What is one food you just can't cook?

[Danmel]

For me, it's pancakes 🥞. I'm a pretty solid home cook and make a very wide variety of food. Pancakes elude me.
How about you?

[True Dough]

1. What is it about pancakes that confounds you so?

Is it the flipping? Do you pre-heat the pan enough and let them cook sufficiently before attempting to flip?

[MiHale]

2. Deep fried Snickers bar...

3 years on and I still find caramel spots on the ceiling…please no further details…

[PJMcK]

3. Baking

Baking is fundamentally chemistry. Specific amounts of ingredients, specific temperatures a timings. I just don't get into it because I'm impatient.

I can cook pretty well and I love to try new recipes but baking eludes me.

I truly admire good bakers.

[markie]

28. it is art...

and chemistry!

[marble falls]

54. Trust me: get a kitchen scale, and the King Arthur baking school book. Made me a baker PDQ. Measuring cups ...

... are deceptive little bastards! The King Arthur book explains the chemistry very well and is easily understood, even by a dyslexic like me. The art comes from doing it the same way each time and then tweeking to make a recipe yours as needed. Like adjusting a recipe to fit the size of your bread pans or the quirkiness of your oven or using a baking stone in your oven. The pandemic got me baking and I bake bread weekly ever since. I've been able to do some fancy things I could never have done before. My pies are still a little ugly, but I make the fillings scratch (so much simpler than it seems and cheaper and more tasty than canned) and I do a very good crust.

[PJMcK]

61. Thank you!

Great advice.

[davsand]

4. I can't roast a turkey that I want to eat once it's done.

I've tried different methods and every time I end up with dry meat. I can, however, do a turkey breast in the instant pot and it stays juicy. Turkey is my personal Waterloo.



Laura

[bucolic_frolic]

5. Scrambled eggs

The pan's not flat, it's too hot. I wind up scraping them off the bottom.

[Lochloosa]

55. The three keys to good scrambled eggs.

A well seasoned cast iron pan. I have a 100 year old Griswold.
Bacon grease.
Low heat.

[bucolic_frolic]

60. Thanksss I'll give it a fry /nt

[CTyankee]

80. don't get me started on that well seasoned cast iron pan! I was raised in Texas and seasoning a pan before using was a

PITA, but you were commanded to do it before frying your chicken. I don't know if it is a Southern thing or a Texas thing, but that is what we did. Once I was unshackled from that chore I was relieved.

Now I don't cook anything anymore. I am in a retirement community where a nice dinner awaits me in the lovely dining room. No clearing the table, soaking pans before scrubbing, etc.

We have a nice little apartment with an adorable tiny kitchen, an itty bitty dishwasher and a microwave oven. I ignore the stove (I hate electric burners and always had a gas stove).

[Floyd R. Turbo]

6. Popovers! 🤬

[BigMin28]

7. Fried chicken

I can bake anything, but I can't fry chicken properly to save my life.

[quaint]

8. Rice

Daily I eat it too dry and hard, too soft and mushy, never just right. Otherwise, I can cook!

[NBachers]

11. I got a Zojirushi fuzzy logic Japanese rice cooker and never looked back. It's expensive but well worth it.

The ultimate set it and forget it. Perfect brown rice every time. I can either cook it right after I get home from work, or I can set it and let the timer come on to be ready at a pre-chosen time when I get home. Plus, the nutty aroma of cooking brown rice is delectable.

I gave one to my brother as a gift and he has commented several times since that how much he loves his too

[House of Roberts]

12. Zojirushi fuzzy logic Japanese rice cooker

I dare you to say that real fast five times!

[quaint]

22. Looks very nice but...sigh.

[hlthe2b]

26. Me too. It has a GABA setting too, which sprouts the brown rice and adds to the "healthy benefits"

I love it and have had it for years. Zojirushi makes some great products. My insulated hot water boiler that keeps water at whatever temp you set continuously is likewise loved. Pour-over coffee or tea/hot chocolate, etc at your fingertips.

[NBachers]

38. If I plan enough ahead of time, I always use the GABA setting. It's like Primo Rice Plus XX

[Phoenix61]

29. I had a friend from Paris many years ago and she

told me to cook it like the French… like pasta. Works great and it doesn’t clump together.

[Iggo]

43. Remove the film. Place in microwave. Press 1.

And voila!

[quaint]

44. No microwave (shudder).

[Iggo]

45. All's I'm sayin' is, before I discovered minute rice, I couldn't cook rice, either

[quaint]

47. Mine died and I realized I only used it to reheat tea and melt butter.

😋

[Iggo]

48. Yeah, I don't use mine for much either.

But if I got rid of it, there’d just be a hole in the wall.

[Shermann]

51. I'm hooked on those Ready Rice packs

There's a variety of flavors and they are ready in 90 seconds.

