I have tiny tasting spoons just under my prep area in a drawer and so handy...

I think I used a half dozen for just a simple meal tonight. (off to the dish washer)

I don't use recipes except for ideas. Look at a few and mock up my own if something new...and never shop for any recipe. I use what I have. So I always taste and adjust for our palate.

Some things that are fantastic like potato salad or pasta salads or sweet potato fries or mashed potatoes....or bacon, lol, I might test a few too many....

I don't taste baked goods before serving them, but if it is cooked on the stovetop, I do. I don't taste fish or chicken if I am serving it in whole pieces. I also do not taste raw dough. I do taste all sauces before serving, however.

I taste everything, especially sauces.

Same here. I taste as I cook and bake, including raw dough. :) The potential of contamination from eggs isn't probable enough for me to worry about a little raw egg in something, though I'm persnickety about cleanliness of eggs and poultry, to avoid contaminating the kitchen. Sometimes it's just licking my fingers on the way to washing them after they've gotten messy.

My tasting portions are tiny, however. I've seen people take big honkin' spoonfuls. That's eating in my book. When I have a soup or stew or ragout, I'm careful about which bits I take in my little taste, and whence in the pot it came, so as to get all the important tastes together with just a taste.

There are some things that are served entire, like casseroles (inc. lasagna) and pies, where the ingredients that require cooking (like meat) are all precooked anyway, where I have to rely on experience to know how they'll turn out. I do taste the ingredients before they go in, however, to make sure they're balanced and well seasoned.

One important thing you can't taste is baking powder. I forgot to put any in a cake decades ago. It came out edible as dense bar cookies, but I'm really careful about checking my memory for it now. If you can taste the baking powder, you've put in too much. OTOH, if you've remembered it, and it's the consistency of cake batter, and tastes like cake batter, it'll be a cake. :)

I am so boring, I make the same things over and over, I know what they taste like.

I mostly cook from recipes so I can replicate things we really like. These are all recipes accrued over decades. But if I'm cooking on the fly, I will taste to be judicious with salt in particular - usually soups. I don't bake except for cornbread, a rare banana bread and a rhubarb cake. No need for tasting on those.

Usually only if I'm trying a new recipe.

I usually taste everything before I plate it or send it out, as I tend to "fiddle" with things and so never follow a recipe exactly or even the same way twice.

Baked goods are different, people would notice if I tasted the pie or bread, although if it's a pre-cooked filling in the pie, I'll taste that.

Annie

I taste everything...salads, sauces meats, raw dough, bread dough....everything!
How else would you know for sure you didn't forget the salt or sugar...or if it needs a bit of lemon or some sugar.

If it’s a recipe I’ve prepared many times I taste toward the end only for seasoning (you can always under-season, but over-seasoned is ruined for me). Otherwise I do taste throughout. If it’s a new recipe, or I’m cooking on the fly (or ‘fiddling’ as annie1992 calls it!) I will occasionally also taste individual ingredients to remind my taste buds – and not just ones I’m unfamiliar with. With some ingredients, I need to taste as I add, because the flavors can change for a variety of reasons – tomatoes can be fresh and vine-ripened or those nasty-pale mealy things, basil changes flavor over the summer, citrus varies in tartness and sweetness… etc.

…and what sleevendog said about things that taste fantastic : ) I once drank almost 3 glasses of fresh tomato juice just ‘testing’ it – it was ambrosia and I couldn’t resist!

Slightly OT: DH does ‘drive by’ tasting… he grabs food I’m prepping as he walks past. He’ll eat raw white onion in chunks, raw potatoes, and food mixed in raw chicken I’ve yet to cook… you can hear my screams for miles.

Always. But pies and cakes can't be tasted first, so I always suffer a bit of apprehension over those.

And when does tasting cross the line into snacking? I always nosh on raw veggies/fruits when prepping and do selfish things like setting aside the central leaves from cabbage bok choy, & the tiny tender centers from celery. I call it 'the cook's treat' = J

I usually don't taste as I cook. I want to share the experience as a family around the table so if it bombs we bomb together!

Yes. If it is a tried and true recipe, perhaps not, but otherwise, I taste. Especially if there will be company! Sauces for sure.

I used to taste everything, but now with the food allergies, it's not fun. I make DH taste things, but he really doesn't understand what to add to perk up a flavor. I have him tell me and then I add based upon his report. It's an in-exact method to be sure!

I tried to teach Kevin how to taste test while making salad dressing, but I've given up on having him prepare just about anything, but he will cook on the grill for me. When making salad dressing, I wrote down proportions of everything I added so that once I "perfected" the recipe, I could repeat it without having to taste along the way. I do taste when I am creating a recipe, but once I have the proportions written down, I do not have to repeat that task. There are quite a few things that I make exactly the same way each time, and it is faster for me to have a written record of how I make them. I do not taste pickles when I am in the process of making them.