I jump to the recipe, read it through, and then look at comments before I make it. I also trust my own knowledge. If something is overly fussy, I will look for a less time consuming way to do it (ie, in the mushroom wellington recipe, it said to cook mushrooms and onions and then put the pan in an ice bath. Much easier, (and probably tastier,) to cook the mushrooms a day ahead and cool in the fridge.

Usually I skim quickly, then go to the recipe. Except Smitten Kitchen — I read her entire posts.

I do like to read ratings and/or comments on recipe sites.

I saw this a few days ago. 😆

I only visit food blogs if a googling leads me to their recipe. I might skim through the text if it's something with which I'm very unfamiliar. Some offer technique information I need. Most offer images and repeated YUMMERS I'd rather not read about.

I do skip through all the personal fluff.

I've rarely ended up on a blogger site with enough reviews to make them worthwhile.

Recipe sites usually have enough reviews to make them worth a scan, and I might start by looking at recipes with better ratings (but once you look at the quality of some of the reviews you realize that's a pointless standard).

I do draw from various recipes, partly to use what I have on hand and partly to get an idea of what the heck I'm trying to make.

I should make a food blog and post nasty recipes that don't work along with beautiful photos. If I praise my stuff enough, will I get people to try it?

Most of the time I jump to the recipe so that I can see what ingredients and effort (especially number of pans) are involved. I will sometimes jump down to the reviews, especially if it's an unfamiliar blog. Occasionally I will read the bloggers narratives around the recipes, but most of the time I'm just looking for new recipes.

I definitely cook backwards - all the time!

Here's and example - Earlier this week I had a delicata that was on the verge, and a plethora of leeks leftover from T'giving, I felt like this would be a good dinner with chick peas. I googled, "leeks, Squash, chick pea" and perused. I ended up with an Allison Roman recipe for Chickpea pancakes with grated squash and leeks, the chick peas were chick pea flour. That sounded promising and right up our alley. But it was only rated 3.4 stars, reviews said bland. Well I can fix bland. Her spiices were salt pepper parsley. I seasoned the sauteed the squash and leeks with cumin, coriander, cinnamon, turmeric for lots of warmth. And then, because I was tired from a crappy day at work, I through the batter into a hot cast iron pan as a 'flatbread' instead of futzing around with individual fritters. I served it topped with an arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette and pomegranate seeds for color.

I generally have an idea in mind and am searching the net for ways to pull it off or for corroboration that I am not mad with my flavor combination idea. I have a lot of fun with changing things up, making them healthier, adding more vegetables to everything.

Depends on the site, how many pictures, how much back story - I don't care about that war injury, I'm trying to cook dinner here!

I find most reviews and comments on blogs are either people who haven’t tried it but write things like ”this sounds delicious” or ”can’t wait to try this” OR they substituted so many ingredients it’s no longer recognizable as the original recipe.

I usually jump to the recipe.

Now if only there was a way to jump to the pertinent information on YouTube videos!

I don't need three minutes of the vlogger talking about what's going on in their life while their cat wanders through, and they give it a cuddle, then go off on a tangent about what a good (or bad) kitty it is...

I just want to learn how to thread my serger!

Definitely jump to the recipe. All that blather seems pointless. I find the readers comments helpful rxcept when they have ” followed the recipe exactly, except…” and have made so many changes its not the same recipe!

I jump, and am increasingly frustrated by the proliferation of long-winded personal tales and videos and visuals. I'm a reasonably competent home cook and just want to study the ingredients and steps. I like to compare various recipes for the same dish, and create my own version. I do like to read comments from people who have prepared the dish--they are often entertaining, and sometimes useful.

This is one of the reasons I still buy cookbooks :-)

I never read food blogs unless a search lands me there. I most defintely skip all the blogger blather and get to the recipe. I just look for whatever recipe I‘m in need of, read it and see what I think and if I’m still interested I read the reviews/comments. I don’t really wing it but sometimes adapt the recipe more to my liking. Usually when I try something new I stick to the recipe for the most part until I taste it and find it too bland. I don’t generally look for new recipes to work backwards to use what I have on hand. I just use it up for something I know.

Great reading! Thanks everyone. I too love to read a few reviews just for laughs , mind you, where the reviewer has changed virtually every ingredient! WHAT?? Sometimes though their innovations lead me down an unknown rabbit hole 😂 and I try something completely new like @localeater.

Thanks for playing. c

I generally jump to the recipe. For starters, I am often looking at recipes when I am just about to cook dinner, so I am on a mission. I am also not good at chit chat in person, so would not subject myself to it for a recipe. For another thing, I could care less whether or not a toddler thinks it is delish or untouchable. Kids' opinions do not inform my cooking choices. Most recipes I come across are because I am cooking backwards. I also have little faith in the star ratings because different people value different things when making those ratings. I occasionally read reviews, but it often takes too much time to find somebody who actually tried the recipe to make it worth my while.

