I agree. Some recipe calls for 4 teaspoon baking powder per 2 cups of flour ... that's way too much & too bitter. Cooking magazines recommend 1 teas. per 1 cup of flour. Such recipe get 200+ reviews of "Wow !!!" I think those are faked reviews, put in by manufacturers of certain items, very much like Amazon. There's a pair of pants on Amazon which got 30+ perfect 5-star reviews, except for the latest review which complained it's too small. I bought that, and it's too small for me & had to return it. That's why Amazon changed their rating, you can see which ones actually BUY the stuff sold, rather than just putting faked reviews.

The "too much sodium" review can be just from the ingredients, you don't need to make the dish to see that.

Yeah I know, so just either change the amount of salt or just don't make it at all. Not everyone is on a sodium reduced diet. But don't rate it without making it, just "move along" is what I say. Too much sodium is just an example I gave...the reviews are quite varied. How about give it 1 star and saying "I gained five pounds just reading the recipe"...OK so don't eat it if you are on a diet!

It doesn't matter if it's a product or a recipe, I've seen too many crazy ratings and reviews. Examples:
- 5 stars: just received my new 'product' and can't wait to try it!
- 1 star: this is the BEST cake I've ever had in my life!!! I made it exactly as the recipe shows.
- 4 stars: We really liked this recipe. When I made it I substituted A for B, X for Y, omitted Q and added 1/2 cup of ZZZ.

I now look at the total count of ratings and their distribution across the rating scale. I also take the time to read all (or at least a reasonable sampling) of text reviews for this very reason -- paying particular attention to both the best and worst ratings. When a product is involved I also pay close attention to the dates of the reviews.

OH YEAH PM50, I forgot about the wrong ratings of ONE star and a rave review. I guess it would be easy to do if you aren't paying attention to what you are doing...HA! I have really been noticing what appear to be just "fake" reviews at Amazon. There will be a whole bunch of reviews that are almost identical in wording.

I don't normally rate recipes. I like to substitute. Lol! Ever had beef broccoli with chicken instead of beef and carrots and other veggies instead of broccoli? I keep a running commentary on my Pinterest recipes where I note the what worked, what didn't and changes I made. I don't mind reading that someone else made a substitution. It gives me ideas.

Right there with you. I always read the reviews on recipes to see what people thought of the food and to see what changes they made. Yep, if you didn't try the recipe DON'T WRITE A REVIEW. I like to see what changes people have made. Reviews for a potato casserole dish suggested much less mayo than the recipe called for. Made it that way right off the bat and it came out great. Several people reviewing a blueberry dessert recipe said that they used strawberry pie filling instead of blueberry and loved it. LOL - we did too when I made it for my folks. (My dad loves strawberries.)

I'm with party_music50 - don't give a recipe 5 stars and say how your family loved it especially your 2 1/2 year old on every other Friday when you changed every single ingredient in the recipe because said 2 1/2 year old is allergic to this and hates that and prefers this. Don't bother reviewing the recipe.

I can see making one change because perhaps it makes sense. I don't review recipes but when I am making one that calls for nutmeg which I happen to hate, I will substitute allspice/cinnamon. If I am passing on that recipe I always indicate that change especially if they liked the way that I made it.

Subbing yogurt for mayo or applesauce for some of the oil - fine but also explain how/why you did it. This is a pet peeve of mine.

I totally agree with you ArkGrl. I also see 4-5 starts with no comments whatsoever. What prompts people to rate a recipe without trying it?

On another topic, I got a few things from Freecycle, and one of them is a 3/4 measuring cup. Have never seen one! Cool.

Funny you should be asking about this. I looked up a ham casserole of the Food Network. Found a nice one and proceeded to make it when it occurred to me, there's no listing for the ham in this recipe soooo I just added some myself and it's in the oven, time will tell.

Can I comment on this topic if I have never written a recipe review? :)

Looks-good reviews--ugh! I don't mind if ingredients have been changed as long as that is noted in the review, and if the review is still high. They give me ideas how I might better enjoy the results. But it is unfair to switch out half of the ingredients, then complain you dislike the results.

I don't tend to write recipe reviews because I usually alter amounts and add or subtract ingredients. But I was wondering, does writing a review or rating the recipe put it on a recipes I've reviewed list? If so, some people may be using the feature to quickly locate recipes they found while browsing.

Agreed. I always read the substance of the review because anybody and just click stars. I look for long reviews, too, where people have to have enough of an opinion to write something.

OTOH, there is a difference between reviews and comments, but some formats only let you do one or the other. There was a Martha Stewart gluten free pie crust recipe on the web which had wildly varying reviews, and comments that gave the information needed to make it successfully. Using those hints, I made it for a GF friend who declared it the best pie crust she's ever had. The dough, however, is disgusting goo, which absolutely cannot be rolled out like normal pastry. So the recipe as stands is awful, and the recipe as made according to the commenters (old tricks like rolling between layers of plastic wrap, but requiring knowledge of pie) is fab.

