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This used to be very discouraging for me, but I recently learned that usually the time given for recipes doesn’t include chopping, measuring, etc. Because how m

by oivey 6y ago

This used to be very discouraging for me, but I recently learned that usually the time given for recipes doesn’t include chopping, measuring, etc. Because how much time that takes people is so variable, recipe authors leave it out. If it included, there is intense pressure to keep it under 30 minutes because people will avoid recipes with longer times (also, unfortunately, SEO does, too). You’re probably not as slow as you think.

Godel_unicode 6y ago
Fwiw, this is totally untrue. Most people are simply not very efficient, even people who are "good at cooking". Knowing how to cook and then watching someone who is self-taught (or worse, YouTube influencer taught) is pretty eye-opening. Don't feel bad, most people are not actually good at cooking. But if you care, being good is pretty simple. It just takes actual training, which most people are surprisingly resistant to.
samdjstephens 6y ago
Agree 100%. There's a race to the bottom when it comes to preparation times. One recipe says it takes 20 mins vs one that says 45 mins - which recipe are you going to choose?
klodolph 6y ago
I am going to disagree here. I think prep times are generally accurate for people with decent skills who are motivated to move quickly (rather than hang out in the kitchen and chat, which is totally fine it just affects your schedule). How long does it take you to chop an onion? Well, let me put it this way—an instructional video of someone demonstrating how to chop an onion, moving slowly and pausing to explain the technique, will run about 90 seconds, possibly less. If it takes you more than about a minute to cut an onion, you are slow. Most people have dull knives, hold the knife incorrectly so it is unstable, make the wrong cuts in the onion so it falls apart, hold the onion incorrectly and move slowly because they are worried about cutting their fingers. If you sharpen your knife, hold it correctly, make the correct cuts, and hold the onion correctly, you’ll find that it’s very fast to cut an onion. Fact is—the difference between someone who is skilled and someone who is unskilled is big enough that they teach entire classes on knife technique. This is not about some esoteric subject like teaching you how to butcher small game in your kitchen—in a knife skills class, they’ll teach you basic stuff like how to cut onions. And I’ll say that being good at cutting onions does require a decent amount of skill—onions are round and slippery, after all.
mavidser 6y ago
Just to clarify this further - most good recipe writers would use actual prep times, but they start from the state of listed ingredients. If the ingredients mention '3 whole onions' and the steps list chopping them, the recipe would include chopping time. However if the recipe lists 250g chopped onions, then the recipe time won't factor into that part. Of course, this is usually true for publications which have an editorial processes (eg - Cook's Illustrated), and not more casual blogs/YT videos
- oivey 6y ago
  Yes, you’re right. At least partially recipes call for items in state because prep time will vary significantly by skill level. More cynically, with blogger recipes there is also a potential for SEO games. It isn’t really a shady practice, but for whatever reason over several years I had never known it.

by oivey 6y ago

Godel_unicode 6y ago

Fwiw, this is totally untrue. Most people are simply not very efficient, even people who are "good at cooking". Knowing how to cook and then watching someone who is self-taught (or worse, YouTube influencer taught) is pretty eye-opening. Don't feel bad, most people are not actually good at cooking. But if you care, being good is pretty simple. It just takes actual training, which most people are surprisingly resistant to.

samdjstephens 6y ago

Agree 100%. There's a race to the bottom when it comes to preparation times. One recipe says it takes 20 mins vs one that says 45 mins - which recipe are you going to choose?

klodolph 6y ago

I am going to disagree here. I think prep times are generally accurate for people with decent skills who are motivated to move quickly (rather than hang out in the kitchen and chat, which is totally fine it just affects your schedule). How long does it take you to chop an onion? Well, let me put it this way—an instructional video of someone demonstrating how to chop an onion, moving slowly and pausing to explain the technique, will run about 90 seconds, possibly less. If it takes you more than about a minute to cut an onion, you are slow. Most people have dull knives, hold the knife incorrectly so it is unstable, make the wrong cuts in the onion so it falls apart, hold the onion incorrectly and move slowly because they are worried about cutting their fingers. If you sharpen your knife, hold it correctly, make the correct cuts, and hold the onion correctly, you’ll find that it’s very fast to cut an onion. Fact is—the difference between someone who is skilled and someone who is unskilled is big enough that they teach entire classes on knife technique. This is not about some esoteric subject like teaching you how to butcher small game in your kitchen—in a knife skills class, they’ll teach you basic stuff like how to cut onions. And I’ll say that being good at cutting onions does require a decent amount of skill—onions are round and slippery, after all.

mavidser 6y ago

Just to clarify this further - most good recipe writers would use actual prep times, but they start from the state of listed ingredients. If the ingredients mention '3 whole onions' and the steps list chopping them, the recipe would include chopping time. However if the recipe lists 250g chopped onions, then the recipe time won't factor into that part. Of course, this is usually true for publications which have an editorial processes (eg - Cook's Illustrated), and not more casual blogs/YT videos

oivey 6y ago
Yes, you’re right. At least partially recipes call for items in state because prep time will vary significantly by skill level. More cynically, with blogger recipes there is also a potential for SEO games. It isn’t really a shady practice, but for whatever reason over several years I had never known it.