What makes a 'good' cook?

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Replies

  • Fyreside
    Fyreside Posts: 444 Member
    Like @CSARdiver I think a good cook is the one who understands the chemistry of cooking. They are the ones who make recipes.
    That's not to say anyone who enjoys cooking can't make really yummy food. Even by luck or trial and error.

    Personally I reckon I'm an ok cook and the worlds luckiest baker.
  • midlomel1971
    midlomel1971 Posts: 1,283 Member
    People always tell me I'm a good baker, which is not true. Baking is following a recipe with very precise measurements. It's easy as long as you follow the directions. What I'm good at is finding delicious recipes.
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
    I'm a *kitten* cook. I can follow a recipe and produce perfectly serviceable food, but I can't create anything on my own. A lot of it is that the nuances of flavor profiles are completely lost on me. When someone says something like "the acidity of X perfectly offsets the earthy overtones of Y" - I just don't get any of that.

    My most dreaded recipe step is "season to taste". I'm probably a non-taster because when I think something is perfectly seasoned, everyone else will complain that it's way over seasoned. So when I see that, I just guess and make sure it still tastes fairly bland to me.
  • amelialoveshersnacks
    amelialoveshersnacks Posts: 205 Member
    I can't follow a recipe... I have had a go at it. I will look at the ingredients. Study the techniques but I go off on my own tangent every time. Probably because I look at the ratios, and then I substitute e.g different flours, sugars or fats or we mightn't have crucial ingredients e.g bicarb or baking powder. It helps if you know your pantry.

    My mum's family consensus is that when making bread dough, if your bowl was clean and didn't need to be washed, you are a good baker. If there was plenty of flour and bits still in it - you need more practice. I need more practice.

    My dad believes that if you have to follow the instructions for the same recipe every time you make it, you are not a good cook. I don't know if that's a valid measure of a good/decent cook considering he also thinks that's why men are better cooks - 'most women cook like they're repressed and it's because they cook for others, men on the other hand, they're ballsy. They cook for themselves what they want and how they want.'
    Yes my dad wanted me to cook like a man. I don't yet know if that makes me a good cook or a decent cook.
  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
    I'm probably a "decent cook" in that I can follow a recipe and people typically like my food enough to eat it without complaints LOL!

  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,971 Member
    edited April 2018
    Dani9585 wrote: »
    I'm probably a "decent cook" in that I can follow a recipe and people typically like my food enough to eat it without complaints LOL!

    I'd consider you a "good" cook if you can do this consistently.

    A "decent" cook to me would be someone who can "usually" get it right but still has failures. This is your typical home cook.

    An "experienced" cook is someone who is a "good" cook who can make things from scratch w/o consulting a recipe. This is someone who could work the line in a restaurant.

    A "creative" cook would be a "chef" who is an experienced cook who can make up entirely new and innovative dishes using different foods, spices and techniques on the fly, like you see on cooking shows like Iron Chef. This is someone who could run the kitchen in a restaurant.

    I vary between being a decent
    to experienced cook. I can cook well from a recipe but still mess up sometimes but I can also make certain things from scratch w/o messing up.

    My father was a sous chef in restaurants and hotels. He was an experienced cook who supervised the line cooks in the preparation of dishes as set forth by the chefs. He could have become a chef but didn't have the drive or ambition to do so.
  • mortuseon_
    mortuseon_ Posts: 257 Member
    Thanks for all the responses, this was informative! Do you think that regularly reading and trying different recipes helps to add to the skillsets of a 'good' cook? I feel that I need more practice, but when it comes to creating dishes, it can be so helpful to have inspiration from a previously-read recipe.
  • sgt1372
    sgt1372 Posts: 3,971 Member
    mortuseon_ wrote: »
    Do you think that regularly reading and trying different recipes helps to add to the skillsets of a 'good' cook?

    Of course.

    The more often you cook and the greater the variety in your cooking, the better and more experienced a cook you will become.

    The same applies to any other skill, trade or profession.

  • mortuseon_
    mortuseon_ Posts: 257 Member
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    mortuseon_ wrote: »
    Do you think that regularly reading and trying different recipes helps to add to the skillsets of a 'good' cook?

    Of course.

    The more often you cook and the greater the variety in your cooking, the better and more experienced a cook you will become.

    The same applies to any other skill, trade or profession.

