How we test every recipe

The short version

Stage one: development

A recipe starts as a version of something we already cook. The first pass establishes the technique: what order things go into the pan, how much liquid, which step is load-bearing and which is decoration.

Stage two: independent retest

The draft is then handed to a second cook who has not seen it before, working in their own kitchen. We are looking for two things — whether it works without the author standing next to them, and how long it actually takes. Recipe timings in the real world are usually ten to twenty per cent longer than the developer thinks they are.

Stage three: equipment and timing

Every recipe lists the equipment it was developed with. Where a recipe is sensitive — breads, custards, anything where a ten-degree difference changes the outcome — the testing notes say so, and often include a version made with the cheaper or less precise tool.

Corrections and updates

Recipes are re-tested when a reader reports a failure that we can reproduce. Where the recipe was wrong, we fix it and describe the fix in the notes. Where the recipe was right and the failure came from a substitution, we add the substitution to the notes instead. The "Updated" date on every recipe reflects this.

Funding and independence

The site is funded by display advertising, clearly labelled and kept out of the recipe method, and by readers who subscribe to the Sunday Letter. Sponsored recipes are not accepted. Affiliate links are used occasionally and are disclosed individually on the page where they appear.

See also: Affiliate Disclosure, Privacy Policy.