I am so glad the NYT article covered 'glove boning'. 25 years in the biz and my Waterloo moment came from a Julia Child recipe for pistachio stuffed chicken using that method.
As much as I've always wanted to try preparing it (and knowing I could fake my way around it) That particular dish remains with a few others that I'll try making when I don't have a life. (or I get a helper)

chefdkb175

At the moment I don't do ovens (as mine is unusable) so I am craving lasagne. But ordinarily what stops me is ingredients I don't recognise or know where to get. Things like fenugreek leaf, or pomegranate paste. If there is one or maybe two of these and they don't look too vital to the recipe I just skip them, otherwise it's on to the next recipe.

Umm Yasmin

I wanted to make creme brulee once, but when I found the recipe I just ran!

lestat730

what kills anything i make is when i read the directions and it says "step 2"...

rand0mCreep

I'm just a college student, so it has to be simple. I will only cook a recipe if I have all the instruments it requires, and all the food items it requires. And it has to be cheap.

Oh, and I will not hand beat/whip something, too much work (I'm trying to consume calories, not burn them).

easy2panic

Frying anything... I just hate it. It creates a mess and it's not healthy. I just don't want to do it. It's very rare I'll take on a recipe that requires frying.

PatrickTulskie

@lestat730: Really?? Once I made it I found it shockingly simple. Heck, there's only 4 ingredients! Maybe that's the secret; a lot of the techniques and ingredients we find intimidating only because we don't know any better. I can name all kinds of things that used to scare me that are just routine now. You just have to give it a shot. There's an awful lot of video resources available nowadays on the Internet, you don't just have to rely on Food Network, so you might be able to find a demonstration which will make it easier to attempt on your own.

I'm at the point where the deal breaker for me is the amount of work or time involved. Generally, if the prep takes more than a 1/2 hour or the cooking more than an hour, I start to avoid it.

bahalana

For me, it's anything that involves beating egg whites seperately (as in lots of cakes). I 'can' do it, just it's never quite right. Apart from that I can- and do pretty much do anything.

TheFionut

I resist buying new pans or tools. I have a pretty well-stocked kitchen, so if a recipe calls for a new pan or tool, it's probably a uni-tasker that will only wind up taking space in my kitchen until I realize that I don't need it.

thebuffster

@lestat730:
You really should give Creme Brulee another shot - this is the recipe I use: [www.cookingforengineers.com]

You sound really impressive when you tell people you know how to do it; and it basically takes eggs, sugar, and cream. Heck, the mantra is, "Don't make scrambled eggs" - all the fancy stuff you do (tempering, etc.) is to avoid that outcome. Once you realize that, all the crazy junk makes much more sense.

I find recipes that call for judgment to be tough. I'm sure if I've done the recipe 25 times, I'd be able to know exactly what point I hit, "Until just tender" but I need to have a reasonable chance of success on the first pass. That's why I find sites with great step-by-step pictures to be a real asset.

[www.cookingforengineers.com] is a great site, by the way - lots of pictures to let you know what's going on. I know I would've never tried Creme Brulee without it.

Binks

@ppiddyp:

I would love to see the recipe that involves homemade phyllo dough, if you could actually provide one.

radleyas

deal breaker -> 1 or more sticks of butter

forgotthename

I'll rarely tackle anything that involves individually peeling chickpeas or almonds.

I won't make my own puff pastry or phyllo dough.

Speaking of egg whites and cream whipping, I used to be solidly in the electric beater camp. However, ours died and I got a nice whisk on a whim and it was a vast improvement. Once you've got the motion down, beating egg whites or cream by hand doesn't take any longer, and is much less likely to over-whip something. I think it lets you get more air in per stroke, which abuses the eggs/cream a bit less and keep 'em from breaking down prematurely. I know how ridiculous that sounds, but it's true.

ppiddyp

I get pretty pissed when I burn my hands on the steam that escapes from my microwave popcorn bag.