That said the 20-minute variety is pretty easy. The main variable is the cooking temperature; it can't be too high.

[OldBaldy1701E]

75. Me too.

I can make rice in the traditional way, but those things are great!

Cilantro lime is my favorite one. I eat them all the time.

[ThreeNoSeep]

77. Location and type specific

It took me 30 years to figure this out.
All stovetop recipes take water adjustments based on the type of rice (and maybe even brand) and your location on the planet. I've literally moved less than a mile (without changing altitude significantly) and had to adjust my rice recipe at the new location.

It takes two or three tries to get it right, but after cooking rice the first time, adjust the package recipe for water by adding (if dry) or subtracting (if soggy) 1/2 cup of water to the next batch you make. I'd keep an index card in the dry rice container with my adjustments. Once you find the sweet spot, the rice works almost every time.

Here's my process, for which I've had consistent results (even better than a rice cooker):
1. Measure your rice and rinse it if you want (I used to rinse uncooked polished white rice, but found that it had little effect on the final product once I had puzzled out my water amounts).
2. Boil your water and measure it out according to the package directions. Add salt to the water (1 teaspoon per cup of dry rice)
3. For each cup of dry rice, preheat a tablespoon of oil in the pan until it is just starting to smoke.
4. Add the dry rice to the hot oil and fry it, stirring the grains often, until the rice is starting to smoke.
5. Add the just-boiled water and salt to the pan. The pan and rice should be hot enough that the water immediately returns to a boil. (The flash boil can be surprising).
6. Cover with a good-fitting lid, tunr heat to low, and don't look at it for 20 minutes.
7. After 20 minutes, remove from the burner and let it rest, covered, for five minutes. Fluff the rice and see how it came out. If the rice is soggy, reduce hot water by a 1/2 cup next time/if dry, add 1/2 a cup of hot water. I've had to adjust the water by as much as a cup's difference between the package recipe and what finally works. Keep a note in the package of how much water you plan to use next time per cup of dry rice.

[quaint]

78. Thank you so very much!

At 75, I finally get rice.

I was taught to make pilaf, hashweh, use dry rice in stuffing for cabbage, etc. but not plain rice.

[surrealAmerican]

9. I don't deep fry ...

... so any food that requires deep frying.

[IzzaNuDay]

21. same here

I tried cooking fried chicken, wasn’t good at it. Later tried beignets. Not a chance. Salmon croquettes, falafel, they suffer under my hand.

[Danmel]

79. Falafawaffles!

I make the batter a little thinner and cook it in a well greased waffle iron. I make an salad with Persian cucumbers, green pepper, tomato, red onion, lemon juice and parsley and some tahini drizzled over. No bread, no oil.

[IzzaNuDay]

83. Yeah, I definitely do falafel waffles!

That was a game changer. I keep a bin of chickpeas so I can have my falafel waffle fix!

[mwmisses4289]

10. Beans.

I have tried every method that I know of, and still can't get them to cook right. So I just do canned beans, easier and more likely to get a meal on the table, lol. 🫘🫘🫘

[NBachers]

13. Eggs over easy. For years, I've been on a campaign to buy every expensive pan in hopes it would work for eggs over easy.

I won't buy Teflon, so that's out. I always end up with a gloppy mess failure. it's disheartening.

I've recently got an Emnura pan and a hand-sprayer that sprays olive oil in a fan-shaped pattern. I actually cooked perfect eggs over easy a couple of days ago. This looks encouraging.

[GreatGazoo]

69. Try a small pan -- 6 or 7 inches

med high heat before the egg goes in. If you can't smell the oil it isn't hot enough. After the egg sets up make sure it is not sticking to the pan. Then jerk the pan so that egg rolls over on itself. Keep it flat. Don't make it go up to flip. The momentum of the egg hitting the far edge of the pan will be enough to make it roll back on itself if the pan is the right size.

[NBachers]

73. Thanks - actually I've got a couple of small high-quality cast-iron pans

I’ll try this method.

[marble falls]

74. Cast iron is the way to go. Easy cleaning and nonstick. Mass is good for cooking and browning without burning!

[Turbineguy]

76. For me, that's "eggs over messy".

[QED]

14. Gravy

Not a big fan anyway.

[Marthe48]

15. Homemade pudding

The kind you mix up and cook in a pan on the stove. I can make custard, either boiled or baked, but my attempts at homemade pudding have failed.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

16. Any food that needs to be prepared in some way.

[Skittles]

39. thank you

it always kills me when I read a recipe that has, like, a dozen ingredients and five paragraphs of prep

makes processed foods seem OK on my book

[Boomerproud]

17. Almost everything.

[Diamond_Dog]

18. I can make "Bread for Dummies" (the rustic no-knead kind with 3 ingredients)

But the real soft white bread or dinner rolls, mine always turn out dry and hard. I can bake just about everything else. Not sure about pancakes because we don’t eat them.