    Well, sometimes I wonder if perfecting existing techniques is better than expanding, variety-wise. But I would get bored that way! Haha. Thread was v interesting, anyway. thanks :)
  • CarvedTones
    CarvedTones Posts: 2,340 Member
    A lot of the descriptions above sound like really good cooks, a step above what I consider "just" a good cook. I am in the category of "just" good. I follow recipes very well and can usually come up with something that people will like from what's on hand, but it will usually be fairly basic. I have to meal plan and cook for the family a lot. If I take on something fancy/difficult, I don't always get it right the first time.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    A "good" cook can make a good tasting meal out of whatever basic ingredients are on hand :)
  • DX2JX2
    DX2JX2 Posts: 1,921 Member
    mortuseon_ wrote: »
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    mortuseon_ wrote: »
    Do you think that regularly reading and trying different recipes helps to add to the skillsets of a 'good' cook?

    Of course.

    The more often you cook and the greater the variety in your cooking, the better and more experienced a cook you will become.

    The same applies to any other skill, trade or profession.

    Well, sometimes I wonder if perfecting existing techniques is better than expanding, variety-wise. But I would get bored that way! Haha. Thread was v interesting, anyway. thanks :)

    To be honest, there are certain techniques that are worth getting very comfortable with regardless of what type of cuisine/recipe you want to cook. Things like roasting larger portions of meats, stir frying/sauteeing, and good knife skills are universal across cuisines.
  • mortuseon_
    mortuseon_ Posts: 257 Member
    DX2JX2 wrote: »
    mortuseon_ wrote: »
    sgt1372 wrote: »
    mortuseon_ wrote: »
    Do you think that regularly reading and trying different recipes helps to add to the skillsets of a 'good' cook?

    Of course.

    The more often you cook and the greater the variety in your cooking, the better and more experienced a cook you will become.

    The same applies to any other skill, trade or profession.

    Well, sometimes I wonder if perfecting existing techniques is better than expanding, variety-wise. But I would get bored that way! Haha. Thread was v interesting, anyway. thanks :)

    To be honest, there are certain techniques that are worth getting very comfortable with regardless of what type of cuisine/recipe you want to cook. Things like roasting larger portions of meats, stir frying/sauteeing, and good knife skills are universal across cuisines.

    This is a great point! I fit some of the more general definitions here but there are things I am definitely NOT confident doing, like roasting large portions of meat. It's great to hear specifics on the skillsets required!
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    I became good friends with my personal trainer and I used to cook dinner for him once a week in exchange for training sessions. He said I was a good cook (except for one fail that he will never let me forget). He moved away and will occasionally call for advice on how to cook a meal. My family also says I am a good cook, so I will take it.

    I prefer to bake though. It is more exact, but I get creative and look at recipes and then end up putting two together as far as a cake and a filling or something. Problem is, I can't always remember what I did...you may never get the same thing twice. However it is requested that I bring dessert whenever it is a pot luck.
  • Nadspee
    Nadspee Posts: 79 Member
    Everyone's probably a good cook to someone, really depends on who you're feeding! I'm a pretty adventurous cook and my fiance always loves my cooking, but when my parents visit and I cook for them they complain about everything because it's not what they're used to. So to them I'm a bad cook, but to me they just have bad taste! :)
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,257 Member
    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Cooking is applied chemistry. While anyone (almost anyone) can simply follow directions and produce an end product, skill and experience are going to show the difference between a new aspiring cook and an award winning Chef.

    Ever just dump in ingredients and go off recipe? Try it sometime in a small batch and taste the result - there's a reason to the order of ingredients and the reaction to compounds interacting with one another produces wild differences.

    I think back to learning to bake bread with my Grandma and while I was working off the same recipe card it is difficult to put into words "desired consistency", but decades of experience and knowing how her oven performs, her pans heat up, the muscle memory of what well kneaded dough feels like.... These things you have to learn through doing.

    "Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." - Vince Lombardi

    I think of chemistry as baking. I'm a very, very good home cook. Baker?? Not so much! Too exacting for me. My wife is a terrible cook but excellent baker if given a recipe! She'll do things like use a knife to level off flour!! Me, no thank you! Hate that exacting stuff.

    I think you'll find a lot of good home cooks that don't have the patience for baking and a lot of bakers that aren't necessarily great cooks.

    I would agree with this. Baking takes precision. I'm a decent baker and a good cook when it comes to wild game, grilling, and omelettes. My wife is an amazing baker and has a phenomenal attention to detail when it comes to baking.

    I tried for years to duplicate my Grandma's pie crust and just gave up for now. It's all in how you mix the dough and I tend to overmix.