Tactical-Incineration-Development

The thing I hate to see is "Once you've combined X, cover and let sit for 3 hours."
I don't like to wait. Once I've decided to make something I'd better be able to eat it toot-sweet.

homerjay

I do not suggest trying to beat/whip anything by hand. That's what electric beaters and mixers are for. And you don't have to buy a fancy stand-up model if you don't need it. There are cheap hand held ones.

So if you're scared of beating egg whites, doing it with an electric beater always produces good results.

smcallah

... umm, that should have read "...I really have to want that whatever-it-is..."

MrJR

@TendoMentis: You're not alone - I really have to want that to even think about starting it a day before I'll get to eat it. And most of them I'd prefer to buy anyway. I'm thinking pastries, here - making them is for when I can't find them already made, and even then, it's a distant second choice.

MrJR

@TendoMentis: Yes, the word "overnight" turns the page everytime.

Peteski

Seeing Rick Bayless (Mexico One Plate At A Time) cooking the eggs of marsh flies into a NASTY fritter. That and Julia and Julia (the book) wherein Julie Powell, the author renders fresh home made gelatin from the hooves of calves and their marrow.

Uh uh. Thank you ... no.

(the book Julia and Julia, btw, is otherwise an effing hilariously read)

BlackFlag55

For me, it's not any particular step, but rather, the amount. If a recipe is more than one page long, I'm probably not going to make the item. More than 10-15 steps? I'm not cooking!

radleyas

Honestly, I love cooking and don't mind the most bizarre of steps.

What I hate is when one of the steps is to let whatever I'm making set overnight in the freezer or fridge (like croissants, which I love to eat and hate to make).

I'm hungry NOW dammit, that's why I'm cooking. If I wanted to wait until the morning, I'd just go to the bakery in the morning.

Tell me I'm not alone with this hangup :(

TendoMentis

I actually get a little nervous around measurements.

I learned the little I know about cooking in New Orleans from books like Lafcadio Hearn's Creole Cookbook and, I think, a book published by the Brennans that measures quantities in "pails" and "handfulls". I like that kind of leeway.

When I read recipes out of Joy of Cooking that call for 1/4 tsp of salt in my biscuits, it just makes me worry. If I add cheese (which has salt in it), how do I know I shouldn't decrease the salt or the lard?!

** nervous breakdown **

fakerjohn

I usually put it back in the freezer if it says "turn halfway through cooking," wants me to leave plastic on more than one item, or says "let stand in microwave for (X) minutes."

guardianfox

any product that doesn't have microwave directions.

discounteggroll

I won't deep fry, because I can't part with that much oil at once. I also have trouble with recipes that call for "a light sprinkle" of whatever (I like to pour on the herbs and spices). And I try to add garlic or basil to everything. Sigh. (Lemon-basil cupcake frosting is really good, though! I swear!)

My husband is my kitchen helper, and we veganize a lot of recipes, so glove boning doesn't scare me--seitan comes bone-free and can be baked around a mold, which is excellent for stuffing! We tend to have a bias against food that has to be prepared partially in advance, although we're coming to terms with the whole "planning ahead" idea. :)

virtualcourtney

I don't have a certain step I don't like to do, but I usually get frustrated when I look back at the recipe and realize that I've skipped from step 2 to step 5, and I really should have done all that stuff in the middle FIRST. Timing is important in cooking, and mine kind of sucks.

toutomoutochan

@easy2panic: I made an attempt on my blog a while back to make a few recipes "college student friendly". I'm not sure how much I succeeded, though. [www.bluewavedigital.net]

ocdude

I don't peel anything except bananas, but that's not a dealbreaker. People are just going to have to eat the potato or apple skins. It's better for you anyway. Time's a factor too - I agree with everyone above who said "I'm hungry NOW and that's why I'm cooking NOW."

Working with yeast and letting things rise/proof/whatever never works for me.

MissedTheExit

Mostly for me recipes are things to inspire rather than things to follow.

Things that would require new tools.

Deep frying - it's dangerous, messy and I can find lots of other tasty ways to get excess calories.

