Sometimes, recipes are just duds. I have personally made mistakes & messed up a recipe as well as following it perfectly and it still didn't work. Pobody's nerfect! Read on to learn about some variables that can make or break your delicious creations!
Measurement Error if you use a dry measuring cup to measure 1 cup of milk, you're going to get an inaccurate amount. The most accurate measurement technique is to properly use a kitchen scale (I highly recommend this one especially for baking), but knowing when to use what is key - use Pyrex liquid measuring cups for measuring liquids and the dip & sweep technique for dry ingredients will work fine, especially for cooking when you don't need to be ultra-precise.
Oven Temperature super-fun story time: when my husband made banana bread in the oven in our new place about a year ago, it ended up burned, even though he set a timer and baked it according to the recipe. We bought an oven thermometer and lo and behold, the oven was reading 100° off! He had set the oven to 350, as the recipe stated, but it was actually baking at 450 - that's a BIG difference. If it feels as if you're always adding another 10-15 minutes to the times when you're baking, or if things are cooking too quickly (read: burning) it's time to grab an oven thermometer. To check your oven, pop in an oven thermometer and set the dial to 350°F. Check the temperature every 10 minutes until it stops climbing (this will also let you know how long it takes to truly preheat the oven). If the final temperature doesn't match what's on the dial, you'll need to re-calibrate the dial according to the manufacturer's specifications, or make a simple chart. Repeat every 25°F until you've got solid readings for a range of common kitchen temperatures, as the mismatch doesn't always follow an intuitive pattern. You can tape an index card with a chart to the cabinet door if you find yourself forgetting what the correct setting is to adapt to your specific oven.
Stove/Cooktop Temperature not all stovetops put out the same amount of heat. If it feels as if you're always standing around the stove longer than those times suggest, it's okay to crank up the heat to match the pace of the recipe. Consider this caramel sauce recipe: sugar and water are dissolved together, then boiled until golden brown. In a 3 quart stainless steel saucier, this process should take no more than 12 minutes from start to finish over "medium" heat. If you're using a similar pan but the recipe seems to stall and the solution stubbornly refuses to take on any color, it's a sign that your "medium" heat is different, and an adjustment is needed.
Room Temperature know your thermostat as well as your range settings! Once again, especially with baking, precision is key. The temperature of the kitchen itself determines the temperature of baking staples such as sugar and flour, as well as your equipment like as mixing bowls and baking sheets. Recipes are developed under "average" conditions rather than extremes, so anything above 75°F or below 65°F will cause some deviations - think of temperature-sensitive ingredients like butter and yeast. If a kitchen is too cold, butter and sugar will take longer to cream, yeasted doughs will take longer to rise, and cold doughs and batters may need a few extra minutes in the oven. If it's too warm (more than 75° F) you could briefly refrigerate pantry staples and equipment to cool them off. Your goal isn't to make anything warm or cold, it's only to bring the overall temperature down to something more "average."
Equipment Sizes & Materials discrepancies in skillet sizes may not seem like a big deal, but if you think about baking pans, it makes sense that it could be not great. Have you ever made a cake in a 9" pan instead of an 8" one? I have! Think about a 5 quart aluminum or stainless steel pot versus a 5 quart cast iron Dutch oven - it may hold the same volume, but it will take longer to bring something to a simmer in a heavy pan. It's ok to adapt a recipe to the equipment you have, just keep in mind that different dimensions and materials of your cookware and bakeware will affect the timing of a recipe.
Share any other reasons you can think of and/or fun stories of recipe disasters below!
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