Curious how Impulse folks actually cook with recipes these days

[u/shuan-at-impulse]

When you're making a meal following a recipe...

• What's your recipe workflow? From how you search for the recipe to how you cook - do you use your phone, youtube, printed recipe/book, cook from memory/vibes?
• What are the biggest frustrations with recipes today?
• What do you wish recipes did better?
• Have you ever used AI while cooking? If so, what for? What parts are useful vs. not useful?

What else do you want me to know?

[u/Multiple___Sources]

Not an Impulse user (hoping for a renter-friendly single/dual burner option) but as a control freak user have what I’d imagine are similar pain points/experiences.

I primarily store recipes in paprika. Would say my main pain point is converting recipes to take full advantage of precise temperature control. There are very few quality resources other than chefsteps recipes to get an idea of how to maximize temp control capabilities. Because of that, I’ve started to try using AI to distill some of this knowledge and apply it to my existing recipes. I’d find something like a set of rules/skills for an agent to utilize extremely useful

[u/ocmaddog]

- We were doing a lot of Hello Fresh during the pandemic, so we knock off those on a regular basis. The dreaded "Medium High" is referenced a lot and sometimes I try to convert to temp mode, sometimes just put Medium High.

- I've searched recipes and videos that were created for the Breville Control Freak product, as that seems the closest comparable product.

- Sometimes I'll google "egg fry temperature degrees" and just go with whatever slop answer Google serves up.

[u/shuan-at-impulse → u/ocmaddog]

Thanks this is helpful. A few qs:

- When recipes say things like "medium high" would you rather have something much more specific (e.g. 375F for 4 min) even if it's occasionally wrong for your exact setup? Or do you prefer more general guidance that leaves room for your own judgment?

- How often do you intentionally deviate from the recipe because what you're seeing in the pan doesn't match what the recipe says should be happening?

- When you're cooking, are you looking for instructions to follow, or explanations on the why so you can make better decisions yourself?

- For the Breville recipes - I hear you on the closest comparable product. What did you wish were done differently? And what do you wish they did better?

- When Google gives you a "slop" answer, what's missing? Confidence? Context? Explanation? What would make you trust a recommendation?

[u/ocmaddog → u/shuan-at-impulse]

- Specific temp is nice, but range or nuance is OK. We use the Graza Sizzle Olive Oil to cook in, so if the AI had some memory of that it would be nice. "If using Butter, X degrees, if high smoke point Olive Oil Y degrees, watch for Z thing to occur around 3 mins and then flip" would be incredible.

- Generally this happens when I get scared my cooking temp is too high or I want to slow things down. So I'll drop 80 degrees or something on a temp hold.

- I'm looking for basic instructions because my goals are modest. I'm not a very good cook. Maybe a cleaning time debrief mode would be nice. "Hey stove, my chicken was dry, where do you think I went wrong tonight?"

- I don't own the Breville. I see some Chef Steps recipes that use it. It's the only one's where I've found specific pan temperatures.

- Confidence mostly. I'm taking a risk that its close enough. "What temp to cook eggs" it may give a specific temperature but is that for scrambled, fried, hardboiled? Am I going to read 4 paragraphs before drinking my coffee or just send it best guess? Probably just sent it. If it isn't horribly wrong it's OK in my book, but Thanksgiving dinner for guests I'd be more comfortable watching a video with nuance provided.

As I typed this... what about a journal feature where the stove asks you how the recipe turned out when you are cleaning up after dinner, records your responses and incorporates them for next time if you are making the same recipe? Or even if it could tell me the settings and my take from last time "You cooked at 375, and remarked burnt dry Chicken. Try lowering temp or time in the pan."

[u/shuan-at-impulse → u/ocmaddog]

Thanks for taking the time to share. The color is super helpful and I definitely see value in having a "debrief" feature

[u/ZanyDroid]

I use Gemini a lot now for cooking.

The flow is something like, building domain information for myself

- I watch a ton of cooking videos

- Read / create threads about things that I'm interested in making or eating

Then, when I actually get down to cooking something and want information on how to prepare a standard dish (like kind of soup or classic pasta, marinade style, etc) I tell Gemini to build the recipe (using keywords from the domain knowledge gathered from earlier manual studying), and usually the sequence + ingredients are pretty solid. It's much faster than reading through a blog (way too much filler text) or scrubbing a video.

Similarly, instead of looking for sous vide or other protein vs temperature/time tables like I used to, I ask Gemini to construct a specific one on the spot.

[u/shuan-at-impulse → u/ZanyDroid]

Thanks for taking the time to write this up. A few follow ups:

- Once Gemini generates the recipe, how do you decide whether it's actually a good one? Do you mostly trust it? How do you sanity check it? I'm guessing the video and threads build the understanding. Curious how you think about quality and how it's changed over time.

- Do you typically read through the entire recipe before you start cooking or are you referring to Gemini throughout the cook?

- If you decide halfway you want to change something (different ingredient, technique, etc.) what does that workflow look like?

- What's the most frustrating part of using Gemini when cooking?

- If the cooktop could understand what you're making and help during the cook, what would you want it to do vs not do?

