Cookbook writers are ridiculously bad at guessing how long it'll take to prepare a meal.

The author of this article is not alone. I'm right there with Jesse in typically needing double the time to complete a recipe.

I think the most telling part is the two comments from cookbook authors that the published times are from people who have made these recipes a lot.

The first time I'm making a recipe, I typically first assemble all of the ingredients and then carefully prepare and measure them. And then carefully go through each step of the recipe. But with more experience, I don't need to keep stopping to refer to the recipe. I know the order to add ingredients. I also know when corners can be cut.

So I totally appreciate this quote:

But it was Chris Kimball, editor of Cook's Illustrated, who cut to the heart of it. "Utter bullshit," he said when I asked what he thought of cooking times.

Right on Kimball!