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Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

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Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#391

Post by nemo44x »

GuB-42 wrote: post #331
henrikschroder wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if I needed more fuel on the fire of my burning hatred for recipe collections. Everyone who is interested in cooking should do themselves a favour and buy a proper cookbook. Something that starts with the basics, and works itself up to full meals. It should have cheat-sheets for basic ways to cook all your staples, here's all the ways you can cook a potato, with times and temperature. Here's all the ways you can s…

> A timer can never replace the knowledge of how something is supposed to look, feel, and smell when it's done or not. I tend to disagree on that one, unless you are particularly experienced, or naturally gifted, measuring tools (timers, scales, thermometers,...) will give you the best results. At least for me, that's the case. And if you can't follow a recipe to the letter, without knowledge of how things are suppos…

I cook a lot and although you’re right in some regards (scales, thermometers are very useful) you’re discounting the variance in many things making following a recipe precisely not always possible.

For example smoking a brisket. There is no perfect temperature that tells you it’s done. We know the thereabouts but one brisket might be done at 203 while another is at 200 and another at 205. You need to feel it.

Each animal is different and each smoker is different and the weather really matters. A humid day will influence cooking differently than a dry day.

Unless you can get uniform ingredients you’ll never be able to follow a recipe to the letter and get great outcomes every time. You should use tools but in the end you need your senses and you should taste everything you can before serving.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#392

Post by devnullbrain »

than3 wrote: post #208
henrikschroder wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As if I needed more fuel on the fire of my burning hatred for recipe collections. Everyone who is interested in cooking should do themselves a favour and buy a proper cookbook. Something that starts with the basics, and works itself up to full meals. It should have cheat-sheets for basic ways to cook all your staples, here's all the ways you can cook a potato, with times and temperature. Here's all the ways you can s…

No such book actually exists. There's a french book that covers basic/common procedures and a reader's digest book but those are about it; and they definitely are not beginner oriented.

Terrific demonstration of Cunningham's Law. Good job.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#393

Post by masklinn »

walthamstow wrote: post #348
maccard wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You are not going to be able to cook chicken in 3-4minutes per side like so many recipes claim. Sure you are. meat thermometer, hot pan and a butterflied breast [0] will give you evenly cooked chicken in about 8 minutes. [0] https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/how-butterfly-chicke...

Preheating the pan is part of the cooking time, IMO. In your recipe I would heat my pan for a good 3-4 mins to be sure the temp stays high after the chicken goes in.

I don’t think any chef (or recipe author) would agree with you. If only because they have preheating pans all the time.

Also the actual pan matters, if you have a thick-bottomed cast iron pan that’s been fully preheated it might not even notice that you dropped produce on, whereas a thin teflon-coated aluminium pan will drop through the floor.

An other huge factor is overcrowding, especially pans.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#395

Post by scary-size »

jtc331 wrote: post #303
isaacfrond wrote: post #131

My sister in law writes recipes. She has a recipe column in a newspaper and wrote a few high quality recipe books. I saw them in a bookstore. So she's reasonable successful. Her pieces are charming, her recipes inspiring. The thing is. At a birthday party when I was talking to her, she confessed to me that she never actually tries her recipes. When it's time to do a new piece, she sits down at her computer and makes…

This is why I find America’s Test Kitchen so helpful: they’ve tried everything repeatedly, and because of that it’s rare to find one of their recipes that doesn’t work.

I feel the same. That‘s a subscription that really pays off. Also one of the few newslettery messages I let in my inbox.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#396

Post by therealcamino »

hackernoteng wrote: post #389

Im a talented cook. I have no idea how long it takes to caramelize onions, lightly brown garlic, etc. I just do it by look, feel, smell, etc. So if asked to write down a recipe, it would just be rough guesses. Same with measuring, is it a tablespoon? I dont know, its "this much". A lot of cooking is just tacit knowledge and really hard to write down specifics. Its not like baking which is more of a chemistry experime…

Recipe writing is a specific skill, for sure -- it's teaching rather than doing. But for anyone who isn't learning alongside an older relative, there has to be a way to develop that intuitive sense. A good recipe writer can call out those key areas where you have to develop a feel for something, and enable that kind of learning. Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking is a great example of that.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#397

Post by damontal »

henrikschroder wrote: post #192
isaacfrond wrote: post #131

My sister in law writes recipes. She has a recipe column in a newspaper and wrote a few high quality recipe books. I saw them in a bookstore. So she's reasonable successful. Her pieces are charming, her recipes inspiring. The thing is. At a birthday party when I was talking to her, she confessed to me that she never actually tries her recipes. When it's time to do a new piece, she sits down at her computer and makes…

As if I needed more fuel on the fire of my burning hatred for recipe collections. Everyone who is interested in cooking should do themselves a favour and buy a proper cookbook. Something that starts with the basics, and works itself up to full meals. It should have cheat-sheets for basic ways to cook all your staples, here's all the ways you can cook a potato, with times and temperature. Here's all the ways you can s…

Joy of Cooking has been my go to for 25 years. It’s part cookbook, part encyclopedia, and just very useful.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#398

Post by carabiner »

zamalek wrote: post #357
bruckie wrote: post #110

Recipe writers are still lying about cooking time in 2023. I signed up for a Hello Fresh promo recently to get some new meal ideas, and it's making me feel like the slowest cook on the planet. I reliably exceed their stated prep and cooking times by 100-200%. Tonight's "40 minute" recipe took about 70 minutes, and that was with a family member helping out with some of the prep and cooking. I wonder if they collect an…

On the contrary, my wife grabs recipes from Instagram (usually the Whole 30 crowd, but not exclusively). We've found their 20 minute recipes incredibly successful and tasty, and rarely cook anything else. Off the top of my head, one we get a lot of our recipes from is "deliciously Ella." I think it helps that each post has a picture of the meal, which suggests that the author has actually made it themselves.

I tried a TikTok recipe, feta with tomatoes pasta, and it was delicious. Will try the salmon rice bowl at some point too.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#399

Post by minusf »

pbj1968 wrote: post #20

Sifting flour. Sautéing spices “to release the flavor” and then adding them to stew where they’ll simmer for an hour or more. Pretending “restaurant quality” is anything besides twice as much butter and salt as you’d dare use at home. “One tablespoon of olive oil” to brown absurd amounts of meat at high heat. Once you start recognizing recipe BS, you see it everywhere.

> Pretending “restaurant quality” is anything besides twice as much butter and salt as you’d dare use at home.

until you read Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat and start watching the epicurious yt channel.

the "4 levels" and "pro chef vs home cook" epicurious playlists are amazing eye openers, where they exactly highlight the actual difference in skills and knowledge.

but sure, anyone can cook well, even a rat.

Re: Why do recipe writers lie about how long it takes to caramelize onions? (2012)

#400

Post by walthamstow »

masklinn wrote: post #393
walthamstow wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Preheating the pan is part of the cooking time, IMO. In your recipe I would heat my pan for a good 3-4 mins to be sure the temp stays high after the chicken goes in.

I don’t think any chef (or recipe author) would agree with you. If only because they have preheating pans all the time. Also the actual pan matters, if you have a thick-bottomed cast iron pan that’s been fully preheated it might not even notice that you dropped produce on, whereas a thin teflon-coated aluminium pan will drop through the floor. An other huge factor is overcrowding, especially pans.

Chefs use thin carbon steel pans which heat up and cool down very quickly. They also have much more powerful gas burners.

My advice is related to common domestic pans with heavier bottom and common domestic weak burners.

Agree that overcrowding is a huge issue especially with water-heavy ingredients like onions, peppers.

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