That cookbook author who said 'just eye it' made me so mad

I was at a book signing last month and this famous chef told someone to just eyeball the flour for biscuits. Seriously? I tried that once and ended up with hockey pucks. My grandma always said baking is chemistry and you gotta measure exact. Anyone else have a family recipe that got ruined by vague instructions?

3 comments

3 Comments

betty_white392mo ago

Eighty years of baking and I still measure every single thing, @charlie_allen.

hugo2381mo ago

Man, I feel that so hard. My grandma's cookie recipe is basically "a handful of flour, some sugar, butter til it feels right." I've tried to replicate those cookies 50 times and they come out different every single time. One batch was so dry it crumbled into dust, another was so flat it looked like a pancake. I guess some folks just have that magic touch, and the rest of us are stuck guessing.

charlie_allen2mo ago

Oh man, my mom's famous chili recipe literally says "add chili powder until it looks right" and I've never gotten it to taste the same twice. That chef owes us all a kitchen scale.