Do you measure everything exactly?

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I often guesstimate on amounts as far as teaspoons and don't level off my flour in my cups. My stuff always turns out great. My husband told the kids not to cook like that; he thinks it's lazy. Okay, it's lazy, but I'm in a hurry (I homeschool 5 kids). Isn't it the end product that counts?
 
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I think it depends on what you're making. Certain recipes will rely on chemical reactions for proper rising, etc., so if you don't measure a leavening agent correctly you're going to get a very flat cake or a mouthful of baking powder. Jelly, especially, relies on precise balances of ingredients. (I think Alton Brown once used that to explain the difference between cooking and baking.) Other things will do just fine if you just eyeball the ingredients.
 
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I usually try to be careful when I measure, especially with things like flour and baking powder/soda, since sometimes small changes in those can affect the texture or how well something rises, etc. But with other things like sugar or chocolate chips, I tend to be a little bit more flexible with my measurements. It all depends on what I'm making, too. Usually if it's a new recipe, I will try to be more precise, but if it's something I've made a few times before that I know can be more forgiving with small differences in the measurements, then I can be a little bit lazier. :)
 
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I often "eyeball" things as well, although I tend to do that with familiar recipes or those recipes which have more flexibility (like pizza dough) I'll experiment, sometimes, too. I tend to like my chocolate chip cookies a little thicker, so often when I use a new recipe I try it with a little extra flour added in. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. As orclev said, if I'm using a new recipe I am more precise. I also learned while taking a workshop about candy making that candy requires more precise measurements, so on the rare occasions when I make candy I'm much more careful.
 
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Usually I will measure things exactly, but if I feel that a recipe is asking me to add too much or too little of something, then I will simply edit it based on how I feel about adding that ingredient. Sometimes a recipe will tell you to add more than you need and so it is a good idea to be able to discern from experience what is adequate and what is over doing it.
 
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I tweak everything and usually eyeball a lot. So far so good though I will say. There are things that I make that I have been making for years so that is easy enough to eyeball. With new recipes I will make it exactly as it says but after that I tweak it to my taste. I guess if it works, why fix what isn't broken. If I find that I eyeball something and it just never "works" I will break out the recipe and follow it a few times until I am totally comfortable with it and can tweak it without it being a flop.
 
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I think that if you are familiar with what you are cooking, then you can just eyeball it, and be really close, and you can always taste and see if it needs more of something.
If I am making something I have not ever cooked before, then the first time, I will follow the recipe exactly, and see how it comes out. After that, if I thought it needed more or less of something, or and added ingredient, then I will go ahead and modify it to suit my tastes.
 
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Whenever I am just cooking I usually just eyeball my measurements. However, when it comes to baking I don't have as much experience and I find myself constantly needing to measure everything precisely. I'm hoping that as time goes on and I become a better baker I will have an easier time of not having to measure everything.
 
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It depends on what I’m cooking, defiantly the first time I use a recipe, then after that I usually tweak it to suit my families taste. There are some things I cook often, that I very seldom measure. I grew up cooking with a pinch of this or a dash of that, I still have some old recipes, that actually call for a handful of something, a pinch or dash, and lets not forget the smige, which I believe comes between a pinch and dash.:) Whatever works for you is great, if it tastes good, and puts a smile on your families faces, how could you go wrong.
 
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I often guesstimate on amounts as far as teaspoons and don't level off my flour in my cups. My stuff always turns out great. My husband told the kids not to cook like that; he thinks it's lazy. Okay, it's lazy, but I'm in a hurry (I homeschool 5 kids). Isn't it the end product that counts?

My hat's of to you, homeschooling 5 kids. I homeschooled one and that was a bigger job than I had anticipated. However the payoff was wonderful, and would do it again in a heartbeat. He is now 27 and doing very good.
 
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Yes, I think it's the end product that counts but usually If I do what you did my end result won't be the same every time. So better stick to the measurement.:)
 
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I often guesstimate on amounts as far as teaspoons and don't level off my flour in my cups. My stuff always turns out great. My husband told the kids not to cook like that; he thinks it's lazy. Okay, it's lazy, but I'm in a hurry (I homeschool 5 kids). Isn't it the end product that counts?



No I usually put a little more for some reason, and add a little extra things to my recipes, I don't know why it is habit, but everything always comes out just as good as the orginal recipe or even better!! I also homeschool, so I am always pressed for time as well! :)
 
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I think it's okay to do it like that. I don't think it's lazy at all, it just show you know what you are doing. I make homemade gravy a lot and I never measure out the flour. I just know how much I need since I am so comfortable with making it.
 
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I definitely measure everything, especially when a recipe is new to me. After a good while, I start to measure less exactly and feed confident enough to play around with the amounts a little bit.
 
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To be honest, it now depens of how well I know the recipe and where I'm baking. If it's a new recipe or I'm baking at a friend's house then I tend to follow the instructions to the letter. But when I'm at home and it's a recipe I've done many times, I tend to go more with my "gut feeling" for measuring quantities. It still ends up tasting good!
 
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It really depends on how familiar I am with the recipe. If the recipe is something new that I'm trying for the first time, I normally follow the recipe to the letter, and change what I do after seeing the results. However, with my grandmother's pound cake recipe, I can tell by "eyeball-ing" the ingredients and tasting often because I'm familiar with the end result.
 

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