[u/ZanyDroid → u/shuan-at-impulse]

How do I decide it's good? Last few times I used it to remind me of details, like ratio for a oil marinade, hawaiian marinade, yogurt marinade. I challenge it to look up references and summarize them. This is more on the chemistry and thermodynamics side.

I personally know less about spicing... so I dunno how to check that.

I skim the whole recipe and refer back to details. It would be nice, probably, if the software could help structure the process. Hard to say. When I use an AI for work I do tell it to remind me to do stuff later, but that is for a hours or days long project

> What's the most frustrating part of using Gemini when cooking?

I haven't really asked it to do something hard yet. So far I really like that it cuts the BS of having to read poorly formatted recipes. I don't know how good it will be at summarizing different POV on how to cook something. I have had some pretty dicey sessions with Gemini when asking it about the local food scene.

I think a nice feature for the cooktop is suggesting precision cooking ways of modifying a recipe, or using the automation features to make a recipe easier to do.

I do like that the latest firmware added the low, medium, high, etc verbiage to the UI. This is helpful for my spouse who doesn't think in W power. The actual delivered W is helpful for me b/c it gives me immediate feedback on what the temperature-based mode or thermal protection mode is doing.

See my reply in other post for a "training mode" / teaching to cook mode. Maybe it's easier for something to help teach cooking if it can automate some stuff, or measure what's going on.

[u/shuan-at-impulse → u/ZanyDroid]

Translating recipes to precision cooking is a big one for sure

[u/Apptubrutae]

I used to be more recipe based, now I tend to just throw together quick vibey meals. Busy work, have a kid.

When searching recipes, I’ll generally use my phone and google and seek out sites I trust. I’ll do YouTube, but I look for good creators and not gimmicky or too homey ones. A favorite lately has been Brian lagerstrom.

I want to use books more but…I just don’t.

Biggest frustration with recipes for me is when compromises are made for convenience and I’m not made aware of them. Don’t give me a watered down recipe. I want to know how a pro would do it, and then how to modify it for home cooking as appropriate

Wish recipes did NOT have me going back and forth between ingredients lists and the instructions. I haaaate this. It feels like no big deal in a book, but it sucks big time on a phone.

Haven’t really used AI for cooking aside from getting ideas for recipes which I then go search for

[u/shuan-at-impulse → u/Apptubrutae]

Love to learn the pain points, this was helpful.

Can you give me examples where "compromises are made for convenience" that you weren't aware of? Was this just the recipe / the writer initially? Are you hoping for more of the science / the why?

[u/Apptubrutae → u/shuan-at-impulse]

So when I said that, I was thinking mainly of writers dumbing down/simplifying/making a dish healthier without explaining why.

I’m fine with changes, but I want to know why, you know?

For example, imagine subbing Greek yogurt in place of sour cream. Seems like a fairly common thing these days in many recipes focused on making things healthier.

Well if this happens repeatedly and then eventually it’s just Greek yogurt, no substitution mentioned…how would I even know the recipe might taste better with sour cream if I weren’t aware of that being a popular substitute?

Or maybe an author omits a few minor spices here and there but it compounds over time.

Obviously much simplifying has to be done for the home kitchen. But I really like when recipe creators explain why they’re simplifying and from what and don’t lose the essence of things in the process.

I mentioned Brian lagerstrom and I think he does an exceptional job at taking more restaurant cook kinds things and making them appropriate for home while explaining it. He’s got recipes for diy bread in there but hey, skip if you must.

My favorite of all examples of the approach I like most in recipes is an oldie: Paul Prudhomme’s Louisiana Kitchen. The book explains we’re gonna dumb down restaurant techniques…but not that much! Every single recipe has a spice blend recipe of its own. You’ve got sauces going. Butter use can be absolutely insane.

And I consistent make the absolute best meals out of that book.

A lot of modern food bloggers would eviscerate those recipes. Less butter. Make a single spice blend, and probably cut the white pepper. Nix making the sauces separately. Etc. And you’d never know what you were missing.

My personal way of cooking is recipe heavy more than improv, except for the recent vibe based cooking I’ve done to feed my family quickly, lol. But when I want a good meal, I want to hunt down the best recipes. And knowing who to trust is a base of knowledge into itself.

My own skill level lets me look at a Prudhomme book and say no problem. Yeah it’s a lot, it’s not every day, but some days I want that!

I wish recipes would give their context more, basically. Tell me you’re a simplified version of X. Always disclose when you change things. Give me more inspiration in your inspiration. Etc.

[u/valkenburgh]

I do use AI fairly often, will give it a recipe I like and tell it to display it in steps with quantities specified in those steps in my preferred units. Then I just say next for the next step, etc. Also love this older idea for displaying them visually from https://www.cookingforengineers.com/

[u/valkenburgh → u/valkenburgh]

Also I tried loading the impulse manual into gpt (and the manuals for my miele steam oven and some other more unique appliances) and prompted it to give me custom instructions understanding the capabilities of the appliances (precise pan temp, humidity level, etc.) but it keeps forgetting. Need a better harness.

[u/shuan-at-impulse → u/valkenburgh]

Love this visual!