Recipe formatting and layout

Personally, I think there has to be some common sense and altruism.
Beyond one's own style and Capital Letters which I myself use in the titles of my recipes apart from words like 'and' or 'with' because frankly they would seem redundant to me and because in terms of prominence they don't have the same 'importance' as the main words of the recipe title.

Back to altruism, every recipe is basically written for others, otherwise it would be a personal note that everyone writes and keeps to themselves while maintaining their own mood. However, when you share them online, regardless of who you are talking to (forums, Facebook, blogs, etc.), being clear is at least a basic principle, without too much rigmarole, without detracting from your freedom of expression.
Maybe these are also unwritten rules but they make a lot of sense when you want to share something. Whether one writes first 'courgettes, 4 or '4, courgettes', I frankly don't care and I don't even notice it, but the important thing is that they are well written and clear as well as the method.
It is a bit like writing a CV, everyone has their own style but there are rules (maybe suggestions is a better word?) to follow if you want everything to be clear not just for you. And it will certainly be more effective :typing:
However, I would notice a badly written recipe with too many capital letters where they are not necessary or a format that I find difficult to read and/or that annoys or bores me. I am still learning the social language, what works and what is best to avoid.
Thus, I don't find it a limitation of a personal style, but learning to manage something that others will use.
 
Mountain Cat said:
Hmm. Everywhere I've seen until today has indicated that a thread title such as "How You Should Chop Vegetables " should be typed just as printed in this sentence. Words like "the", "and", "with" don't get capitalized. But the major words do.

Personally, I will continue on with what I've learned in the past. I can't be bothered to remember a convention that doesn't exist elsewhere.
Click to expand...

No problem - it may be an American/UK difference as I find it strange to use those caps if its a sentence (as you give in your example) which forms the title. As I say, no-one is going to get told off for doing it or not doing it. Its not that important at the end of the day.
 
Morning Glory said:
I honestly don't think we need any rigid template for recipe lay out. Its just 'best practice' guidelines. Simple as anything.

'Ingredients' listed first with measurements, followed by 'Method' preferably laid out as steps unless its a brief set of instructions. That's about it!
Click to expand...

It's also apparent to me that the majority of published recipes list the ingredients in the order that they are used. I try to do this although I sometimes fail.
 
Yorky said:
It's also apparent to me that the majority of published recipes list the ingredients in the order that they are used. I try to do this although I sometimes fail.
Click to expand...

Yep that is true. Makes sense really, but I often forget too. Its almost counter intuitive because the urge, if you're making a chicken curry for example, would be to put chicken first on the ingredient list even if the chicken was added to the curry sauce later.
 
Morning Glory said:
Yep that is true. Makes sense really, but I often forget too. Its almost counter intuitive because the urge, if you're making a chicken curry for example, would be to put chicken first on the ingredient list even if the chicken was added to the curry sauce later.
Click to expand...

Best to start with "cut the chicken into bite size pieces". That solves it for me.
 
Yorky said:
It's also apparent to me that the majority of published recipes list the ingredients in the order that they are used. I try to do this although I sometimes fail.
Click to expand...
This I do try to do, and I sometimes there's an ultimate fail on that. And sometimes a few of the ingredients don't matter what order they are added in. I have seen the convention with, say, spices which may be added in any order, are listed from the larger amount to the lesser amount. I try to do that, as well, but also sometimes fail.

I've noticed that some recipes will post the "pre-heat your oven to XXX degrees" at the very top of the recipe, and that item you are going to be putting in there doesn't need to go in there until after an hour of that oven has been up to temperature, assuming you really did this the first thing.
 
One thing I didn't learn until this morning (surfing around YouTube) is that apparently a tablespoon in most parts of the world is 15 mL, but in Australia, it is 20 mL. I'll try to keep that into account in future recipes, at least (as in baking) where those numbers are more critical.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mjd
Mountain Cat said:
One thing I didn't learn until this morning (surfing around YouTube) is that apparently a tablespoon in most parts of the world is 15 mL, but in Australia, it is 20 mL. I'll try to keep that into account in future recipes, at least (as in baking) where those numbers are more critical.
Click to expand...

Blimey! I didn't know that - for many recipes it wouldn't matter but nevertheless...
 
Mountain Cat said:
One thing I didn't learn until this morning (surfing around YouTube) is that apparently a tablespoon in most parts of the world is 15 mL, but in Australia, it is 20 mL. I'll try to keep that into account in future recipes, at least (as in baking) where those numbers are more critical.
Click to expand...
Yes I found that out last year when I found a great sultana biscuit recipe online - luckily the author made a point of the fact that her Australian tablespoon was 20ml.

The thing that really annoys me in recipes is when measurements or quantities aren't clear. I don't mean things like a pinch or to taste...those don't matter at all. And I can easily handle converting from imperial to metric measurements, and I even have a set of American measuring cups. But when a recipe author misses out the quantity of an ingredient that's crucial to the success of the dish then it kind of makes the recipe pointless. For example there was an interesting recipe posted on here a while ago where the main ingredient was "2 loaves of Challah" .....but no indication of what size loaves he used (and he didn't reply when I asked) :(

Its the same with abbreviations for measurements.....I always try to use standard abbreviations that are recognised internationally. I learned on this forum that in America you often use C for cups, T for tablespoon, and t for teaspoon - maybe its just me, but I don't think that's common knowledge everywhere? I do know in some countries in Europe they use the a measure of weight called a dag - its short for dekagram (10 grams) but I'd always convert that to grams if I was posting a recipe on here.
 
The one thing that gets my goat (although very rarely on this forum) is cooking temperatures. Americans (North) in particular rarely specify whether the temperature quoted is in centigrade or fahrenheit. I believe that the USA has now become the only country in the world to use fahrenheit for temperature measurement.
 
Yorky said:
The one thing that gets my goat (although very rarely on this forum) is cooking temperatures. Americans (North) in particular rarely specify whether the temperature quoted is in centigrade or fahrenheit. I believe that the USA has now become the only country in the world to use fahrenheit for temperature measurement.
Click to expand...

Its pretty easy to tell which is which though - I mean, fahrenheit numbers are much larger so its easy to tell. 180C is an oven temperature used a lot for many dishes I find. That's 356 F.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mjd
Morning Glory said:
Its pretty easy to tell which is which though - I mean, fahrenheit numbers are much larger so its easy to tell. 180C is an oven temperature used a lot for many dishes I find. That's 356 F.
Click to expand...

It's also pretty easy to add 'C' or 'F' at the end of the temperature. I use centigrade all the time but I still ensure that I specify that it is centigrade (°C). I'll again add that it's rare to see on cookingbites that the scale is not defined.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom