[AussieWog93]

>On the contrary, it’s easier than trying to guess what the author had in mind when they wrote “a pinch” or “a handful”.

Again, I think you're missing the fact that whatever the author had in mind isn't "right". Do whatever feels right to you and as long as your senses are calibrated (there'll be a short period of adjustment while you learn how ingredients work) it'll come out better than if you'd measured and you'll enjoy it more too.

[teddyh]

> Do whatever feels right to you and as long as your senses are calibrated (there'll be a short period of adjustment while you learn how ingredients work) it'll come out better than if you'd measured and you'll enjoy it more too.

You’re missing that this is a lot of work, and far from everybody is even remotely interested in doing that. Most people would rather be doing useful or entertaining things, not cooking the same thing a thousand times to discover how much salt “to taste” means. Do not assume that everybody’s hobby ought to be cooking.

[AussieWog93]

>You’re missing that this is a lot of work, and far from everybody is even remotely interested in doing that

It's not. It's a couple of dozen disappointments in your teens and then you know how to cook everything you want for the rest of your life.

>Most people would rather be doing useful

I actually crunched the numbers on this once, and worked out that having the skills to cook and adapt to whatever ingredients are cheap/in season is worth somewhere in the order of $250,000 over the lifetime of an adult.

>to discover how much salt “to taste” means

"to taste" is however damn much you want it to be. That's the point I'm trying to make. It isn't that cooking needs to be everybody's hobby; it's that:

- It doesn't need to be precise

- The obsession people have with precision makes things harder and more stressful; not easier.

[teddyh]

> It's not. It's a couple of dozen disappointments in your teens and then you know how to cook everything you want for the rest of your life.

But not everybody wants to do that. Why should everybody be forced to get good at cooking? It’s like those “Oh, everybody should learn to play a musical instrument” people. No we should not.

> I actually crunched the numbers on this once

You’re still arguing that everybody should be forced to learn to cook.

> "to taste" is however damn much you want it to be.

But if I don’t know what a typical, reasonable value is, I’m forced to guess, probably ruining the food, and now I have no food today. Repeat for multiple days. Why do you want to force people to do that? It actually feels like gatekeeping, with using weird in-group terms and assuming knowledge which can’t even be taught and must be learned personally over a long period of time.

[kergonath]

> Again, I think you're missing the fact that whatever the author had in mind isn't "right". Do whatever feels right to you and as long as your senses are calibrated

That requires experience. I have some and have no problem cooking, but a lot of people don’t and have.