Comment by vec | Hacker News Reader

Comment by vec | Hacker News Reader

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I started using these services (originally Blue Apron; more recently Hello Fresh) with the express goal of learning to cook. I originally planned to continue the service until I had a catalog of recipes I knew I liked and enough skill to do for myself. I met my initial goal six months ago, cancelled my subscription, then restarted it a couple of months after that.

I found that when I had to choose a recipe to cook, I just wouldn't end up doing it. I'd forget, or put it off, or make some excuse. I know I'm happier when I cook, I have enough skill now, and I go to the grocery store at least once a week anyway. But it turns out it just didn't happen most weeks. I ordered pizza or microwaved frozen food or ate out and felt like crap for not eating well.

There's something incredibly powerful about defaults. I'm not paying for recipes and ingredients. I'm paying for someone to tell me "cook this tonight". And I do. I cook more often, eat healthier, and end up happier at the end of the week. And maybe that's not true for everyone, but I'm more than happy to pay an extra $20 or so over sticker cost for the nudge.

I'm interested by your experience because I've always wondered if using one of these services to learn how to cook doesn't really reflect how most people actually cook in their home which is not to really have strict recipes but improvise based on what you have in the kitchen. I'm always surprised by my partner who can't follow a recipe to save her life. Somehow it always all falls apart. On the other hand, when she's throwing together a dinner she's an improv master balancing flavour, nutrition, against a limited set of ingredients. I'm not sure if practicing recipes will develop that intuition but that's her default.

On the other hand my parents, who aren't good cooks in general, started using hello fresh. While it didn't really change the way they cooked, it broadened the range of ingredients and spices they used while teaching them to actually add salt to things and all of that improved their cooking immeasurably.

I've never used a meal-kit service, but I cook all the time and never use "what's in the kitchen"..

I cook for myself almost every day, but since I live in a large city, I am basically a "daily shopper" for groceries. I pass all kinds of markets on the way home from work so I stop and pick up what I need for dinner (with a meal already in mind but not necessarily a recipe in hand), and then cook when I get home.

Obviously I have a lot of staples (spices, oils, etc), and I typically do larger meat runs once a week or so and fill up the freezer, but fruits, veggies and specific ingredients I pick up as needed based on the overall category of meal I want to make.

Now that said, I've been cooking like this for 15 years so I have a rotating set of 15-20 recipes (with variations on each) that I can stop and get ingredients without looking at a list..

It was definitely that repetition and practice that got me to that point, and I'm grateful for it, so if you think meal-kits will get you there too, keep at it!

You won't learn how to cook improvisationaly, that's true. What you will learn are new cooking/prepping techniques (zesting, massage the kale so it tastes less bitter, julienning, fry lightly on the stove and move the pan to the oven to broil, etc), and be exposed to new ingredients and styles.

Disclaimer: I work for a BA competitor, Green Chef.

What about the services that just sell you the meal plan/recipes, instead of sending you the whole package? Or, now that you have presumably a good set of those recipes, just repeating the order in which you got them?

I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, it's called "The Joy of Cooking"

There is another meal planning serving called Cooksmarts without the raw ingredients.

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