[2naSalit]

19. Liver and onions...

Because I think it's one of the most disgusting things you could put in your mouth. I wouldn't touch it with gloves on.

I know how to cook it, I just refuse to even consider it an edible substance.

[Ziggysmom]

24. Oh my goodness, I was just going to post liver, too! The odor when cooking makes me nauseous.

Many decades ago in parochial grade school, they had a hot lunch program. They tried to disguise the liver with some gravy and such, but I immediately knew the gag inducing smell. I THOUGHT I could pull a fast one and cut it into small pieces and put it into my milk carton. Just my luck the school principal, a little 5 foot tall nun came around checking that we had all finished our milk. I was forced to take a drink of my milk & liver concoction. After a few sips I threw up on my lunch tray, and was sent home. Sister thought I had a flu bug.

[2naSalit]

32. My mom...

Forced me to eat it ONCE. I hated the smell too and it tastes like blood. That time my mom made me eat it, I took one bite and directly after swallowing it, I threw up all over the table. She knew better after that. And my brother and younger sisters weren't forced to eat it either after my 'event'.



I tried to tech my mom that all her kids were NOT ALIKE and that I was never going to be 'normal' but she just never got that point. She saw it as a detriment and an embarrassment until she was lost in her delirium and forgot why she hated me. Her last few years were less challenging and we actually had a few good visits before she passed.

But anytime I smell liver, I make sure I can avoid it whether its in a restaurant or someone's home, ruins my appetite.

[3catwoman3]

59. It would have served the nun right...

…if you had thrown up on her.

[Bettie]

34. That was what I was going to post

worst food ever. My DH knows that if he's going to eat liver, he'd best kiss me beforehand, because he has a 12 hour wait period after.

Same for pickled herring. Just no.

[Thunderbeast]

49. Heaven on a Plate!

[ms liberty]

67. This is the answer. My mom used to make chicken livers qhen she would make fried chicken

And my sister and I refused to eat the chicken if she fried it with the livers, thechicken would pick up.the liver taste and ruin it.. She had to cook the chicken first, then the livers. I think any liver is disgusting. I worked in a grocery store as a cashier when I was a teenager, it nearly made me gag to touch the beef liver or beef tongue.

[2naSalit]

72. Oh yeah...

I won't have gravy or dressing with the organs, won't eat them from any animal, ick. And they taint whatever they're cooked with and ruins the whole thing. We had to train my mom, my brother and I. Unfortunately our eldest sister liked that stuff.

[fargone]

84. My sister and I would squabble over who got to eat the chicken liver. Loser got the heart

[rsdsharp]

20. Gravy. I can cook damn near anything, but gravy eludes me.

If we’re having gravy, it either comes in a jar, or somebody else makes it.

[crud]

23. I saw a cartoon

of a bunch of misshapen pancakes sitting in chairs in a circle. The caption read: "first pancake support group"

[hlthe2b]

25. Can't or Wouldn't... Can't? Anything with so many unclear instructions I give up early on (e.g., most complex recipes

as are most of Julia Child's).

Won't? Tons, but start with liver. (uggh, no way). Lamb? Stinks up the house for weeks. Once was enough.

Many many others in the "won't" category but I'd have to be paid to take the time it would take for most complex French or other such recipes, although I'd be happy to eat them.

[spooky3]

27. Pie with homemade crust

I’m terrible at it.

[mwmisses4289]

53. Yeah, pie crust is hard to get right.

I can get about half the time I attempt to make it, so I just use the ready made crusts from the store. Much more likely to be successful, lol. 🥧

[spooky3]

64. I have to do that, too.

[Botany]

30. Joy of Cooking recipe for pancakes

Last edited Sat Dec 27, 2025, 07:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Use bacon or sausage grease if you are O.K. with dead animal fat

Make sure the griddle or skillet is hot. Water on it should immediately turn to little balls if
you are at the right temperature.

Cook until the top of the pancake has solid little holes in it then flip the flapjack. No more
than 60 seconds.

Use real maple syrup & butter. Blueberries in the batter are the shiz bomb.

[Lochloosa]

58. Joy of Cooking is my bible. Every cook should have a copy.

[Botany]

62. I forgot use buttermilk instead of regular milk

And btw avoid box pancake mixes.

The J o C’s bread and giblet gravy recipes are solid.
The J o C’s fruit pie and scalloped potato recipes are solid too.

[Phoenix61]

31. Homemade tapioca pudding. I've wasted gallons of milk trying

and finally gave up. The beads either never get soft or it doesn’t set up.

[Fichefinder]

33. Pizza dough, for some reason

[Kali]

35. I am a decent cook but I can fuck up rice pretty regularly

usually too mushy/watery but basically still edible. nice long individual grains like you get with middle eastern food is the challenge I have NEVER met. usually have my son do the rice, he is much better but also can mess it up. he just got a rice cooker for xmas. LOL (and not from me!)

