Do You Follow Recipes Exactly?

I love to flip through cookbooks and peruse recipe magazines and such - but find it too difficult to adhere exactly to a recipe. I look at recipes as a starting block an inspiration perhaps towards what variety of food I will be cooking. I rarely if ever follow a recipe to the T. either because I do not have certain ingredients or because I would like to add additional spices and flavors or alter the amount of fat or sugars in a dish... baking i tend to be more exacting but still it is not unusual for me to tweek and alter somewhat. I tend to be exact at least on the measurement of flour, egg, salt (unless it is solely for flavoring and not chemical reaction) baking powder, baking soda... the rest is open to interpretation :)

I am always changing the recipe, it drives my husband wild. I started a science degree so maybe I like experimenting lol. Most of the food is edible. But I can't normally make the same thing again.

I almost never follow recipes exactly for different reasons. Sometimes I change the recipe to use ingredients that I have around...I rarely buy special ingredients to make a particular dish. I also change recipes to make them healthier or eliminate animal products because my family is vegan. Finally, I often don't measure things and just sort of throw things together and hope for the best :) Most of the time it turns out really good but every once in a while...

I'm the same as you... if I'm baking, I follow it exactly, but when I'm cooking dinner, I don't follow recipes much... My family are all pretty bland eaters so we don't like a lot of spices and such, so I don't use them hardly at all. I like to mix and match recipes too and try to make new things. When you don't like spices, you're limited on what you can make! lol!

If its the first time that I've ever used a recipe, I usually follow it pretty closely. If I like the recipe and make it again and think something slightly different might make it even better, then yes, I will tweak the recipe. I have been doing it for years.

i think i am the daredevil kind of cook and will start with the original recipe and then i will throw in a bit of this and a little bit of that ,most times it tastes delicious.i love experimenting.cheers sue

When I first make something I always follow the recipe but after that I usually experiment by adding something.LOL I think its alot of fun to try different ways when cooking.

When baking I pretty much follow the basic recipe closely. I know that certain ingredients have a purpose other than flavor. Like the eggs and oil and baking powder. I won't mess with that stuff. If it's stuff like nuts or "extras" I will alter things to my liking. With dinner type recipes I either work from the basic recipe and alter it according to what I have handy in my kitchen or, if I'm going to the store to buy the ingredients, I may still alter it according to my taste. If I don't like a certain spice or ingredient I will eliminate it and add something that I do like.

For baking cakes I usually follow the recipe to the T especially if I am doing it for the first time. But for other menu I modify some depending in the availability of the ingredients and the taste. Cooking is fun if we cook it depending on how we like it- experimenting on the ingredients and preparation.

I am so bad at following recipes...i pretty much just put in whatever looks right. i do not even own measuring cups or spoons...sometimes it flops but lately i have been making some really good things without measuring anything at all!

My family has never believed in recipes, so therefore I have never followed a recipe. I pretty much know what I like, and how to achieve it on my own. Mainly done by look, smell, test and texture of things.

Same with me. Baking is a lot different, you need to follow it as directed if you don't want to come up with a different thing. But in other recipe, I don't especially if some ingredients are not available. I'm an adventurous cook and I like experimenting. Luckily everything turned out good and appreciated by everybody. You make me hungry my friend.

I used to follow baking recipes exactly. Now I make a lot of substitutions in them - making them vegan, not using sugar, etc. For regular cooking, I don't think I've ever followed a recipe exactly. I use them more as a rough guideline and make changes to suit my tastes or to use the ingredients I have in the fridge rather than running to the store.

If I have everything, I make it how it says the first time. Then I tweak it. Sometimes I don't have everything so I will improvise. Some of my best dishes have been my own creations- I should learn to write it down as I do it so I can do it again!

I follow recipes exactly when I am baking. For cooking, I guesstimate the ingrediants - that is how my mother cooked too. Baked goods are a science though at take a lot of care to turn out right.

I am a person who raley follows the recipe, except in baking, you have to there I think. But even with baking you can add things that arent in the recipe. Nuts ect.. I like trying out new flavors ect... So I would surely have to say I am a daredevil.