Do you do "cooking by the books" or do you like to

Depends. If I'm cooking for others, I follow the book pretty closely. If it's for myself, I eyeball all measurements and add random ingredients I'm trying to get rid of.

>>8366535
At work we just try whatever works and then do that by our own "book"
At home I just go for whatever I think will taste good

>>8366535
c-cook by the book yes

>>8366535
I'd cook by her book if you know what I mean

I've been cooking a while and memorized the proper ratios used in classical french cuisine, so I can tweak on the fly if need be.

>>8366878
No i dont, is it a really good book? Who's the author?

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I follow instructions reasonably close the first time and adjust from there. If a recipe looks like it would need significant alterations I try to find something else.

I've usually got an idea of how I want something to taste when cooking something new, so I'll look up a few different recipes to get a basic idea and figure it out from there.

>want to try something new
>look up a few recipes, see how they do it and what are common ingredients/flavors
>wing it from there with whatever I have at hand
I haven't been cooking for a long time, and it's usually simple stuff, but always very tasty.

>>8366535
Only time you need to cook by the book is in baking/cake making because ratios are the most important part
in normal cooking it's really knowing about the doneness of the food your cooking temps on meats texture of veggies

anything else should be determined by your own flavor preference

I generally follow recipes.

If it gives me a specific amount for herbs and spices, I usually eyeball it.

certain recipies requires excact amount, especially in baking.
Others I just freestyle. Im a fucking pro.. I know whats go well with other.

I get an idea of what I want to cook, look up a recipe and just use it as a loose guideline

>>8366535
first time, almost always by the book. after that, i usually tweak it a little. if i was really good, i would be able to drop the cookbook altogether and be able to eyeball most things. but im not that good, if anything im more like a pretty good housewife

I usually follow the recipe, but I try to match it to what ingredients I have available to me, and I add shit if it tastes bland.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5tVbVu9Mkg

I'm interested first and foremost with authentic cooking so I always cook a dish once with the correct ingredients and move on.
If I don't have them I'll just grow it in my garden and wait until I can harvest it, done that for numerous spices, vegetables and fruit.
I do experiment with the basic dal recipes though which is what I eat almost every day.

100% by the book (it's always bland)
Write down what I thought of it and how I think to make it better.
Cook again, slightly better
Repeat steps 2 and 3 until I die.

Hundreds of pages filled, organized, and filed in the span of a year

>>8366535
I'd fuck Stephanie with the force of 10000 suns.

The 'books' are resources. It is best to read many recipes, familiarizing one's self with the dish. Then you can feel comfortable and confident in the kitchen when cooking.

Following recipes isn't cooking; it's preparing food. The same is true of baking.

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>>8367639
today

>>8366535
I wanna ____ that ____

I make my own recipies
I dont go by the books
I dont do what "society" wants me to do
Im not a sheep
I do what the government tells me too
its all a scam
you know what I do do?
Meth

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>>8367645
>today
Negative.

>>8366539

This 100%. Over time this has actually made me a better cook because I learn which random ingredients improved the dish or made it worse. Usually it's worse but I've learned a lot.

>>8366535
Baking, sauces or desserts: by the book at least for the first time.
Pretty much anything else: instructions are a suggestion only.

>>8366535

I compare with similar recipes to try and figure out the secret to whatever technique is being used, then tweak the extraneous stuff to my liking.

>>8367199
like this

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When I cook with friends, I make sure all the ingredients are mine, and I eat them when they're not looking.

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kek

>Needing recipes
>Ever

I thought this board would be better at cooking.

>>8367659
oh my god muh dikkkkkkkkk

i normally glance at the recipe once and then follow it very losely adding random things

every time i try to follow a recipe exactly i manage to fuck it up

>>8366535

The more you cook, the more you just get a "feel" for how things should go together. I'll look up a recipe and follow it's basic tenor, but I'll add or subtract on a whim, usually with good results.

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>>8366878

shame on you

usually I find recipes in dungeons... or steal them... chests, baskets... gives me 6000 max health, max stamina... good stuff

YOU GOTTA DO THE COOKING BY THE BOOK

>>8366535
I'll usually find a recipe that is close to what I want to eat and tweak it to what I personally like.

I do new unexplored recipes by the book and then once I've tried them a few times and I'm confident I start getting sloppy with the ingredients.

Also I like to lay out all my spices and salt etc in piles on a flat plate like paint on a palette I know that sounds super gay but I like to visualize what I'm putting in

>>8366535
Generally I go looking for benchmarks of what a dish is supposed to be before I try making it. When I go out to eat, travel or dine at someone's house I pay attention to what's delicious, especially if it's something I don't make. I can usually reverse engineer most of the ingredients just by taste while eating it. Then I go home and look up ten different recipes for the dish, comparing ingredient lists and techniques to see what seems most likely to result in something like the dish I tried.

Then I wing it from there.

But I rarely set out to make dishes I've never tasted before based solely on a recipe in a book.