Cooking More Because of COVID? The Ugly Secret About Cookbooks

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

When a recipe fails, it might not be your fault.

I received an air fryer as a gift. Along with a slew of cooking utensils came a cookbook of about three dozen recipes. I chose one and followed it exactly. Something about the measurements and cooking time seemed off. The dish came out dry and burnt, and was a big disappointment.

My kitchen skills are above-average and I never overcook anything. This was not my fault. I modified the recipe, shortened the baking time and the result was pretty good.

There is an ugly secret about today’s cookbooks. Many of the recipes have never been tested. There aren’t food technicians in some fancy research kitchen perfecting the amount of salt to be added to Grandma’s Luscious Scotch Nibbles before a book sees print.

Recipes are Lifted

Photo by Kara Eads on Unsplash

According to a friend who reviews cookbooks, recipes may be lifted from some place else, or even the Internet. The majority are never tested before publication or only a few may be tried for photographic purposes. Publishers are in the book selling business and have little incentive to verify…