frustration w/ online recipes

[MissMillie]

Ever go looking for a recipe online and end up wanting to reach through your computer screen and shake whoever it is that is posting these things?



If I had it my way there'd be rules to follow:

1) I wouldn't have searched out this recipe if I didn't already know what the item is that I want to make. For example: today I'm looking for a recipe for homemade tater tots. I know what a tater tot is. I don't need 10 paragraphs on what they are, what country they came from, when they originated, what they look like, and how good they taste. If you insist on doing this, how about a "proceed to recipe" button so I don't have to read (or watch) your history lesson?

2) Videos are fine, but if you've got the time to pull out a camera, record, and edit, then you've got time to write out a recipe. I may want to print out the recipe. If something is unclear, the video becomes helpful.

3) Specificity is required. I shouldn't have to wonder what you mean. "2 lbs. of russet potatoes, peeled. Place in pan, cover w/ water, cook 6-7 minutes until done." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What whole potato is "done" in 6 to 7 minutes? Shouldn't they be cut first? In what way? How big? And what do you mean by "done?"


Right now, that's what I've come up with. I'm sure that as I continue my search, I'll come up w/ more rules.

[TreasonousBastard]

1. You are absolutely right, BUT....

Years ago a cookbook author TV/chef spilled the beans on this.

I forget who it was, but he said 99% of the people looking up recipes or watching TV cooks never cooked the thing they looked up. It was all entertainment, and no one really noticed if you left out a critical step or element.

[MissMillie]

4. I do--and don't--agree

Certainly with TV, I agree. I watch cooking shows for entertainment.

I would argue that most people who search for a recipe online have the intent to make the recipe. Given my experience this morning, it's understandable why people would not follow-through. Poorly written recipes are frustrating.

Then there's always the possibility that even if the recipe is written well, the task may require more labor or time (or even money) than people are willing to invest.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. I look up recipes all the time with no intention of cooking....

Usually, I'm just looking for info, like what's the difference between potstickers and pirogies. Or what's the really nasty stiff in haggis....

But it drives me nuts when a recipe says a tablespoon of something and all I have are teaspoon measurers.

And just how big is a "cup'" of coffee?

[ratchiweenie]

8. Just so you know

3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
8 oz = a cup

unless you are making something very fussy like a souffle, you can fudge a bit here and there. But you probably already knew that.

[quaint]

10. Online recipes do not always originate in the U.S.

Last edited Tue Apr 4, 2023, 10:31 AM - Edit history (1)

I had a few disasters before discovering this Wikipedia Conversion Table to U.S. Legal Cup:

Customary cup
Coffee carafe showing gradations for measuring water (right) and brewed coffee (left) in multiples of non-standard US customary cups.

In the United States, the customary cup is half of a liquid pint.
1 US customary cup = 1⁄16 US customary gallon
= 1⁄4 US customary quart
= 1⁄2 US customary pint
= 8 US customary fluid ounces
= 16 US customary tablespoons
= 48 US customary teaspoons
= 236.5882365 milliliters exactly
= 15.7725491 international tablespoons
= 11.829411825 Australian tablespoons
≈ 5⁄6 imperial cups
≈ 8 1⁄3 imperial fluid ounces

Legal cup
The cup currently used in the United States for nutrition labelling is defined in United States law as 240 ml.[1][2][3]
1 US "legal" cup = 240 millilitres
= 16 international tablespoons
= 12 Australian tablespoons
= 8 US nutritional fluid ounces (30 ml each)
≈ 8.12 US customary fluid ounces
≈ 8.45 imperial fluid ounces

Coffee cup
A "cup" of coffee in the US is usually 4 fluid ounces (118 ml), brewed using 5 fluid ounces (148 ml) of water. Coffee carafes used with drip coffee makers, e.g. Black and Decker models, have markings for both water and brewed coffee as the carafe is also used for measuring water prior to brewing.[5] A 12-cup carafe, for example, has markings for 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12 cups of water or coffee, which correspond to 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 US fluid ounces (0.59, 0.89, 1.18, 1.48, and 1.77 litres) of water or 16, 24, 32, 40, and 48 US fluid ounces (0.47, 0.71, 0.95, 1.18, and 1.42 litres) of brewed coffee respectively, the difference being the volume absorbed by the coffee grounds and lost to evaporation during brewing.

more at link

[ratchiweenie]

21. Good to know but I still think a cup in any American recipe would be 8oz or a standard

U.S. 1 cup measuring cup. I also have a great big refrigerator magnet shaped like a glass measuring cup that has the American dry and liquid weights converted to liters, grams, etc. Quite handy really.

[quaint]

22. That's my problem--determining if the recipe source is American.

[TreasonousBastard]

25. Truth is, I have tons of conversion tables, even meters to leagues...

but my question should probably be "Why?". I'm my starting to think fondly of the metric system so useful in baking.

[ratchiweenie]

27. My husband bought me a lovely new set of stainless measuring cups for Christmas that

have both measures. I love them. My liquid cups already had metric but not my dry measure. Not many people would be as thrilled as I was to get a beautiful fancy set of measuring cups and spoons.

