[melodynelson]

For the most part, I look at a recipe and get the general idea, adding and subtracting where I see fit. If I don't trust the source, I'll go with methods that I know will have a good outcome. Sometimes I'm wrong, but rarely is it disastrous.

Unless it's baking, which I do by weight whenever possible.

[blatimir]

I can see some validity in the argument that some people would make that cooking is chemistry therefore giving the notion of precise measurements/weighing more strength.

However, despite this, to me real cooking is not about following a recipe and specific quantities. To be a true chef you need to know as well as understand all of the ingredients you are cooking with as well as their flavors, smells, textures independently and along with other ingredients to comprehend their contribution to the final result.

Is this not the true spirit of the INTJ? Once you understand how it works then you can apply that framework to create a huge diversity of interesting & flavorful dishes.

I use recipes for inspiration not for a cookie cutter approach. I do have a significant bias though as I as a chef a restaurant for a few years and have been refining my cooking ever since.

That said, you have to start somewhere and learning is a progression so using & following resources is a tremendous resource.

[Tequila]

I did not vote because I am unsure which I should choose.

I try to learn new techniques so that I can use it in future.
For new dishes, I generally require a basic recipe as a guide line. I am not good at replicating dishes exactly the same but most of the time improvised according to my own preference.
I am able to create simple recipes with ingredients at hand.
Some of my relatives have great 'food sense'. They are able to create their own amazing recipies. For me, unless I have a personal preference to a particular ingredient, I tend to me more creative.

[Forte]

I am an INTJ, but I cook by feeling because I don't exactly know how to cook... therefore, I can't think about what to do. It turns out ok.

[spect]

O NT - can't cook

[sunitaishot]

In honesty, I think very few people use cookbooks. they only for those who either are cooking unfamiliar dishes, or who have seldom ever cooked in their lives.

Does an Indian person need a cookbook to make naan bread? An English person for roast beef and Yorkshire pudding? A Philadelphian for cheese steak? Not really. If a person has a long association with a dish, it comes rote to cook it. And after experience is gained, one can experiment. It's like scrambled eggs. Some put meat in it, onions, etc. to suit their own tastes.

---------- Post added 05-22-2012 at 07:28 PM ----------

Originally Posted by koakuma To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Hi. I always thought of cooking and spicing food as "going by feeling" unless you have a cook book with measurements. But then I really started to think about it. I thought I went by feeling when cooking and flavouring food, but that's not true. I visually calculate what I usually know taste nice. By the looks of the food and spices, I can pretty much visualise what it will taste like and if I will like it or not. How do you cook? How do you spice your food? How do you know it will taste nice or not? Can you relate to your S/N/F/T-combo and how you cook food? I hope the poll makes sense. Maybe the answer is super-obvious?

From experience, trial and error, and judgment of flavours.

I know too much black pepper won't taste good.

[Crazyblue]

I absolutely detest measuring, pretty much the only time that I do it is when I'm baking.

[FruitLoop]

If I dont watch what I'm doing I end up with a mess. Trying to tip ingredients in without measuring usually ends up with some random result that isn't really any better - kinda lik trying to assemble a swiss watch by throwing all the parts in a cardboard box and shaking it..

I spent months trying to get scratch-baked bread just perfect. There is no way in hell I could get perfect bread unless I have everything weighed to the gram, and times accurate to the minute, and then I get this;

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[Samoan Corleone]

I start with measurements when I'm new to a recipe, but then I start adding little adjustments here and there, which gradually turns into cooking by feel.

[BlackMita]

I'll google a new recipe, read it, note the proportions, and try not to forget about ingredients/steps that make or break the desired result. So my preference is to go by memory and chemistry-related common sense.

[Typhon]

I'll use a recipe but only follow it roughly. I tend to eyeball the measurements and spice usage. Mostly go by trial and error. Here is what I often eat:

[HIDE="Bacon wrapped veal with soco"]

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[/HIDE]

[Booko]

	Originally Posted by Moxiie To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	(I think the question is less feeling and thinking as maybe intuitive?)

Exactly what I was thinking, Moxiie.

Intuition!

When I first started cooking it was all thinking, but the more I get used to it and the more technique ends up being second nature and the broader my experience, the more it's just intuition.

I don't normally follow a recipe a written the first time. It's more like I'll look up six variants of a recipe that look interesting and shift things, especially seasonings, to come up with what strikes me as better yet.

It's hell on wheels because then I have to take notes and test it out and make sure I've codified it properly before I can post it to the blog. But if I don't do that my kids will never have an idea how I make anything.

When I'm baking, especially with yeast-raised breads, I'll follow the recipe as written except sometimes I cut back on the sugar and add a little more flour to try to keep the wet/dry ingredient ratio where it should be.

On a related note, at this point I do garden designs largely intuitively.

[hamlet9]

Well, I'm not much of a cook, but when I do cook I never follow recipies. I think I go more by intuition than by either thinking or feeling (that's why I didn't vote).

[Nightmare]

When it comes to something delicate like cakes, one must use a recipe. But when cooking casually; i.e. making a dinner for myself, I often just throw things together I think would blend perfectly. 9/10 times it works well.... The 1/10 time of everything not coming together usually happens when I use up old stuff left in the fridge.

[plotthickens]

I think this poll would be more informative if the population was more cuilnary minded.

[InfiniteLoop]

It depends. Following a recipe, I go by exact measurements or close to exact, but then if I feel something needs tweaking I go by feel and taste. If the taste is right, then I'm happy. If not, I keep tweaking it. So I guess I ultimately go by feeling and evidence of if it tastes good or not.

[darniem]

Every time someone says they don't know how to cook, I ask "Well, do you know how to eat?"

That's how I cook. I know what I like. I know what tastes good. I put that together and make great food. I don't attempt cooking anything that I have doubts about my abilities to make it taste amazing. What I do cook...well, my friends beg me for recipes. I can't give it to them because I don't use them.

Recipes are just basic outlines to me, and I add and subtract as needed...so yeah, I guess there is definitely a lot of intuition involved.

Also I'm from the American South. If 'Southerner" were a race in an RPG, "Immaculate Food Sense" would be a trait common to that race. We know what to do in a kitchen
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[ButterflyPsyche]

I think I read somewhere that cooking by feeling is a very Se thing to do.

Note - I couldn't tell you where I read that. This is one of those rare times where when I say "I think I read" and there's a chance that I may have pulled the data out of my ass. All I know is that when I went through my obsessive cook-by-feeling phase I scored pretty high (for me) on Se but now that I'm in a calmer phase in life, I score low Se.

[thehammer]

I go by the techniques I was taught and recipes until I've done them enough that I've memorized them.

[Carinthian]

Since I don't know how to cook, I let intuition guide me.

[24601]

I measure the big stuff like flour or baking soda, the "fundamentals," but the other stuff, like spices and flavorings and sometimes even the oils I rely more on sense of touch and taste. I love cooking, and especially enjoy baking. I've made very few flops, except one batch of overcooked caramel. It ended up being a sugary mixture with the texture of razors and glass.