Anything requiring too much hand work - lots of peeling, boning, beating by hand. I have fibromyalbia and it's just to painful to be worth it. Luckily most of those have work arounds in buying partially prepared foods (prepeeled, sliced, boned and skinned), buy organic and not minding the peels (I actively prefer potatoes with skin in most things), submersible hand mixers.

lapillus

What drives me nuts are family recipes that aren't complete because certain steps are "understood." One of my grandmother's recipes is written on a 3x5 index card, but so much is missing. My dad walked me through the process once, and I took 6 pages of notes on all the "understood" steps.

dagwud

@Umm Yasmin
You can make lasagna in the microwave. I do that when it's summer and don't want to use the oven. Takes about 20-25 min in my microwave for a smaller glass pan. Just make sure the noodles are cooked through and you use a bit more liquids. (I don't cook my noodles before making the lasagna either.)

---
Recipes bits that make me run away:
- let set in fridge over night or x hours (I just cook the darn sugar cookies without letting them set in the fridge). The only exception is bread. That I will baby for some reason.
- HAVING to use more than 1 or 2 bowls. (Brownies were never meant to use more than 1 bowl!) Just mix the liquid stuff and add the dry ingredients to them slowly.
- Canning: I freeze my fruits, veggies and jams. (But I don't do "freezer jam", it just doesn't taste right to me. I cook the fruit down then freeze the jams. Haven't bought jam in over a year now.)
- Whole chickens. I think I'm too much of a city kid. I make hubby do the Thanksgiving turkey.
- Layered cakes - I haven't been able to get one to turn out nice yet. I may try again someday, but not soon.
- fresh garlic - my hubby tossed my garlic press because he hated cleaning it (and I think he thought I tossed out some of his twisty tie collection). So I just use garlic powder.
- Folding a pie crust. Pie crusts usually hate me and fall apart on me. So I have started to add more water and I refuse to fold the silly things I put a plate or pie dish on top of the crust and carefully flip it all over. (Can roll out pie crust on large cookie sheet or waxed paper to flip it easier.)

avlor

Anything that requires a microwave or any other large piece of equipment with few (for me) uses, like a potato ricer or food mill. As far as I can tell, microwaves are good for reheating coffee, and that's about it. Everything else can be done better with simpler equipment, and my kitchen is too small to accommodate a huge, energy-hogging coffee re-heater. So, I bought a thermos!

Lauram

@ Ryan
Interesting. I'll try it. (Never know what I'll learn here.)

avlor

with 3 young kids and way too much to do anyways, anything where the prep time looks longer than 15 minutes or so is out. If i have to cook rice anyways, then a cook time of 45 minutes or so is ok though - I have a rice cooker, but this still takes some time.

TechTalk WRLR 98.3FM

The only time overnight doesn't tick me off is when I'm party planning. That can save a lot of effort on party day, if things can be made the day before.

MrsIrB

I hate unnecessarily long recipes that have too many ingredients. I don't have a problem with a lot of steps... just too many ingredients. I started learning to cook Thai food last year and was amazed to see Wolfgang Puck's Pad Thai recipe. It had way too many ingredients. I found a street vendor Pad Thai recipe and made it along side the Wolfgang Puck recipe and the street vendor version tasted much better. So now I am weary of recipes with too many ingredients. There is a lot of value in simplicity.

@ppiddyp: Pealing a chickpea sounds awful.

@the anti-stand mixer crowd... I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer. Granted I use it to make ice cream, pasta, ground meat, and sausage as well; but, the attachments make it a wonderful DIY kitchen gadget. I can't imagine life without homemade ice cream and sausage.

jonny6pak

I am more attracted to cookbooks that are devoid of pictures, as my "masterpieces" NEVER look like the photo, and therefore I question whether the food tastes the way it is "supposed" to.

new282

@avlor - that's the most heartbreaking thing I've ever read. Garlic powder is vile stuff, and pushing garlic through a press isn't great either. Just crush it with the blade of your knife and give it a quick chop... takes less than 60 seconds, and has great flavour.