I also have a bread recipe which I've transformed from whole wheat to whole multigrain and seeds, but which I feel is essentially still the author's recipe. I commented thanking her, because it's a good recipe, and I also explained my alterations because they're good too, and I wanted to pay her back. (My version has become my go-to daily bread for the household.)

So there are nuances. But I agree--assigning stars without making the recipe is cheating (though commenting that it has too much salt doesn't bother me). And people who ding a product due to third party shipping errors are clearly clueless about the system. :)

Considering the nature of humans, I always take time to read reviews so that I can find the truly helpful ones. I can't tell you how many times a review will mention that the recipe as listed has left out an ingredient or has the wrong amount of an ingredient. I so appreciate all of those cooks who take the time to give helpful advice within their review. I pretty much ignore reviews without added information. Just knowing that someone loved or hated an item tells me nothing. I would much rather they tell me why!

Fake reviews of products are frustrating, but again, I look for the reviews that have reasons for the rating within the review. Those are more likely to be written by real consumers who have purchased and used the product.

plllog, you know, I was just thinking that it would be nice for there to be a "comments" section where people could just comment without giving it a review or maybe they wanted to ask a question about the recipe.

jasdip, I hoard 3/4 cup measuring cups OH and 2/3 cup measures as well. HEEHEE!

I looked at this thread because it also really 'gets' me to find a recipe, check the reviews and not one person (it seems) has either made the recipe, or if they did, they made so many changes as to not even recognize the original.

Then I saw the post about 2/3 and 3/4 measuring cups. My set, from the 1970's, has both. I keep thinking I'll update/get new, but I had no idea that other measuring cup sets don't have those two! Is that really true? I have nothing to compare to, as I always have just use this set.

The Tupperware sets have the 2/3 and 3/4. I have some stainless steel measuring spoons with 1/8 tsp and 3/4 tsp!

I disregard the reviews in which people make major changes to the recipes. More often than not they rate it less.

Wow I've never seen measuring cups outside of the 1/4, 1/4 and 1/2 and 1 cup. I thought the 3/4 was so unique! I do have a 1/8 cup.

I have to laugh (or shake my head) at the reviewers who give a recipe 5 stars and loads of praise, and then go on to say they changed almost everything about it.

Some Amazon reviewers can be annoying too. Like the ones who give a product only one star because it arrived after their birthday, or because it was a gift, and the giver should have known it duplicated something they already owned.

olychick, yes it is true that most sets of measuring cups do not have those odd sizes so just keep using your old ones. I have found my sets at garage sales that have the odd sizes.

Okay, thanks. Guess I'll just keep using them and be glad!

It's the 1/8th cup that I find most useful, but is rarest. On Amazon they have a lot of cup sets that have 2/3 and 3/4 cup, in both plastic and stainless. I was actually surprised, because I thought they mostly didn't. I also found a spoon set that went down to 1/32 tsp.!

Plllog, I think I've used the 1/8 cup once or twice. What do you use it for?

I've been thinking about this. I usually look at all the reviews and find the ones in the middle that overlap. If there a million of them that say the sauce was too salty, I go with less salt. I toss the ones that sub unless I see how the sub makes more sense than what the recipe has. Or if I don't have what is needed, but someone substituted what I do have. Don't most sites require the rating before comments? I wish they were separate. It's those who give low stars after subbing everything that make me laugh. I just think "Maybe if you didn't change the recipe completely, it would've been great? Hello?" HA!

I have two 1/8 measuring cups and use them constantly, more than others! It's great when I want to make a roux, because most recipes call for 2T of butter and 2T of flour. So one scoop and toss it into the pan. Love my 1/8 cups. I did have an 1/8t measuring spoon, but it's gone? :( I need to buy a new set. Maybe I'll go do that now...

I love reading the changes people have made to a recipe and why. What I don't like is when people completely change the recipe, say they didn't like it and give it an bad review.

I use the 1/8 cup measures all over the place, I have them in things that I keep in containers such as in the basement with my laundry stuff like baking soda, borax and oxyclean. I have them in my popcorn package, in the coffee, in the oatmeal, in the flour etc. ...HAHAHA! I pick them up at the thrift shop all the time.

I don't have anything to add to what's been said about the 1/8th c. It's just useful to have (and is, as has been said, a 2T). I also do have a 2.25 T spoon, which I use for measuring an ingredient in a cut down recipe. It's just easier. :) If you bake, you know why they make 'em. :)

I bake bread mostly, and muffins, brownies, etc and never thought of using my 1/8 cup in place of 2 tbsp of anything. Now I will!