17 Epic Kitchen Experiments That Spiraled Into Chaos

Culinary geniuses aren’t just in fancy restaurants—they could be your neighbors! They whip up dishes so good you’ll be licking your fingers and the plate. The catch? They’re keeping their secret recipes to themselves. But hey, everyone has their first time, and someone’s gotta get it wrong on their first experiment!

"Here's a cornucopia I made out of bread for Thanksgiving."

When your wife is a great cook

• My wife is a keen cooking enthusiast, and it seems that she could publish her own recipe book. But she says that she does it to relax.
  Every time she has an emergency at work, there are so many dishes at home that 2 normal people simply can't eat them. And she barely ever eats what she cooks. She'll take a kid's portion for lunch and that's it. And I can't take it anymore.
  My wife's job is stressful, so "culinary breakdowns" are not uncommon. And I have to increase the belt size every time after these binges. I can't throw this food away, it's too good. I eat like I'm not myself. I've already gained 20 pounds.
  I asked her and talked to her. It's no use. She doesn't see it as a problem, she just laughs. And I, it seems, will soon have to buy a new wardrobe, as the old one is already cracking at the seams on me. © Overheard / Ideer

“My first attempt at Ratatouille”

Grandma’s magic recipes

• My grandmother was an amazing cook. She was able to make divine deliciousness out of the simplest foods. But she passed away when I was still a little girl, and she didn't leave any recipes or secrets, and there were no records among her things either.
  My whole childhood, I ate all sorts of tasteless junk food that my mother cooked, and I missed my grandmother and her delicious things very much. When I started cooking myself, I experimented a lot and tried different recipes. But sometimes the flavors from my childhood appear in the most unexpected places.
  Once, in an expensive restaurant in France, they served meat in a sauce exactly like my grandmother's. Of course, they never shared the recipe. Or a bakery in a small Italian village suddenly turned out to have cakes very similar in taste and appearance to my grandmother's. No one even spoke English there.
  It happened many times, but never once have I been able to find out the recipe. How is it even possible that a person who never traveled from a small town in the countryside could cook so delicious things from what grew in the garden and was sold in the shop? It's still a mystery to me, and I still hope to find her magic book with recipes somewhere. © Overheard / Ideer

“My first attempt at Beef Wellington”

A secret for a perfect result

Preheat your oven to 350 or don't, I won't judge. Cut up some broccoli so it's just the florets, throw those in a gallon ziplock bag, along with some olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Toss so everything gets coated, then throw the seasoned broccoli on a pan and put it in the oven. Let it go until you can see the tips just starting to turn brown. Take it out, plate it, and serve with balsamic glaze. It's an absolute hit every time. © xMCioffi1986x / Reddit

“Here is a Kraken pie my dad made.”

About cooking by the rule of thumb

• When I see my husband's sister cooking, it makes me cringe. I like to measure, peel, prepare everything in advance, and then start the process. But she makes everything on the run and simultaneously: cleaning, frying, sprinkling, checking the children's lessons, doing dishes.
  It feels like she's just throwing into the pot everything that comes under her hand. Everything is by the rule of thumb. Any spices, mixed up and piled high.
  It's useless to ask for the recipe, she can't remember what she threw in and how much, "A pinch," "A little," "Sprinkle it." And my favorite, "Add flour so that it's thick, but not too thick!" And most infuriating of all is that it's delicious. © Overheard / Ideer

First time making “Schnitzel” by myself — was amazing for real

"I like pigeons, and my boyfriend made me that cake last year for graduation."

When you don’t need a recipe

• I saw an appetizing pie in an expensive cookbook. Usually I cook by the rule of thumb, choosing the proportions instinctively, but this was a recipe from a famous French chef, so I decided to do everything exactly like in the book, with scales and a measuring cup.
  I thought that the dough was a bit runny, but maybe it’s just me not catching up with haute cuisine? So I baked it. I ate it, of course, but the dough was really a bit runny, the pie fell off.
  Next time, I just made it as I used to, by the rule of thumb. It came out perfect! Since then, I don’t like this: 144 grams of sugar, 176 grams of flour, oven at 365 degrees. © Overheard / Ideer

“I made a little frog cake for my birthday!”

A trick to sample your food

• This might not make any sense to people who aren't afflicted by my particular brand of insanity, but it's easily the best trick for cooking that I know: Most folks are aware that you should sample your own food as you're preparing it, but it's not always apparent how to balance out specific flavors. I've found that if a given dish (or even just one of its elements) is "feeling" too "hollow," then a pinch of the following concoction will often "fill it out." 2 Parts Garlic Powder 1 Part Cinnamon 1 Part Cumin.
  Granted, this probably shouldn't be used when making a non-savory dish... but I've found that it works for just about everything else. The one caveat is that you can only use it in one element of the overall meal, or else the whole thing winds up tasting like it never "goes through a key change." I first discovered this combination while making guacamole, and it remains the "secret ingredient" in each batch that I make. RamsesThePigeon / Reddit

"My experiments with cake pops , it turned out very cool."

Tea from a friend

• A friend made the most delicious tea I've ever tasted. I tried to ask for the recipe, but she wouldn't tell me. I know for sure that it contains cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, orange peel, ginger, and something else.
  But this "something else" is a mystery to me. I've been trying to replicate it for a month, trying to find the ingredients. What's in this tea?! © Overheard / Ideer

The secret to cooking meat

• People I know are surprised by the unusual flavor of dishes after my culinary experiments with meat. They ask me what the secret is. And the secret is simple - don't add soy sauce.
  Whatever recipe you open, it's everywhere, as if you had never lived without it. A piece of meat cooked simply with salt and black pepper - that's the key to flavor, not a fashionable incomprehensible slurry. © Overheard / Ideer

Bonus: there are "family recipes" like this, too

• My husband has always asked me to make mashed potatoes "like my mom's." Mine tastes good, but it's not the same. I ask my mother-in-law for the recipe, but she always avoids to answer.
  The secret was revealed by accident. I was helping her in the kitchen, opened the cupboard, and found a lot of jars of powdered mashed potatoes. I don't even know whether to tell my husband, but I'm glad I found out this secret because I was beginning to think that I couldn't cook. © Overheard / Ideer

There are countless cooking secrets, especially the ones passed down from our family.