Until recently, I've had a bit of a phobia about cooking seafood at home, because often it's only a matter of minutes between food poisoning and rubber. As you learn to know what to look for and get more comfortable multitasking in the kitchen, it's a far less stressful experience. In general, though, I shy away from overly complicated recipes. I much prefer a few fresh flavours working together, but I also love spending a day shopping and cooking for a dinner party.

Ryan Anderson

I don't cook very often and have hardly any spices and other not-as-common ingredients in my kitchen, so any time a recipe calls for a $4 collection of spices I'll probably never use again, it usually breaks the deal for me.

karmaghost

I'll abandon cookbooks if after the first try a recipe says "Prep time = X" (something shortish) but then the ingrdiants indicate long steps to prepare (i.e "Boiled A" or "fresh B" or "Peeled, sliced and marinated C"). That crap just added an hour or more prep.

zubaz25

Anything that takes too long (more than 30 mins from start to eat).
Too much preparation.
Too long cooking and checking on it.
Too much washing up afterwards.

pobox90210

@Ryan Anderson: I only use a garlic press when I'm making sauces or dressings. I agree with you that chopping the garlic works better in almost all situations.

EJohnson

I will not cook anything that requires meat as an ingredient, unless I can substitute something else (most of the time I can very easily though). I also do not cook anything that requires deep frying, unless I can feasibly bake it instead.

selan

@avlor:

I recommend the Rosle garlic press for dealing with fresh garlic. It is really easy to clean. And if you don't want to deal with a garlic press, you can always crush the garlic with the side of your chefs knife and then mince it or crush it the rest of the way with the back of a fork. Works quite nicely and there is no replacement for fresh garlic.

EJohnson

(Disclaimer: I used to be a professional cook.)

I don't really use recipes unless I'm baking but there are a few things I've abandoned.

1.) I won't clarify stocks. Filter, yes. Clarify, no.

2.) I don't scale fish at home. It's too damned messy and I can never seem to clean up all the scales that have splattered all over the place. I know I can descale fish in a large plastic bag, but I find that wasteful as it unnecessarily adds to landfill. I ask the fishmonger to scale them.

3.) Pitting olives is a nuisance. Olives cured with their pits taste much better than the unpitted counterparts.

4.) Peeling pearl onions. A nuisance I can deal with maybe once a year. You can buy them peeled these days though. A godsend, without a doubt.

5.) Somehow, my current home isn't good for sourdough starters, so I've given up on that.

Deprong Mori

Deep-frying. What a smelly, messy, splattery, deliciously disgusting way to cook.

parvax

Yep, for me it's the ingredients - if there are too many, they are too obscure, or if the recipe writer feels the need to use unusual names for commonly-found ingredients, just to confuse us (to make themselves look more knowledgeable?)

The simpler the ingredients list sounds, or the more alternative ingredients offered, the better for me.

paix120

I don't like the "Martha Stewart Effect." It is when a recipe is for something that sounds everyday but uses either exotic or expensive ingredients. She was making potato chips and insisted they had to be deep fried in olive oil.

I constantly watch the Food Channel and see recipes where I think that by the time I buy all the ingredients it would be cheaper, and I would be better off just eating out. I do mostly cook at home. I even keep on hand the exotic ingredients for Chinese cooking.

pschroeter

For me it has mostly to do with recipes to make things that I can get equally good results with store-bought stuff. I won't make pie crusts, puff-pastry, philo dough, and only very RARELY my own pasta (for things like ravioli).

I also don't do my own butchering - I will pay a butcher to prep my meat the way I want it.

Finally I shy away from anything that requires home-made specialty items as ingredients. I have this AMAZING Chinese cookbook from the China Moon restaurant. I gave up on it because 2/3rds of the recipes call for 2-3 of their
"staples"; things like specially flavored stocks and oils. When I took the time to make those things up in advance they did make the food wonderful, but I don't cook from it often enough to make those things worth the trouble (and most of them don't keep well enough to do in batches).

misanthropic777

Too many steps. I have to be in the right mood if it has too many steps. You get much above 30 steps, forget it - I need to want to cook that day before I'll consider it.

