This is actually something I feel lack in lot of recipes. They are often "too simple", as in they assume a lot of knowledge. Let's say you're making cinnamon buns. The recipe will basically just say mix these ingredients, knead, let it raise, roll, add stuff, bake.
But it lacks all the details. Like how do you work the best with different kind of yeast? How do you know if you got the right texture / amount of liquid? What about all the tricks and tips when working with this kind of baking stuff?
Old school cooking books are often better at this. There the cinnamon bun recipe would be "use the base bun dough from page X, but use only Y amount of ingredient Z". And then on the base recipe, all you need to know about doughs are covered.
Similarly, a recipe with meat will just say "cook until done", and then you need to know yourself how to best sear it, the temperature at which it is done etc.
Perhaps this is a place where LLMs can shine. It can fill in the perfect amount of knowledge for me if I'd ask it.
There has always been a distinction between (basic) cooking books that teach basic recipes and the accompanying cooking techniques on one hand and recipe books.
But there also was always the assumption, that people pick up very basic techniques starting as a child by helping in the kitchen, beeing shown by it and doing it themselves.
You might like Harold McGee's "On Food and Cooking" which is basically a popular science food chemistry "textbook" (it doesn't really go in the chemistry details but it usually gives you some pointers). It's got a chapter on dough iirc :) It's an excellent bathroom book because you can just open any page to find some quirky facts about foods.
But it lacks all the details. Like how do you work the best with different kind of yeast? How do you know if you got the right texture / amount of liquid? What about all the tricks and tips when working with this kind of baking stuff?
Old school cooking books are often better at this. There the cinnamon bun recipe would be "use the base bun dough from page X, but use only Y amount of ingredient Z". And then on the base recipe, all you need to know about doughs are covered.
Similarly, a recipe with meat will just say "cook until done", and then you need to know yourself how to best sear it, the temperature at which it is done etc.
Perhaps this is a place where LLMs can shine. It can fill in the perfect amount of knowledge for me if I'd ask it.