# What is your level of cooking ability? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 25, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173 "2011-05-25T16:51:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/61 "2011-05-26T01:06:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I thought you were referring to the type of pro-bowler who throws a 16 pound ball at a bunch of sticks. My mistake. I thought you were remarking on the double meaning of Pro Bowler. But do you know what the ‘showvase’ is? The only Pro Bowl game I know about is the one that’s on when there’s no real football games. I never noticed the vase. And they’re not called sticks. They’re called stupid pins when they’re standing up after you throw the ball. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/62 "2011-05-26T01:11:52Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > FWIW, I’m an engineer, too, and as I said, I’m not big on measuring things when I cook. My approach has been known to drive another engineer (a former roommate) to the brink of madness, though. Yes, except I am the one who goes mad with all the questions. I give him simple tasks, like opening cans. There is no measurement involved 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/63 "2011-05-26T04:52:15Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > I cook three meals a day from scratch, so I consider myself “capable”. I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly adventurous cook, but I have one real skill - a great sense of timing. I can cook a meal and get everything ready at the same time. That’s awesome, and a skill I wish I had. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/64 "2011-05-26T05:10:47Z")
I answered ‘confident’, though I have done work in restaurants ranging from breads to salads to desserts to prep to banquet to sports-pub food grilling/cooking. I am confident that I _can_ do anything with a recipe, and confident enough to ignore recipes entirely and wing it, if I want to tweak it my own way. However…I’m probably better in a professional kitchen than at home. See the ‘winging it’ part. 😛 My sweetie enjoys cooking, but always follows recipes exactly, so I count him as being technically the better cook, as whatever he tries his hand at comes out awesomely. Luckily, he’ll listen to advice from me on most cooking matters; occasionally he’ll insist on following directions that I don’t think are quite right, such as cooking chicken wings at 325 because ‘that’s what the recipe says’. Umm…nope. But he learns 🙂 I’m not sure I learn so much anymore as ‘innovate’. Unfortunately my slap-dash approach pretty much ensures that when something comes out GREAT, I can’t remember exactly how I did it… 😛 ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/65 "2011-05-26T05:31:33Z")
Fairly capable. I can follow a recipe and have enough basic kitchen knowledge to avoid hurting myself, starting fires, ruining utensils, or causing food poisoning. I thought these were things everyone knew until I lived with someone who didn’t know about oven mitts and who thought it was OK to thaw chicken in a Ziploc bag, pour out the bloody juice, and reuse the bag without even rinsing it. I’m surprised he’s still alive. The thing is that I’m incredibly lazy, cheap, and have a very limited selection of foods I like. So my cooking skills don’t get much practice or development. I hate cooking. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/66 "2011-05-26T05:43:23Z")
I would say between capable and confident. I have manged to successfully cook some more complicated recipes, but I also mess up once in a while. I rarely cook a dish completely blind though. I look up several recipes and take my inspiration from there. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/67 "2011-05-26T15:09:46Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I thought you were remarking on the double meaning of Pro Bowler. But do you know what the ‘showvase’ is? The only Pro Bowl game I know about is the one that’s on when there’s no real football games. I never noticed the vase. And they’re not called sticks. They’re called stupid pins when they’re standing up after you throw the ball. Yes, I know what they’re called, and I’ve bowled in my life. I was trying to be funny, for cripes sake. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/68 "2011-05-26T15:19:03Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yes, I know what they’re called, and I’ve bowled in my life. I was trying to be funny, for cripes sake. I know. You’re first post was fine. It was the response to it that baffled me. For some reason I was responding to your response to the response in the same baffling manner. It seemed like the responsible thing to do at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/69 "2011-05-26T15:21:37Z")
Uh oh. The keglers are going at it. Hit him with your two-toned shoe! ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/70 "2011-05-26T15:48:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > But do you know what the ‘showvase’ is? The only Pro Bowl game I know about is the one that’s on when there’s no real football games. I never noticed the vase. Yeah, well, uh, I said “showvase” because it really isn’t a competitive game. It’s more like two-hand touch, and they are really gentle with one another as if they were all expensive vases that they don’t want to break. Either that or I was posting from my phone and missed the typo. I like the retcon better. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/71 "2011-05-26T17:32:22Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yes, I know what they’re called, and I’ve bowled in my life. I was trying to be funny, for cripes sake. I got it. (And it was my comment you commented on). ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/72 "2011-05-26T17:36:59Z")