As for individual steps that turn me off? Not many, same with ingredients.

maztec

Frying anything... I just hate it. It creates a mess and it's not healthy. I just don't want to do it. It's very rare I'll take on a recipe that requires frying. (PatrickTulskie at 07:55 AM)

Try this: Turn your oven up as high as it goes. Get some parchment or some of that Release foil and cover a baking sheet with it. Pour in a little oil and roll around whatever you were supposed to fry, so it's coated in the oil. Add some salt, pepper, whatever, if you want. Put it in the oven.

In 10-15 minutes or so, when it's brown on one side, flip it and cook it for another 10 minutes (keep an eye on it).

Easier than frying. (You can make a nice little no-brainer dinner this way: a piece of chicken or fish, or a chop, or some tofu, some thick slices of potatoes (nuke them first) whatever other vegetables you like, in some olive oil.)

MollyNYC

@pschroeter: That doesn't sound awesome. I'm not sure if this is accurate, but I always thought olive oil would burn easily and is not a good frying oil. That recipe sounds suspect to me.

jonny6pak

What will kill a recipe for me every time? Tuna. Having it one or more times a week in boarding school for 3.5 years has pretty much made sure I'll never willingly ingest it again.

wiredwizard

Specialty ingredients that I can't get at a local supermarket.

theblackdog

I once got one of those dinner things where you basically create a sauce, spice up the chicken, put it all in a bag, put the bag in a baking dish, and bake the whole dealie for a little while, and honest to god the instructions said "Cook X minutes or until juice runs clear when stuck with a fork." ... The thing is sitting in a plastic bag covered in sauce, how am I supposed to get a fork in it?

[www.shakespearegeek.com]

Duane

When I have to buy an entire package of something when I need about 1/5th that amount, or some such. This could be remedied of course by finding more recipes to use the rest, but who wants to bother with that?!

Myles

@Binks:
I must agree with you. Any recipe book that doesn't explain itself is a deal breaker. Some of these book writers just assume too much. Not everyone went to cooking school.

And I hate the Martha Stewart effect too -- using an ingredient or a procedure simply for the "wow, I've got too much money and time" effect.

quail

@avlor: thank you kindly - someone else sent me a non-oven lasagne recipe too, so I am very excited to give it a go.

Umm Yasmin

Any recipe that calls for separating egg yolks & whites - just too much trouble. And what do you do with part you don't use?

The Consultant

I am reading a Greek cookbook and I got a bit worried when one recipe said "First start your wood fire"!

Kevincumbria

I have a box of jello, the kind that takes like forever to set. About once a month I look at it and think "hmm I could use some jello" then look at the directions and go "WHAT? Chill 4 Hours?! Are you kidding me?"

It's been in there a couple of years...

Max H.

For me, it's when anything is a time lapsed requirement. Like making bread. I always think to myself that one day I will make kneed-less bread. However, with the requirements that you fold the dough and let it rest a certain number of hours and fold it again, then bake, my geek related ADD takes over and I think that it's too much trouble to bother.

Vhalkyrie

I don't mind complex recipes if that's what is expected but "simple" recipes that include already cooked foods as part of the ingredient list (e.g., chicken, cooked, cubed) or alternate steps that aren't part of the "simple" part make me abandon them. A lot of recipes for crockpot cooking (which is supposed to be simple) include browning meat. If I'm going to go to the trouble of putting the meat in a pan and cook it on the stove, I'm not going to bother with the crockpot.

The one thing about sophisticated recipes that puts me off is egg whites - whipping them, folding other ingredients into them.

ShariC

@Vhalkyrie
But think of all the multi-tasking you do, due to your geek related ADD. Just think of making bread as one more thing to multi-task with. It's pretty simple if you work from home.

