How Do You Cook - Recipe or Wing It

[2dream]

I met someone the other day who will only follow a recipe to the letter and cooks meals and meats using a thermometer. I was totally stunned to learn that if the recipe called for a 1 pound chuck roast they actually had the butcher cut them an exact 1 pound roast if nothing on the shelf was exactly 1 pound. Why? Because if the recipe says cook a 1 pound roast for 45 minutes and the roast is 1.1 pounds you won't know when its done. I am scratching my head going, have you ever heard the expression, stick a fork in it.
But it got me to thinking. Maybe more people than I am aware of do this.
So the question:
Do you need a recipe and follow it to the letter - or do you just do whatever and pray for the best results?

 

[ORChick]

I like to have a recipe, especially when making something for the first time - but I never follow it to the letter (unless I'm baking a cake - and even then I might tweak the flavorings, but not the basic mix). Even if I have the recipe in front of me, to remind me of how things ought to turn out, I seldom if ever prepare it the same way twice. I've been cooking long enough that I know with reasonable certainty what will be the result if substitutions are made - and since I will not drive into town just because I am missing one ingredient I have become a master of substitution.
Buying a roast of a certain exact weight? That is crazy! Is this a young, inexperienced cook you are talking about? I tend to take the approx. weight of what I have, and either multiply or divide to figure out how to alter the rest of the recipe to fit.
All that said, there are of course the old standbys that I've made so often that the recipe (such as it is) is in my head.

 

[2dream]

Not a young cook, but I am guessing inexperienced or OCD since meat has to be cooked to an exact temp. not 1 degree over or under, and a recipe must be followed exactly. If this person does not like meatloaf with peppers and onions they will not use a recipe that calls for peppers and onions.

 

[snapshot]

I usually follow a recipe the first time but after that I consider it an art and just mess around with the liquids (type) and flavors.

 

[Denim Deb]

It depends entirely on what I'm making. Some things, I use a recipe, other times I don't. But, to use the exact amount of meat in a recipe, that's nuts! What do they do if they're cooking chicken?

 

[the_whingnut]

if its suppose to be a favorite dish or special dinner recipe, if not its in the user name.

 

[Wannabefree]

I'm a compulsive recipe tweaker...even when making it for the first time

 

[moolie]

I'm a compulsive recipe tweaker...even when making it for the first time

Ditto, recipes are guidelines

I loved Home Ec in high school because my teacher taught us all about how different ingredients are used and what they do in recipes. My girls didn't learn any of that in Jr. High (they just cooked/baked fun things) and now that they are in High School no one takes Foods & Nutrition unless they are going into something cookery related.

A lot of my family's favourite dishes are things I just made up on the spot one time, others are "tweaked" recipes. I don't usually measure beyond what I can "eyeball" unless I'm baking--proportions are way more important in baking than in regular cookery. So my measuring cups don't get much of a workout unless it's a baking day

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I think recipes are merely a "suggestion" not a rule!

 

[DianeS]

For me, recipes are suggestions, they're ideas, they're inspiration. Heck, sometimes all I take from a recipe is the title!

I like complicated recipies, but then I adapt them to what I have in the pantry. By the time I'm finished substituting cod with tilapia, slices of onions with slices of potatoes and garlic, and serving it on a bed of fresh green beans instead of broccoli, my hubby says "what is this called again?" and I have to explain that it's MY rendition of broccoli cod with onion. LOL!

I actually cook by smell. If two things smell good together, they'll taste good together. And a piece of meat is finished when it *smells* done, not when the timer dings.

And of course I replace all the 70s "margarine, Crisco, corn oil" type ingredients with better ones.

But I do still need to use a recipe for baked goods. I don't understand some of the chemistry that works in them to make things rise. I'm getting more experimental with some different flours and flavor sources, but I'm not daring with them yet at all.