20 Things We Hate Seeing in Recipes

Some recipes, even recipes we love, aren't perfect. But what about recipes that are just plain bad? I’m talking about recipes that weren't written with home cooks in mind. Or with actual human beings in mind. I spoke with my fellow Epicurious writers and editors, and hopped on our Facebook page to see what really rattles up our readers.

From out-of-order steps to ingredients we’ll never find, here’s our two cents on what we hate seeing in recipes.

Because EVERYBODY has pomegranate molasses sitting around, right?

Jonathan Lovekin

“When chefs claim their very restaurant-y cookbooks are accessible to home cooks because ‘they can use a sauce, or maybe discover a new technique.’ It's fine to write a cookbook for professional use, but don't pretend it's easier than it is!”—Cookbook Critic Paula Forbes

“Ingredients I don't have, can't find, and won't ever use again.”— Executive Director Eric Gillin

“Useless bowls. It's a drag when you're instructed to make dressing in a small bowl and then toss it with salad greens in a large bowl. Just make the dressing in the large bowl, and then add the greens and toss!”— Special Projects Editor Adina Steiman

“When there’s so many subrecipes that your cookbook becomes a flipbook.”— Editorial Assistant Tommy Werner

Build your ice bath before you start.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, food styling by Katherine Sacks

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“This happens all the time with pasta. You’re two steps from finishing a sauce and the recipe says you need a boiling stock pot of water. By the time that pot comes to boil, everything else is sad and dead.”—Editorial Assistant Tommy Werner

“Recipes that don't include the yield, active time, and total time at the start of the recipe. I want to know what I'm getting into before I start!”—Assistant Food Editor Anna Claire Stockwell

“No early warning about recipes that require steps that build in hours of waiting, especially overnight brines, soaks, or marinades.”—Food Director Rhoda Boone

“I hate when you're cooking something delicate, and then in the middle of the steps it tells you to transfer it to a colander in a sink. Or an ice bath. Anything that you really needed to set up before you started cooking.”— Special Projects Editor Adina Steiman

“Missing ingredients (like a cake with no flour that is not a flourless cake). Or ingredients in the list but not in the instructions — what am I supposed to do with it? I also hate blogs where all the commenters rave about the recipe but none of them have made it!”—Reader Nor T.

“List ALL the ingredients at the top, and preferably in the order used. Do not reference an ingredient that isn't listed at the top. No chit-chat in the instructions, unless you're describing how it should look.”—Reader Jen I.

“I can't stand when a recipe doesn't have a picture. I want to at least have an idea what the finished dish should look like. That way, I can figure out if the recipe is going to work out.”—Reader Allison C.

“I want a picture, and honest reviews from people who make the recipe AS STATED. Not ‘I give this 4 stars but I changed this and this and this and this.’ Your review is now worthless to me! If you change the recipe, you should not comment on it.”—Reader Suzanne F.

How many cups of red onion is this anyway?

Jason Lowe

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“I need more specific measurements. '1/2 an onion'—what size and what does it yield (for example 1 cup chopped)?”—Reader Mary B.

“When a recipe calls for 4 tablespoons of something instead of just ¼ cup.”—Assistant Food Editor Anna Claire Stockwell

“When the quantity of various vegetables are given in cups. raaaaaage”—Reader Dan B.

“I made a cake for the first time and the recipe gave the pan measurement as 8x8 but failed to mention that it also needed to be a deep (high-sided) pan. The cake erupted while baking due to its combo of root beer and baking soda, and the batter ran over the sides of the pan onto the floor of oven. Good times. Several people wrote in after the recipe was published to say they'd had the same issue. The editors responded that a deep cake pan did indeed need to be used. That would have been helpful to know... beforehand?!”—Reader Lisa P.

Sifting can make all the difference in a recipe.

Photo by Shutterstock

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“Missing time measurements ('until warmed through, until cooked through, until tender'). They're okay indicators but how about an approximate time frame as well?”—Reader Lisa P.

“A cup of sifted flour and a cup of flour, sifted. They're two totally different things.”—Reader Cary H.

“If there are separate 'layers' or 'stages' to a recipe (say a cake, plus its icing) please list the ingredients in stages at the top. Please do NOT lump ALL of the sugar or ALL of the butter for both the cake and the icing in a single list of ingredients, then tell me what subset of the total you want in the cake (because that's what I'm making first). Otherwise, I'm gonna ruin the cake by putting in too much butter, sugar, or milk. Because of a crappy ingredients list.”-Reader Betsy F.

I hate it when it says to 'bake bread until it sounds hollow when tapped.'" —Editor David Tamarkin.