My wife often makes bread. She'll get it prepared in a few minutes, then set it out to rise as she goes back to work. A few hours later, she'll check on it and go back to work. A while later it' done! Fresh bread for the next few days. Super cheap, simple and delicious.

Daniel Genser

Several people have referred to their fear of not knowing how a dish is "supposed" to taste if they haven't had it before. Here's one of the major secrets of cooking, that will make cooking dramatically less intimidating: it's "supposed" to taste good to you. Period. Well, and maybe to the people you're serving it to. And except for bread, which can be touchy, these ain't scientific formula -- they're recipes. If it tastes delicious, great. If it tastes...em...good but not great, ask yourself what's wrong. Does it need more salt? Add more salt. Could it use something tart? A little fresh lemon juice is a life-saver (plus it "brightens up" the taste of other fruits). Might this be better with some tomatoes in it? Give it a try. Every once in a while you'll make an inedible boner and have to order chinese, but often you'll find that you've improved a dish by making it to your tastes. Just one cautionary note: you can always put more in, but it's usually hard to take things out, so add a little at a time, taste, and see.

ShanghaiLil

I once did a few years of chemistry in university, and this really improved my cooking skills, because in a lab planning is everything. And there are a few tricks that simplify cooking enormously. So the amount of steps is never an issue, sometimes recipes do get them in the wrong order though.
I agree with johnny6pack that too much ingredients make me suspicious of a recipe. But what I often do is just simply (or perhaps messy) do it once and then reorganize the recipe in a way that suits me. It is quite often that a recipe is not complicated, just written down that way.

Ronald van Raaij

@The Consultant:

Any recipe that calls for separating egg yolks & whites - just too much trouble. And what do you do with part you don't use?

Eat it?

Whether it be the yolk or the white, if I have a couple, I will pour them into a small container then add it to my breakfast the following day. So my normal single egg easy over will either have an extra large white or will have double yolks.

Deprong Mori

@ShariC: A lot of recipes for crockpot cooking (which is supposed to be simple) include browning meat.

I don't know if crockpot cooking is supposed to be "simple" necessarily, it's just that you can use it unattended.

Regardless, I have not yet come across a crockpot recipe that calls for browning that didn't turn out perfectly fine without it browned. I would say feel free to skip this step and see what comes of it.

In fact, there are not all that many recipe deal breakers for me because I learned an important concept: There is no recipe police who will break down your door and arrest you if you don't follow the recipe. I've got no reservations about swapping ingredients, skipping apparently unnecessary steps or otherwise modifying recipes. Unless there's an ingredient or step that appears completely unchangeable and I don't want to do use it or do it, pretty much anything is fair game for me. As someone above said...if you like the result, that's all that matters.

Troy F.

@Troy F.: @ShariC: Yeah, you don't have to brown meat before doing it in the crock pot. You'll miss out on some of the flavor if you don't, but the dish should turn out just fine regardless.

HeartBurnKid

Deep Frying kills me.

Huge mess every time

locustfist

Anything with a prep time of over 30 minutes is a killer for me. I have to be up at 5 to deal with a horse before work, and with my commute time, I don't get home until after 7, which means I have approx. 3.5hrs before I've to go to bed. I don't want to spend all that time being chained to my kitchen.

I don't mind long cooking times, if it's something I can just stick in the oven or on a burner and walk away from it while it's cooking, but too much prep time just sucks all the joy out of it for me.

snappaloosa

I don't generally follow recipes, from growing up with a mom who is a great cook and waiting table is restaurants in college, I gained a great understanding of both cooking fundamentals and innovative and creative ways to season, spice and bump things from average to "wow".

As far as what would make me not want to cook a meal, the only thing I think of at the moment is I like to avoid using the oven during a heat wave--like now!

MiddleGeek

I'm actually more willing to try a recipe if it has one or two new (relatively-inexpensive) things I can experiment with and learn from. For example, I'd never heard of Cream of Tartar, but boy, is it fun to make meringue with it! I also love my asian fish and chili sauces, and have made my own samosas and Vietnamese beef noodle soups in the past. That may not be much for you Yankees out there, but for a white girl raised on basic Southern cooking, trust me, this is branching out.