I do wing it a lot, except with gluten free baking and canning recipes. Most recipes to me are an outline that I flesh out with what works for me and mine. Doing this, most of the time the food comes out pretty good. Once in a while it is a dud.

I know how to cook and have the basics down. I'm highly influenced by a well-photographed dish. I want that!!! I jump to the recipe. I may read a review or two. If I'm looking at something outside my repertoire I like to look at 2 or more versions of the dish, comparing ingredients and their amounts, cutting back or adding more.

Recipes frequently have mistakes and add or omit something in the list of ingredients vs the procedure.

I'm no longer the least bit interested in cookbooks. I go looking for things (and some find me that I hadn't been looking for) and print it out or stash a copy in my online recipes. If I don't like it, delete delete delete.

Never ever do I read all that blather!! I was very happy when the jump to tab appeared!! Before that all the scrolling used to make me so frustrated I often just went on to the next recipe option. Why do all these bloggers think anyone besides friends and relatives want to hear from them!?

I jump to the recipe. If it looks a little complicated when I read the ingredients or directions, then I will go back and look at the ”blog” part as there is sometimes helpful info there. For recipes I want to try or have tried and want to keep, I download to the Paprika app - the app gets rid of all that extraneous stuff so all it saves is the recipe and allows me to categorize/tag for easy reference. I can also add personal notes as well as edit the recipe if I decide to alter it.

I usually jump right to the recipe for the ingredients especially. If there are pages full of photos and videos, it depends on how far backwards I will go. I don‘t need someone to show me how to load a food processor. If there are some new or interesting techniques in a complex recipe, I will pay attention. I find it’s better to read through the instructions, as there may be some unexpected way the dish is put together that might make a difference. And I read a few reviews to see how some added or took away to improve things to taste.

Like many of you, when I see a recipe that interests me, I immediately jump to the ingredients to see if it's a healthful one that fits with our dietary likes. Which basically, for us, means low fat, no potatoes, white rice, corn, or high sugar content. OR, if the recipe is adaptable with good tasting substitutions. Next, I also read a good number of reviews by folks who have actually made the recipe. It irritates me to no end to have a dozen or more positive reviews, that are actually people giving it high marks just because it sounds good! Next, I look at the time, steps, and ingredients involved to make it. I scan through recipes pretty much every day on the several online sites I follow. My biggest frustration lately is that most baked goods are from sites located at low altitudes. Living here at about 6,000 feet above sea level, creates a lot of complications! And, yes, I do know the basic conversions, but they still, many times, don't work out so well.

I jump to the recipe. I read somewhere about the algorithm being responsible for the long winded blathering. The more times they mention the name of the dish within the blog post, the higher it is on the search list and, therefore, the more hits it gets. I severely disliked all the blathering before, but once I read that, I was even less inclined to read it and doubly annoyed by having to scroll past it all.

I too jump to the recipe unless I look at it and am uncertain about a certain step. And I love to cook backwards. It was a happy day when I discovered I could put random ingredients into my search engine and come up with a recipe to use up things nearing their expiration. Sometimes they've been great, and sometimes only so-so, but certainly edible if not a favorite.

I always jump to the recipe. Most bloggers are simply reposting other people’s recipes with very minor changes or—-as they are wont to say—tweaks. Often when I find the attribution I try to trace the recipe to its source. The first to publish usually has a cleaner set of instructions (that havent been copied and pasted and/or tweaked numerous times) and the commentary has more information or meaning about the origin of the dish.

Having been disappointed to various degrees by most blog type recipes I stick with paid sites like the NYT and America’s Test kitchen, purchased cookbooks and videos (mostly Ina Garten, Mary Berry and Bread compilations nowadays) and the odd site like Smitten Kitchen. I have friends who love Food 52 but Ive never found a decent recipe there that actually works as advertised.

@daisychain Zn3b Thats so interesting about the algotithm. Thanks for sharing that.

@User This thread is so fun to read, thanks for starting it.

@tishtoshnm Zone 6/NM I love ”little faith in the star ratings because different people value different things” This is so true. I sometimes look at the ratings to figure out why something that sounds like it will be quite good has such a mediocre rating only to find some moron gave it 0 stars because it took them 40 minutes to peel the butternut squash. Lol Lol, its not like the blogger knows you are incompetent.

Speaking of the star rating system, I like to read 1-star reviews because they are often unintentionally funny. People are nuts and the stuff they complain about is amazing. It is not uncommon for a 1-star to have glowing, positive comments. I guess the writer couldn’t figure out the how the complicated star system works. 😆⭐️

I also think that so many people make the inane ”looks good” or ”can’t wait to try this” food comments because it helps the algorithms (higher reader engagement) and/or they feel like they have a relationship with the blogger and she needs to know ”looks good!”

I always love the 1 star ratings that say, ”This recipe is awful. Family would not eat it. I was out of lamb shank, so I used pork tenderloin. I did not have tomato sauce, so I used ketchup. Not cooking anymore recipes from YOU!!!”

I'm a jumper. And if I can close all the ads when I get there, I do that as well.