Do you adhere to recipes or modify/improvise/customize? (ingredients, butter, vegetables)

[pikabike]

h uh tdreseesres

[pikabike]

I usually wing it, combining things I think will taste good together or modifying existing recipes. “Season to taste” is a favorite practice. But for a few recipes, I stick pretty closely to what the creator wrote.

Which style do you generally fall under?

[AngID]

Wth ?

[Dogboa]

We usually follow a new recipe the first time and if we like it, it gets tweaked the next time.

[Medtran49]

Originally Posted by Dogboa

We usually follow a new recipe the first time and if we like it, it gets tweaked the next time.

Unless we really, really liked it the first time.

[nmnita]

op; fingers in the wrong place? anyway, I rarely follow a recipe exactly but there are exceptions. I think that is what you are asking

[dens]

I always go verbatim the first time and then improvise if necessary...

[don6170]

Originally Posted by Dogboa

We usually follow a new recipe the first time and if we like it, it gets tweaked the next time.

I used to "tweak" recipes based on if I liked the ingredients (like anchovies). I then saw a comment from a chef, saying if people didn't follow the recipe exactly, they shouldn't complain about how it tastes. I now follow it exactly the first time, then tweak if needed.

[rrah]

It depends on the recipe. If it's some type of baked dessert, I typically follow the recipe. Baking involves some chemistry stuff that I don't mess with too much.

I often tweak recipes, even the first time, for other types of dishes. With so many recipes online I will find several for the same thing. The recipes might differ slightly so I pick and choose from each for my own take on it.

[saibot]

The older I get, the more I improvise. I was not a "natural-born" cook and used to follow recipes slavishly. Now, I've at least learned what is definitely not going to work. For instance, when I tried one new stir-fry recipe recently it was obvious that the amount of sauce was going to be way too much. I cut all the sauce ingredients in half and it was okay, but still a bit on the saucy side. If I had done what the recipe said, it would have been a soup. But that kind of knowledge has only come to me through years of experience.

I also feel pretty comfortable omitting ingredients my family doesn't like (there aren't many), and adding more vegetables to things, etc. Of course I am more careful with baking.

My mother-in-law is the kind of cook who says "I thought that recipe called for too much butter, so I cut it in half. I didn't have wheat flour, so I used almond flour. And I threw in a couple of extra eggs." Sometimes her cooking is delicious and sometimes it is a total failure, but what it never is, is predictable. I like a little more predictability.