usually correct it. Baking you can't there is much more science involved with leavening if you add a little too much or little of one ingredient its over. This is why I don't bake well.

Michael Smith is great, that quote is in one of his books. I have several and think his way of going about things is in line with mine. Plus, the guy makes me laugh, not his intention but still.

There is a book out there called ratio by ruhlman that gives basic ratios for all kinds of things. If you are looking for an easy way to learn basic ways to make things this is great.

 

[Prince]

Cooking is by taste, baking is by measurement.

 

[urr-lord]

Cooking ,I am good at that.Baking not so good.Cooking I "get" and can ad lib and usually get good results.
Baking I don't "get".I can follow the directions for biscuit mix and end up with floor tile.Some things like cornbread and some cobblers I can do....the rest..
better buy something at the store.