How to test your friends
a recipe testing template + community resource (TK)
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Dear Not So Secret Agent reader,
Wow, the response to last week’s newsletter about recipe testing has been tremendous. If you are new here (welcome!), I encourage you to check out that post before you read this one.
I did make one oversight (HUGE thanks to the reader who gently pointed this out with a great clarifying question): The rate range ($120-$200) I mentioned for recipe testing is PER recipe. Facepalm on my part for not being clear.
I also want to give a BIG PLUG for Dianne Jacob’s Will Write for Food book, which has an entire chapter dedicated to recipe writing.
Like I said last week, investing in engaging a formal recipe tester may not be in the cards for you. As such, below is a general template you can use if you’d rather start by outsourcing testing to a friend or super fan of your work. I encourage you to personalize the template however you like.
Oh, and no need to overthink this! You can add to the directions or evolve these as your recipe testing process unfolds. My recommendation? Copy and paste the following text into a Word document and send that to a friend along with one of your newer recipes or longtime fan favs.
***Not So Secret Agent Side Note: if you really want an eye-opening experience, stand next to a friend while they cook your recipe. Watch where they get tripped up and pay attention to the parts they sail through easily. The challenge is that you must stay silent, and you can’t help them if they encounter any confusion. Watching how someone solves problems can yield new and creative results too.***
RECIPE TESTING GUIDELINES
Dear Tester,
The purpose of testing recipes is to ensure that the recipe is communicating clearly to the cook/baker so that they can obtain a result which resembles the desired outcome.
Check the accuracy of your oven with a thermometer and make any necessary adjustments. This is especially important for baking.
Do exactly what the recipe says, even if it is not how you were taught or how you yourself would do it. Remember that you are testing the recipe and how it is written, not your knowledge and skills. After you have finished, please feel free to make any comments or suggestions about techniques, instructions, order of the steps, ingredient adjustments, better use of wording, etc. If the recipe/instructions do not make sense to you, please explain why.
If the recipe is not specific enough and you must guess what the author meant to convey, please note this in your comments. Example: The recipe did not tell me how long or at what stage to beat the yolks and sugar. Was I supposed to whisk them until pale and thick? That’s what I did.
Please note if something unexpected happens. Tell me how you dealt with it. Example: When I added the melted chocolate to the egg yolks, it got so thick that it was hard to fold into the egg whites. I ended up setting the bowl in warm water to soften the mixture before folding.
If the recipe is not clear and the author has assumed too much knowledge on the part of the basic cook, let me know. Feel free to make queries in the margin of the recipe that you think would help the reader, even if you know the answers. Examples: Should the lemon juice be strained? Should the nutmeg be freshly grated? How long can the sauce be made ahead of time? Does it need to be covered? Etc.
Any other thoughts and suggestions are welcome. I really appreciate your time and effort! This is the most important step in the cookbook writing process.
~your name~
Here is a form to accompany the instructions above. Keep in mind that if you use a group of testers, you will want to keep track of who tested what. Oftentimes, people will revise and send the new version of the recipe back to the same tester before sending it to a different tester for a fresh set of eyes.
Recipe Name:
Tester Name:
Phone:
Date:
Preparation time:
Did you follow the directions precisely?_______________________________
Were the instructions clear and concise?_________________________________
Did you have all the necessary equipment? ________________________________
Were the ingredients readily available? ________________________________
Were the “number of servings” correct? ________________________________
Did you do something different from the directions? If so, what? ________________________________
How were the results? ________________________________
Were the oven/stove temperatures correct? _______________________________
Were the baking times correct?_____________________________________
Was this easy or difficult to prepare?_________________________________
Would you make this again?________________
General comments:
Now that you have a template for engaging friends, what about the community list of recipe testers that you added your name to last week? Well dear readers, the response has been overwhelming and I am still compiling all the info. Stay tuned for the list next week.
If you missed your chance to add your name to the list of those looking for more recipe testing gigs, I extended the deadline to Thursday July 17th. Drop your name, email, and preferred social or website link in THIS google form. Please note that adding your info means you acknowledge that this will be shared publicly.
I guess I underestimated the cook time for my NSSA Recipe Tester Community Resource List. It needs one more week in the oven.
~Sally~
***Not So Secret Agent BONUS Side Note: Huge thanks to fellow cookbook loving Substacker
for interviewing me on Cookbookery Collective. I feel so seen and appreciated by her. If you’re looking for a window into what I do as a literary agent, I hope you check out the interview here.***
As a reminder, if you’re interested in honing your recipe writing skills and want to network with the NSSA reader community, I highly encourage you to come to the first NSSA Skill Building Session.
When: July 30th from 1-2:30ET (deadline to “register” aka upgrade your subscription is July 28th at 12ET)
Where: on Zoom (recording provided after)
Deets: The first hour will be an overview and AMA. Then, during the last 30 mins, I will facilitate an OFFER & ASK networking session. This is your opportunity to either make an offer to someone in our virtual room to help support their work, or to make an ask of those who might be in a position to help you with a specific career goal. Come with a generous and abundant mindset, whatever this means to you.
Please note that the OFFER & ASK session is NOT specific to recipe writing, so feel free to come for the whole 90 mins and participate in whatever part feels aligned with how you want to show up.
This event is reserved exclusively for paying readers to ensure that those most engaged in professional development are in the same room. Registration for the event closes at noon ET on July 28th. All paying subscribers will get an email with the Zoom info by Tuesday the 29th.
To “register” you must upgrade your subscription to this newsletter.
Want to join? Upgrade your subscription HERE. Equity spots available.
Thank you for all this super helpful information. One thing I include on my recipe-testing form is the question: "Is the recipe worth the effort?" Since I sometimes write rather complicated recipes, I want to be certain that any recipe that asks a lot of the cook will deliver. I also ask my tester to give each recipe a grade (A+, A, B+, REJECT, or RETEST). Anything less than an "A" needs a serious second look before making it into a cookbook.
Two more testing tips that I've found useful over the years as a cookbook editor: 1. Most cookbooks are written for the average home cook. So when testing be sure that whoever is testing is using regular kitchen equipment that most people would have. It's not useful to rent a commercial kitchen with powerful gas stoves or for a chef to test their recipes in their restaurant kitchen if they expect readers to make their recipes at home. 2. Testers should be clear if they are using a gas or electric stove, which heat up and cool down at very different rates and could affect timing cues in a recipe. Hope this is helpful!