You speak (or, at times, clamor); we listen. And we do our best to evolve. In response to popular demand, we're hoping to strengthen our Editors' Pick recommendations -- by calling on you. Though we've always tested as many Editors' Picks as possible, we'd like to be able to include more and really highlight the best of the best. Enter the food52 community: We want volunteer recipe testers to help us rate the potential Editors' Picks each week. If you already find yourself making recipes you see submitted to our contests, you're halfway there! All that's left is sending us a quick note with your verdict. You'll be fulfilling an important role in the site -- Editors' Picks don't just get a shout out in a weekly blog post, they also filter to the top of the recipe search page. It's a pretty weighty responsibility (it's also lots of fun).
Here's how we're thinking it will work:
Each Thursday, we'll put up a blog post with a list of candidates and, in the comments section, you can all call dibs on which recipe(s) you'd like to test (no friends scratching friends' backs allowed -- we're trusting you to be impartial).
By the following Tuesday, you'll email us your notes: whether you'd recommend it as an Editors' Pick, a 100-word description of how it turned out, and any minor tweaks you'd add to the recipe (like if a step needs clarification or the author forgot to list an ingredient -- not if you think their pizza would be better deconstructed into a salad, or other major creative changes of that ilk). Then we'll comb through your evaluations and choose the best 10 or so recipes to be featured as Editors' Picks, in addition to the ones we've tested and deemed Pick-worthy. You and your comments will be cited in the "Amanda & Merrill's Notes" section at the top of the recipe (until we come up with a better place for them).
This will continue to be a work in progress. We'll give it a shot and if it works, great! And if not, we'll keep on tweaking, with your input in mind. So clamor on, folks.
Good challenge you've posed. Can you clarify the rules - do you mean that each recipe is only tested by one person, or each person can only officially test one recipe per week?
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agosorry just saw this -- each recipe is only tested by one person. Thanks for your interest!
Sign me up! I've tried quite a few recipes already.
I'm up for testing!
Count me in, too! I used to test recipes for Cook's Illustrated--it's a lot of fun!
wow! really?! how fantastic!
I'm in, soon as I get the cast off my arm!
Delighted to see this opportunity to further contribute to Food52! I'm assuming we should be testing the recipe 'as is' - with no clever adjustments? As many have noted here, I, too, cook many recipes from this site every week. I recently realized that Food52 has come to replace the much mourned Gourmet magazine. I've always subscribed to several food magazines, but somehow, once Gourmet was gone, I stopped reading them. The evidence: three months of Food and Wine are untouched! Thank heavens for this community, keeping things new in my kitchen.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoWe'd like the recipes to be tested as is, with room for minor adjustments like adding more salt as you see fit or using a jalapeno because you couldn't find a serrano -- so the original recipe is honored and properly assessed. If, however, you think it's a great recipe but one that you might try a few variations on, please add those thoughts in the comment you send to us.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoGreat to see all your comments and your willingness to dig in! We'll respond to your questions in the morning -- we have a few meetings, then we'll be back at the computer!
This is a really great idea, and I am looking forward to testing, commenting, and reading feedback from other Food 52 users on the Editors' Pick candidates. I cook a lot from Food 52 every week, and always wonder whether it is appropriate/welcome to post our photos of the final dish to the recipes we try - any thoughts?
I was wondering this also, as the "add photo" option is available on all the recipes we view.
I usually try to post a photo for each recipe but frequently they refuse to upload. I'm not sure what the issue is, as I have no trouble putting them up on my blog.
Pierino, you probably need to downsize your images; they need to be pretty low-res for Food52.
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoSure! Photos are always welcome -- and you can add as many as you like. And if you want to upload video, you can do that, too!
Will there be a limit to either the number of recipes one person can test in a weekend or to the number of times the potentional editor's picks can be tested?
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoTo begin, to keep things simple, we'd like each person to take just one recipe, and for each recipe to be tested by just one person. But would love feedback on this once we get going.
Fun!
Count me in as well please!
Add my endorsement, I would love to join in but for the fact that it's enough work for me to re-test my own recipes. That said, I would love to hear feed back from food52 cooks who have tried mine. I love the crack of the whip of doing this stuff on deadline. I do measure and weigh ingredients before writing up my contributions, but there is a caveat and that would be that no two kitchens are alike. Oven temps, sharpness of knives, BTU's and Scoville units all matter to the outcome. I still have a plan to cook a food52 submission from a hotel room someplace. I travel with the tools of ignorance in my car trunk.
Fantastic! I have friends who are great cooks but intimidated by making 'new' recipes. This aspect of the process will really bring in folks who love to cook as well as troubleshoot in many different environments.
This is great. I already have been trying out some of the recipes and have had so much fun doing so. It is good for the recipe writer as well -- what works in our kitchen...I often wonder...how is it working for someone else? If it needs to be tweeked I am so interested in knowing so. Count me in!
Sounds like an excellent idea!
Looking forward to it! I think this is an excellent way to make the editors picks totally reliable and selective.
I would LOVE to help and contribute. Please count me in!!
I'm down for it too...
Great idea, I'm in!
Fun! This should help with my recipe following skills. ;0
I'm in!!!
Sounds like a good plan to me!
Ditto to AntoniaJames repy...a lot of Editor's Picks seem to based on a unique idea or clever verbage rather than a solid recipe.
oh, hey! now this is great. active community participation-love it. looking forward to helping.
Great idea!! I try at least five or six Food52 recipes a week . . . . and have had quite a few disappointments with Editors' Picks, so I am 100% in favor of testing before endorsing. I'm in!
Amanda is a co-founder of Food52.
added about 1 year agoThanks for suggesting rethinking it -- your email was one of the reasons we did this.
This has been my experience as well. This is a GREAT idea. One of the things that separates this site from others (for me) is the fact I can rely on the fact the recipes have really been tested. Sign me up - I'm already cooking a few of them each week!
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