Rate the Recipe as Posted

[Chef #1307124]

I am a 75 year old male who has loved to cook all of his life. When I found this site, I was thrilled to be able to find a recipe, sort by popularity and try the final product. I sort by popularity because if a large number of readers have tried the recipe and given it a 5 star rating, I believe it will be a good one. My problem is simple, it is difficult to determine how good the recipe is because so many people rate, not this recipe, but their own where they have substituted almost every ingredient. They then proceed to give their particular variation, 5 stars. Why can't we rate the recipe as originally given and if you want to make substitutions, then submit your variation as your own? I love the reviews that say, "tried this recipe exactly as given and I loved it and I am giving it 5 stars". Or, "tried this recipe and it was too spicy for my taste or too salty so I am only rating it as 3 stars. However, I made the following changes and loved it". Then list the changes. I hope I am not being too picky.

[Chocolatl]

You're going to be even unhappier when I tell you this, but there isn't even a requirement that you make the recipe in order to review it. A lot of people give low star reviews because they don't approve of a particular ingredient, don't think the recipe is "authentic" (whatever that means), or some other reason. It's unfortunate, but that's the way it goes.

I personally do like the reviews that mention that changes are made, because that tells me how flexible the recipe is, and what works and what doesn't. There are recipes and reviews a-plenty here, so whatever you're looking for, you will probably be able to find it!

To be perfectly honest, I've found that just because a recipe has a lot of 5-star reviews doesn't mean it's good, or to my family's taste. And there are many, many wonderful recipes languishing without a single review, because people go for the stars. One must use one's intelligence guided by experience, as Nero Wolfe would say.