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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)

#401

Post by gustavorg »

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…

Well, we know this is not true. At least Armando Scannone had a team of 4 cooks to make and rehearse each and every one of the recipes in his famous cookbook [1]. Armando Scannone has a famous Venezuelan cookbook, it is the obligatory reference for those who want to make Venezuelan dishes. I have personally tried many of the dishes and the recipes are correct and the result is just as the book indicates.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/-/es/Armando-Scannone/dp/B011YUALZS

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

#402

Post by vishnugupta »

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 follow YouTube videos and not recipe books. They turn out just fine.

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

#403

Post by mberning »

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…

I love the 5 minute prep ones. I always joke to my wife, 5 minutes of prep, for a michelin star. Call me chef Marco.

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

#404

Post by walthamstow »

maccard wrote: post #354
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 agree, in the same way that preheating an oven isn't considered part of the cooking time, or vegetable prep isn't considered part of the cooking time.

Fair enough. We have our opinions. For me the cooking time starts when I enter the kitchen and finishes when I serve the meal. It's the time I spent cooking the meal.

Your thinking is what enabled a generation of '20 minute meal' recipe books that actually take closer to 40 mins.

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

#405

Post by k8sToGo »

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…

Hello Fresh is horrible. They keep spamming and calling after I cancelled my trial.

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

#406

Post by guerrilla »

misja111 wrote: post #169
guerrilla wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you need more than one tablespoon of oil then maybe you just don't know what you're doing. Meat contains fat and vegetables contain water. Consider learning patience (i.e. using lower heat) instead of criticizing people on the Internet for being better at cooking than you are.

Good luck trying to sear a steak on low heat.

You start it lower abd increasevthe heat after fat is released or just use a cast iron pan.

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

#407

Post by capableweb »

shakna wrote: post #342
capableweb wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me save you a few characters in the future friend: In both Firefox and Chrome (probably Safari too) there is a page number at the top of the page when you open the PDF. Here you can manually type in a number. Open up the PDF and enter "65" and it'll take you directly to the page you enter.

Well, they do both use PDF.js [0]. [0] https://mozilla.github.io/pdf.js/

Might be, although the UI is certainly different, at least for me on Windows. The page numbers are in the top-left on Firefox but top-center on Chrome.

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

#408

Post by fastball »

gustavorg wrote: post #401
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…

Well, we know this is not true. At least Armando Scannone had a team of 4 cooks to make and rehearse each and every one of the recipes in his famous cookbook [1]. Armando Scannone has a famous Venezuelan cookbook, it is the obligatory reference for those who want to make Venezuelan dishes. I have personally tried many of the dishes and the recipes are correct and the result is just as the book indicates. [1] https://…

Are you replying to the right comment? Armando Scannone's cookbook seems almost entirely unrelated to GC's point.

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

#409

Post by Chyzwar »

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…

That why I like to watch youtube chiefs like Joshua Weissman or Guga. They try to test at least some recipies.

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

#410

Post by mgaunard »

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…

That's why you should only follow recipes from reputable sources.

Some people break down the science of a particular dish and explain in all detail the purpose of every single ingredient and cooking technique. They run experiments and tell you the impact of every single decision and come up with an optimized blueprint.

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