I always read the comments on online recipes before making it to try and catch errors, omissions, or just plain, "this doesn't work". NYT app is particularly rich in commentary.
I wrote to a cookbook author when following one of her cake recipes yielded easily three times too much cake batter for the pans she called for. She wrote me back to tell me I was wrong, and that I must have done something wrong, but I did the math and her ingredients added up to many times the volume the pans could hold. So frustrating!
As a decades long cookbook consumer, initially part of an online food community where authors utilised its members as recipe testers, I was surprised to realise proof of recipe testing isn't obligatory in the publishing industry. I was used to these reliable volumes from community members, where each recipe had been made at least a few times by average home cooks with average appliances in average kitchens. I incorrectly assumed that if the cookbooks these DIY style folks were rolling out were so reliable then those published by professional chefs would be as well. One professional chef and author basically told a friend of mine (who had a lot of experience recipe testing), after they complained of myriad mistakes in several recipes and offered to test for them, that they didn't need recipe testers because they were professional chefs themselves. lolllzzzz
I always read the comments on online recipes before making it to try and catch errors, omissions, or just plain, "this doesn't work". NYT app is particularly rich in commentary.
I wrote to a cookbook author when following one of her cake recipes yielded easily three times too much cake batter for the pans she called for. She wrote me back to tell me I was wrong, and that I must have done something wrong, but I did the math and her ingredients added up to many times the volume the pans could hold. So frustrating!
ugh so frustrating!
As a decades long cookbook consumer, initially part of an online food community where authors utilised its members as recipe testers, I was surprised to realise proof of recipe testing isn't obligatory in the publishing industry. I was used to these reliable volumes from community members, where each recipe had been made at least a few times by average home cooks with average appliances in average kitchens. I incorrectly assumed that if the cookbooks these DIY style folks were rolling out were so reliable then those published by professional chefs would be as well. One professional chef and author basically told a friend of mine (who had a lot of experience recipe testing), after they complained of myriad mistakes in several recipes and offered to test for them, that they didn't need recipe testers because they were professional chefs themselves. lolllzzzz
I really enjoyed reading this and learned something. Thank you!
thanks so much for reading!