Snakeophelia

I, too, am in college and live on my own. I figured out this week that it is only worth it to buy frozen fruit because fresh spoils before I get to eat it. And eggs? UGH. They go bad, too. Makes me ANGRY!!!!!!!!

akleinsmith

1. Any recipe that requires me to start more than 3 hours in advance.

2. Exotic ingredients. I'm fine with any ingredient that can be found in any common grocery store, but I won't go specialty shopping just to be able to cook.

3. Recipes that call for an absurd amount of precision. You know the ones: egg whites must be beaten exactly 435 times. 434 and it's too soft, 436 and it will go flat. That kind of crap.

Brad N.

What kills a recipe for me is when the ingredient list tells me I need a certain amount of something, like 1 1/2 c. sugar, then in the instructions it tells me to add 3/4 c. of sugar because the rest goes in a different step. I invariably add it all when I get to that step. I can't count the number of recipes I've ruined this way.

While it won't stop me from using the recipe in the first place, it can really screw me up while I'm cooking. This is why I tend to cook rather than bake.

czadd

I also don't deep fry; not practical in a small apartment kitchen (barely bigger than some closets). I love baking bread with yeast but not with baking powder. I don't use enough baking powder and it loses its potency quickly. (Yeast can be frozen indefinitely). I can't deal with ingredients that are hard to find, expensive, perishable and _not frequently used_.

Nothing like making a special trip to use some veggie, spice or ingredient *once* and not using it again before it goes bad. (Or not using it *at all* which I suspect has happened to some of us.)

dmoisan

my am the kid of a chef and a baker. it's not ingredients or procedure that irks me, but the tools and dishwashing! i think my house has enough pots/pans, flatware, dishes, knives... to open a restaurant. but it's still different from being in the kitchen. i don't have a proofing box so it's difficult to make bread (although preheating the oven with a pan of water inside is good. then you turn the thing off when it hits 100º). the fridge is never big enough (our house has two. and they are packed.) the counter isn't big enough to have big enough cutting boards. and one of the burners on our stove is out of commission.
the other issue is cleaning.
i dislike it.
and you generate so much dishes when you have to worry about sanitation! separate cutting boards for meat and veg. several thermometers. custard cups from the mise en place. new spoon each time you taste something. it might surprise you that with all of our dishes, the family eats on paper plates and uses plastic cups and wooden chopsticks nearly every night.

things you should not be without in the kitchen:
thermometer (i ALWAAAAAAYS check temp. food poisoning sucks. even when microwaving food.)
toaster oven (easy and works just as well as a regular oven. in fact, we have so many pots and pans we have to store some of them in the oven. if i just want to warm up some leftovers or make a half dozen cookies, i do it in the toaster oven instead of unloading the oven.)
saran wrap (and not the crappy tiny boxes of saran wrap- like those yellow glad brand ones that don't even stick. i get the industrial rolls from costco. it's better than keeping lids for containers, heating things without it splattering in the micro, keeping the coffee warm when the machine is off and the carafe is full, and most importantly COVERING THE COUNTERS. if you cover your counters and stove top- I AM SERIOUS!- before you start cooking, frying is no problem! when you're done, just pull it off and throw it away. i use saran wrap for so many things. it's better than tape or string. i dream of covering my house with the stuff so i don't have to do so much cleaning.)

strangerous

I just hate when things have to go in or come out of the pan more than once. I love crispy ginger beef, but the amount of time deep-frying the beef beforehand is often a dealbreaker for me.

Fierock

Deveining shrimp! BLICK! I would only do this step for folks that I really love -- then I discovered that it is possible to purchase prawns that are already deveined. I love that!

BustersDad

step 1. fill ice trays with water
step 2. wait overnight
step 3. remove ice, place into glass.
step 4. enjoy icy cold beverage.