[Vinca]

36. I can't seem to get steak right. It's either over or under. Of course, that was the past. Can't afford it now.

[Polly Hennessey]

37. Enchiladas. They disintegrate. I end up having a Mexican casserole.

In our house enchiladas come from restaurants. 😊

[chowmama]

40. I have yet to make a successful kosher dill pickle

It's nothing but mush within a few weeks. I used the Lincoln Del recipe too.

Other pickles, fine. Kosher dill - I don't know what's wrong.

[ProfessorGAC]

41. Haven't Found "Can't", But....

...there are several "won'ts".
I'm never going to make meatloaf. I'm never roasting a whole chicken. And so on.
But, I've never made anything that didn't work out for technical reasons.

[Morbius]

42. There have been a few failures for me, but I can't remember them specifically.

I've asked my wife and daughter and they can't remember either. I do remember once trying to make homemade drop biscuits, but they weren't as good as Pillsbury, so why bother. I did try stovetop green bean casserole because my oven doesn't work; that was an experiment than failed.

If it isn't something my family will like, I won't even try to make it. I hated my mother's liver; I've never tried to make it.

My pancakes are the bomb.

[Iggo]

46. Eggs.

No matter what style, they were never quite right.

[Collimator]

50. I cannot fry an egg. . .

. . . Because my father, (Goddess bless him), was a terrible teacher who took over every time I made the attempt. That is also why I can't partner dance, though my memories of being pushed around on a dance floor at weddings have taken on a certain warmed glow since my dad's passing.

Once of the hardest parts about teaching-- and parenting, I guess-- is standing back and allowing imperfection. As for pancakes, I have heard it said that the first one is meant to be a throw away. Sometimes doing something wrong is the best way to learn how to do something right.

[AnnaLee]

52. Mississippi Delta type hot tamales. ntp

[BootinUp]

56. Are you over-mixing the batter perhaps?

[mgardener]

57. My kids

Never miss the chance to tell others of my "chain saw fudge" It has been over 30 years since that catastrophe.
We revisited the tale this Thanksgiving

Had to throw the pan out.

[Nittersing]

63. BAKED RICE FOR ONE - this has been foolproof for me

½ cup long-grain white rice
1 cup hot water
1 tablespoon butter
¼ teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Add white rice (not instant) to a small 5×5 inch oven-safe dish.
Add butter and salt to the rice.
Pour in hot water and stir to combine.
Cover the dish tightly with foil, place it on a baking sheet, and bake for 30-35 minutes, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender.

https://onedishkitchen.com/how-to-bake-a-single-serving-of-rice/

[markodochartaigh]

66. This is my own recipe for "unfried" rice.

It has no fat in it.

I take about a cup of instant rice with the water the box says to use and add a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon. I use Better than Bouillon because it has no fat, but other bouillon works as well. I stir in garlic powder, black pepper, ginger paste, and five spice powder to taste. I also use a tablespoon or two of sambal oelek chili pepper paste from the Viet Namese store. Any of these powders and paste can be adjusted or omitted to taste. Then put it in the microwave and it's done. Chopped cooked vegetables can be added. Sometimes I stir in a beaten egg halfway through the microwaving. Chopped green onions and/or cilantro can be added after microwaving.

[PikaBlue]

65. Does it have to be edible when cooked?

I can cook anything, however, a number of those items might just be inedible. Fudge confounds me.

[JustKay]

68. I can't flip an omelet to save my life!

I end up creating what my ex-husband called, "egg mess."

[BarbaRosa]

70. Baking with yeast,

Yeastuicide, I'm a serial yeast assassin.

[GreatGazoo]

71. For pancakes I go by eye to get the consistency right

the ratios on the package will get you close but probably not close enough. It should be fairly thin but more like chowder than soup.

Flat top or skillet at 350F. Oil in the pan should look dappled, kind of wavy but not smoking. Pour the pancake mix from a measuring cup (for the spout) and wait until bubbles appear. Flip with a soft spat. The first side should cook in about 30 seconds, the second in 20. They go thinner and faster than many cooks think.

EGGS: don't toss them up to flip them. Keep the pan level and jerk it back about 3 inches so the eggs collide with the far edge of the pan and roll back. Like saute'. An omelette may need a little more of a toss but barely -- tilt the pan away from you and then quickly level it and they should roll over. The eggs in either have to be formed but loose from the pan before you do the motion.

Eggs should form up right away, bubble and blister or else the pan is not hot enough. Eggs are popular on diner menus because they cook very quickly, 30 seconds, and they're cheap.

[redstatebluegirl]

81. Liver

[LoisB]

82. I can't bake cakes.