[Retrograde]

20. A "cup" of coffee

is clearly the amount of coffee that fits in a coffee cup It's one of those measures like "a wineglass" of a liquid (never mind that I have wine glasses ranging from about 3 oz to half a bottle) or a "good knob" of butter (although you find this mostly in older recipes, and very old ones at that). Or recipes that call for "two tomatoes" without specifying the size - are we talking about cherry tomatoes? Brandyines? Romas?

What irks me are the recipes that are excruciatingly accurate about how many grams of something goes in, then specify a piece of fruit or vegetable without giving an amount. If you're going to be precise, go all the way.

[ggma]

2. And how about

American (?) measurements? I don't want to weigh my ingredients.

gg

[MissMillie]

3. and EQUIPMENT

There, I thought of another one.

If I need a box grater, potato ricer, Dutch oven, meat or candy thermometer, parchment paper or foil, 10-gallon pot, double-boiler, etc. I should know that up-front. Just like an ingredient list, there should be an equipment list.

[ratchiweenie]

28. Well you don't really have to. Just save a pint jar from mayonnaise or something

and fill it half full. Thats usually close enough.

[jimfields33]

6. Better to order cook books. They are still the best methods.

Or if too expensive, used book stores have them by the thousands.

[woodsprite]

7. My favorite place to hunt for cookbooks

Is Baldwin’s Book Barn on Lenape Rd in West Chester, PA. It literally is a 5-story stone barn with tons of categorized rooms filled floor to ceiling with books.

Come to think of it, hubby or my daughter usually take me up there where we spend hours on my birthday (with no spending constraints). Birthday is in 2 weeks!

I had fun looking at a collectible one a few years back. I thought it was an old family Bible, but it was a cookbook written and signed by Vincent Price and his wife. It was gilded on the edge and had a tooled leather cover. An unusual find, but that one was $300. They also have tons of collectible local maps and genealogy books.

If anybody is ever in the area, they should definitely stop in! Better for a non-winter trip though since it’s only heater is in the room with the cash register.

[jimfields33]

13. It is fun going to used book stores. I even like the smell.

[MissMillie]

11. While this is probably true

Not always practical.

I have a LOT of cookbooks. None of them had a recipe for homemade tater tots.

[jimfields33]

12. Lol. That is probably true.

Seriously, I wish you the best in finding a great tasty tater tot recipe.

[Marthe48]

26. Aren't tater tots just cylinders of hash browns?

I make hash browns from a fresh potato, haven't had a tater tot in years

[piddyprints]

9. My pet peeve is the ingredients.

So often, it takes a can of this kind of soup or a package of some kind of mix, etc., all processed stuff. I know people who cook like that, but I don't.

Speaking of mixes, I'll never understand brownie mix. I mean, brownies are so easy and have so few ingredients that all the mix is really saving you is having to measure and mix the flour, cocoa powder, and sugar together.

[vanlassie]

14. Those lengthy recipes are clickbait.

Look for major sites.

[Saviolo]

15. Sadly, it's how things have to be done.

As far as the paragraphs and paragraphs of anecdotes and explanation before the recipe goes, for some food bloggers and recipe sites, it's the only way they can keep the lights on. The longer you keep someone on a website, the more engagement you get with banner ads and that sort of thing, so you might get $.005 instead of $.003 for someone finding your recipe.

I agree with #2, which is why we always include the full recipe in the description of the videos we make. I like Food Wishes and Chef John, but it annoys me that for the full recipe, I have to go check out his blog (but again, see point #1).

In a cookbook, there's usually a big block of text at the beginning of, say, a chapter, and then after that, nothing but recipes. But for a cookbook, they've already got your money, they don't need to keep you engaged to serve you ads. The tech "disruptors" who built the modern web as is currently is, designed it so that the longer you keep eyes on your website, the more ads you can serve and the more (for instance) Google Adsense pennies you collect.

There are plugins that you can get that skip you right to the recipe, which further makes it impossible for content creators to make any money doing what they do, but will bypass all of that preamble that doesn't have anything to do with the recipe.

[Phentex]

19. I understand the reason behind it...

but if there isn't a jump button I may just go back to my search and look for another recipe. Sometimes I scroll but really I just want to see the recipe. So yeah, they can write a SHORT paragraph or two and I might stay but I don't need to read an essay on potatoes. I like:

Name of Recipe

Video on how to make

A blurb about how to serve or what to serve it with

Full Recipe with Serving Size, Nutrition

Reviews - Give me reviews and I'm going to stay on your page with the ads flashing about

[Kali]

16. and when you find it or fix it, please post here

I don't buy tater tots, but might make them if you find/create a good recipe.

[Lars39]

17. And a pox on those on Pinterest that don't put a "Jump to Recipe" button.

[FarPoint]

18. I use the YouTube videos.

Then, I tweak my own aspect of a recipe...I am a visual learner...

[japple]

23. And why can't the measurements for macaroni and other small pasta shapes

be given in cups instead of ounces?

[Retrograde]

24. Because they pack differently in cups?

A cup of orzo is more pasta than a cup of rigatoni

[Baltimike]

29. My gift to you is this...

https://www.justthefuckingrecipe.net/

One of my faves