I NEED A FLIPPING' ICE TRAY?... OVERNIGHT!!??

ugh who needs ice anyway?

kirksucks

Well ...if it calls for anything with eyes!
Deep-frying is just scary and really not worth the trouble/mess/oil.

Nikral

I don't like the texture of onions, so almost any recipe that calls for raw onions is either changed to exclude them, or I use finely minced onion (since I don't like onion flakes) as a substitute.

There are other ingredients that I just don't like, such as olives or peppers, but I always try to work around them or find substitutes. I never simple omit a recipe before trying it out.

isista

Recipes that casually call for ingredients like saffron or cardamom.... nothing is more disappointing than spending a 1/2 hour in the supermarket gathering ingredients only to realize that 1 tiny bottle of a random spice costs more than the entire meal.

Spamuel

Like some people in the NYT article, I'm not a fan of any recipe that requires precise timing.

I don't cook often at all, but, when I do, I am not afraid to try some substitutions. If an ingredient is too costly or is something I'll never use again, then I'd rather use something more economical or versatile.

I recently discovered a neat recipe-sharing social network called Family Oven at [www.familyoven.com] and I've put up a couple of my own dishes that I've simplified from complicated recipes.

tim-in-augusta

I stop at "boil water".

If it ain't microwavable, it's too much work.

xD

nmaster64

I love to cook but too many ingredients or too many itty-bitty steps are deal breakers.

I think fussy techniques like turning vegetables are arcane and unnecessary.
Fancy pastry decorations intimidate me and I could never attempt to make a cage of sugar a la Julia Child.
I don't peel tomatoes.

suddenly_susan

One word: fold

JRod37

Anything with the word broil in it. For some reason we just don't...broil.

Living in Brazil, we also tend to look at ingredients and save a recipe based on if we can "get it in Cuiaba" or not.

brazilbear

Anytime I need to dial a long distance number for take out. That kills my recipe; and likely my buzz too.

HyperGrl99

I have attempted almost everything, and I would do most again.

I love knowing everything about the food I make, and knowing what goes into. It makes me appreciate food more when I know the effort that has gone into it.

I have done baking (brioche, croissants, puff pastry - Shout out to Julia Child), quick breads, yeast breads, long barbecue (ribs, pork shoulder, whole pig, etc - Up to 24 hours), made my own sausages and bacon (stuffing casings or loose and cold smoking), creme brulee, soufflé, braises, stews, soups, tagines, roasts, marinades, brining, deep frying, pan frying, sautéing, grilling, poaching, boiling, double boiling, pressure cooking, custards, ice cream, cheese(from scratch). Yeah, I think that covers it (and I didn't even need to look at a book).

I have a problem with liver (but not pate) and other strange meat by-products, so that may stop me from making certain things. There are some vegetables that I am not fond of, their names will not be revealed. I will say that I don't care for shellfish, lobster or crab, but I will eat most other seafood.

In short, I enjoy the journey, the challenge and technique. My wife enjoys the destination (most of the time).

[howisthatassuranceevidence.blogspot.com]

cyberhiker

Deep Frying. As said above, it's dangerous (if you don't know what you're doing or don't have the right equipment), messy, uses a lot of oil, and not worth the hassle.

With produce and food prices going through the roof, I've started to make simpler stuff with less ingredients. I like fresh herbs and vegetables, but it's hard to buy them in the qty that the recipe calls for without having a lot of excess.

rpm773

Both my husband and I cook a lot so we're used to odd ingredients and multi-step recipes (yes, you guessed it - no kids. . .), and there aren't many deal-breakers for us - we just work around anything that we can't get or do. However, my husband refuses to cook (or eat) anything labeled "vegetarian." He enjoys all sorts of dishes that have no meat in them but once you slap the "v" word on it, it's over. It's almost like the culinary equivalent of cooties. So I just cook whatever I want and don't bring up the absence of flesh-based protein and he usually enjoys it. I guess you could say we have a "don't ask don't tell" household.

MauraEurynome