Cooking is Hard

Dude, it's not that people don't like cooking or that cooking is hard, that's just an excuse, like all the other ones that keep this world fat. It's that they are LAZY and would rather not. It's much easier to go through the drive thru on the way home from work, eat in the car and avoid doing dishes and cooking for an hour. This is why there is an obesity epidemic for adults and children. Because people are LAZY.

I was raised in a "follow the recipe" family. Everything exactly measured, etc. When I got married, I watched my hubby cook a few times (just throwing this and that in the pot). Well, now I don't even follow recipes. I sometimes use them as a guideline for what spices should be in it, but I never measure them and usually taste it and go "It need X." I learned this method VERY quickly. I have only been married two and half years. Anyone can learn to do this if they try.

I disagree that anyone can learn to improvise cooking. Some people struggle even to make recipes strictly followed come out. I don't know why, but I do know that some people just don't have the knack for cooking, especially for eyeballing or improvising, and maybe never will no matter how hard they try.

My son has wanted to be a chef since he was about 7. A chef and an actor. He is 16 and has the same goals. He cooks a lot, has been a volunteer chef in a cooking school and in a restaurant.
Is he great at cooking? Not really, but he's not bat at all.
All 3 of my boys learned to cook at a young age and can cook ..if they want. They may choose to live on Mac and Cheese as bachelors, but they all know how to make a big yummy meal. I guess when they want to impress a a girl the older two will cook more.

I like to cook when the kitchen is clean, which is not often with 3 young men and an absent minded husband.

Stopped reading comments after the first page...

To me, cooking is like math... only those that don't understand it (or want to understand it) hate it.... I know I take WAY longer on some dishes to cook than is necessary... but that's because I'm not very good at the whole "chopping" thing... But that doesn't deter me from trying new recipes or cooking real food.

Cooking is as hard or easy as you make it. I cook for a living and make things every day that other people get all impressed over...and to me, those are simple. At home it can be a little different. I don't tend to do complicated stuff at home often,and I am just now learning to use a crock pot (I never had one until recently...I love it), but last night I made panko crusted chicken tenders and sauteed some zucchini. Not difficult, only took a few minutes..healthy and very inexpensive. Anyone can learn the basics and cook. Sometimes it just takes being willing to take a little risk, even "failures" are usually edible. (Not baking though...baking is a science)

I agree. I am not the best cook but I still try. There are a ton of simple recipes online and I love my crock pot.

So when does it become "fun?" For me, I've been cooking for 18 years, and I can't remember a single instance where I thought, "Wow! That was fun!"

You know what's fun? Eating.

Indeed - one is a means to another.

Surely natural selection has an impact on people who cant cook anything at all?

I think when people say they "hate cooking", it's not the actual act of cooking they hate, it's the planning, coordination & TIME that it takes. I can't say that I love cooking to the point of getting excited to get in the kitchen every night, but what I do love, is making sure my family is satisfied with a good, healthy meal. If you cook out of obligation, it can become a drag. I experienced this when I got divorced several years ago & suddenly didn't have the overbearing, brow-beating hubby to criticize my every meal. I took a few years off and the kids & I ate out ALOT. When I found my (now) fiance, I started liking cooking again. Mostly because he tells me how wonderful the meals are and actually thanks me everytime I serve him dinner. Makes a huge difference!

When my husband decides to cook(maybe once a month - he does work away from home most weeks though to be fair), he will find a recipe he likes the look of (the last one was an extremely calorific but incredible cheese souffle) and go and buy the ingredients, then use every pan in the kitchen and take 3 times as long as the recipe states. We ate that souffle about 9pm but it was amazing. He also follows everything to the letter, sets his watch to time things like browning an onion and leaving bread to rise, rather than intuitively poking, sniffing and tasting to see if things are done. He is an engineer, so I guess he has a scientific approach!

When I cook (i.e. every day), I look in the fridge and see what we have, then think of combinations of those foods that might work (hmm, lets see, we have a bit of chorizo left, some mushrooms and half a scraggy-looking onion. I know - mushroom and chorizo pasta!), occasionally using a recipe as a guide (although usually ignoring most of it) and using as few pans as possible to avoid the dreaded piles of washing up.

While my husband's style of cooking could be improved, he often tackles things I would never cook - usually because I would see them as being a bit fancy or expensive to make. I consider myself a good, competent everyday cook but would never bother with things like, say, profiteroles as they seem like too much faff. However, my husband would see things like that as a challenge and would take all day. And they would be great. From me, he could learn thrift and being creative with what you have; and from him, I can learn to push the boat out a bit and try new things.

I suppose what I'm saying is, there are many different styles of cooking and we probably all approach it in a different way. So long as you keep up the practise of putting healthy whole foods inside your body in whatever form you like, then any skills you pick up along the way are a bonus!