I can follow a recipe. Do not expect in excursions from said recipe or creativity of any kind. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/73 "2011-05-26T20:24:49Z")
> [@Snake\_Plissken](#): > > I’m not comfortable bragging, but I have pretty much devoted my life to the kitchen. I was fortunate enough to train under my culinary idols, and managed to carve out my own niche. > > The only regret I have is that people are scared shitless to cook for me, which is unfortunate, because I love it when they do. So are you the Master Chef? Cause I want to know who the Master Chef is. 🙂 ko, damn good (confident), but no pro ---
**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/74 "2011-05-27T02:23:18Z")
Capable. A few years ago, I couldn’t make anything that A.) involved more than maybe four or so ingredients and B.) didn’t have a recipe that I could slavishly follow. I then decided that I wanted to cook more, and so started looking up recipes for things online. Because of the way that Google works, I realized that you’d end up with a bunch of different recipes that all sort of followed the same guidelines. . . Naturally, I was driven to experiment. I’ve gotten pretty good at most things. About the only thing that regularly escapes me is baking, and that’s largely because I don’t really do it (though I have before). Baking is different than cooking for me, though. I can adjust ingredients and proportions on the fly if it’s in a skillet or a pot; I don’t want to dick around with the proportions in bread or cookies. Good Eats really helped, too. Not because Alton Brown is always right–he isn’t–but because he goes into a lot of different techniques. I really didn’t know how to cook meat before, for instance, unless it was something that I could put in a broiler and forget about. Sometimes, I’ll misstep–accidentally adding too much lemon juice when trying to brighten vegetable soup, for instance–but usually I’m all right. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/75 "2011-05-27T03:01:47Z")
I was going to say “capable” but after a moment’s thought, changed my vote to confident. I may think I’m a bungling wreck in the kitchen, but the rest of my friends ARE bungling wrecks and stand in awe whenever I knock out a pot of chicken soup or do Mystery Dinner Magic - the game that begins with “What the heck do we want for dinner?” takes a detour to look in the fridge and pantry to assess what’s available and then putting it together. I need to keep notes - a few weeks ago, the end result of MDM was a sweet and sour chicken stir-fry at least as good as the local Panda Express might make, but I have no idea what I did. It was a delicious accident, probably never to be repeated. Unfortunately, I’m definitely not pro-grade as my repeatability is all but zilch. I can make seventeen meatloafs and they’ll all be tasty, but they’ll all be different. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/76 "2011-05-27T03:10:54Z")
I voted ‘fairly capable’ but wanted to add the rider ‘but I hate it and would never cook again if I had the choice’. ---
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/77 "2011-05-27T06:29:41Z")
When my (now) wife first moved in with me, she asked me if my oven worked. Not only did I not know the answer, I was not even completely clear on what an oven was. “Is that the part on top or the part on the inside?” In the three years I’d lived in that apartment I’d never opened the oven door, and had only used the stove top to heat canned soup and boil dried spaghetti. My cooking skills are no better today, but at least now I can tell you which part of that contraption in my kitchen is the “oven”. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/78 "2011-05-27T07:46:30Z")
I am a good home cook, eventhough I apprenticed two years to become a chef . I couldn’t do all of the things they ask the contestants on shows like, Masterchef…Hells Kitchen probably. I find the Masterchef 'home’cooks are very capable. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/79 "2011-05-27T08:58:12Z")
I would qualify myself as a confident cook. I take ingredients from the fridge and pantry, I have an idea of what I want to make, and I make it happen. I use recipes once or twice, then wing it by memory and how I want it to turn out. My only downfall is baking, and that’s because I really don’t like reading instructions and measuring stuff. I have a VERY forgiving chocolate cake recipe that accepts my random edits and replacements with nary a complaint, so that works out well. ---
**Author:** ![phantom\_lamb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@phantom\_lamb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phantom_lamb)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173/80 "2011-05-27T09:10:09Z")
Somewhere between capable and confident. There are a few dishes that I’ve mastered so well that guests can’t get enough of them. But the range of dishes I can make is not as wide as I’d like it to be. Generally, I feel like I know what I’m doing. I can follow a recipe, I can usually spot the problem in a recipe and I always taste while I cook and season accordingly - so it doesn’t end up as an unpleasant surpirise in the end. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-your-level-of-cooking-ability/583173.md?page=3)