When my husband decides to cook(maybe once a month - he does work away from home most weeks though to be fair), he will find a recipe he likes the look of (the last one was an extremely calorific but incredible cheese souffle) and go and buy the ingredients, then use every pan in the kitchen and take 3 times as long as the recipe states. We ate that souffle about 9pm but it was amazing. He also follows everything to the letter, sets his watch to time things like browning an onion and leaving bread to rise, rather than intuitively poking, sniffing and tasting to see if things are done. He is an engineer, so I guess he has a scientific approach!

When I cook (i.e. every day), I look in the fridge and see what we have, then think of combinations of those foods that might work (hmm, lets see, we have a bit of chorizo left, some mushrooms and half a scraggy-looking onion. I know - mushroom and chorizo pasta!), occasionally using a recipe as a guide (although usually ignoring most of it) and using as few pans as possible to avoid the dreaded piles of washing up.

While my husband's style of cooking could be improved, he often tackles things I would never cook - usually because I would see them as being a bit fancy or expensive to make. I consider myself a good, competent everyday cook but would never bother with things like, say, profiteroles as they seem like too much faff. However, my husband would see things like that as a challenge and would take all day. And they would be great. From me, he could learn thrift and being creative with what you have; and from him, I can learn to push the boat out a bit and try new things.

I suppose what I'm saying is, there are many different styles of cooking and we probably all approach it in a different way. So long as you keep up the practise of putting healthy whole foods inside your body in whatever form you like, then any skills you pick up along the way are a bonus!

This is funny because this is EXACTLY how my BF cooks. I can had dinner on the table and have did a load of laundry in 30 minutes (full meal), have the table set, drinks ready. But him, he make cooking hard. We could follow the same recipe and I'd be done 4 hours faster. This is why I cook 95% of the time. I "let" him cook sometimes when I know I'm not in a hurry to eat or really all that hungry. He obsesses about every little step and questions each part of a recipe. He's an IT engineer...

I totally agree with your comments. However, that said, if someone watches too much FoodNetwork TV, they could easily be convinced that cooking is too expensive, what with all of their uses for wine, 'good' olive oil, artisan breads, fancy mushrooms, etc. These things are not necessary to cook well - nice, but not necessary. Most people do just fine making stews, soups, meats and veggies in the oven on on stove top, without the fancy extras. If you go to the Taste of Home website, you will see that most of their recipes include all the calories, serving sizes, and all nutritional information you need to make healthy, homemade food. Love Taste of Home!

I agree with you. I personally love to cook, but I have always thought that the saying "if you can read, you can cook" was a very true one. I get compliments on things that I make all the time, and people fequently ask me "where did you learn to cook?" I just tell them that I taught myself, that I am constantly teaching myself and trying different things, which suprises some people for some reason.

I *hate* that expression. It's not true at all. Cooking requires more than the ability to read.

EDIT: Cooking YUMMY food requires more than the ability to read.

Cooking decent food that tastes better than most of what you get ready-made doesn't take much of an effort. But of course, if you don't know the difference between "folding in", "stirring" and "beating", then you have a problem. Or nobody have taught you when to turn down the heat after the sides of the steak are seared, and what "golden" onions means, and why it's important that they aren't burnt. Not to mention how you just can't take your eyes off heating milk, or all those other tricks you learn by being present and participating when somebody cooks.

Most of us who still live in cultures where people cook for themselves learn this without even noticing. My two kids then took the things they learned from home, added books, and became good cooks in their own right, of the things they are interested in. The one became good at cakes and desserts, the other cooks paleo-style.

If they had never, like some people I have met, touched anything in a kitchen other than the microwave and the fridge, then of course no amount of recipes would help; it would be like trying to read a knitting pattern if you have never knitted.

BTW, I think all you need in order to know how to knit is to be able to read. A lot of my colleagues disagree loudly when I try to argue that.

I definitely know the difference between stirring, folding, and beating. My family doesn't like onions, so that point is moot. My steaks are delicious. Steak is easy. I heat the grill, sprinkle them with salt, then put them on, set the timer, flip them, set the timer, then they are done. Unfortunately steak is not in our budget.

All these comments are so interesting - the sad thing about being able to cook is that it is much more fun to make the food that is less than healthy for you. I am single, love to cook, and it is not too gratifying to cook anything for yourself, be it healthy or unhealthy.

If I have the time, I love planning what to cook or bake. I don't mind cooking, but I wouldn't go as far to say that I love to cook. I don't always measure, sometimes I estimate. I can throw stuff together from the fridge or modify a recipe with what I have on hand and have it turn out pretty good. I do like trying new recipies and I have learned what I'm good at, and what I'm not good at. I'm lucky in that my husband likes almost everything, and never complains if something new isn't as good as I wanted it to be. My kids on the other hand...

cooking is not hard...nuking your food to cook it, discusting . that is all.