EDIT: Let’s cool it with the downvotes, dudes. We’re not out to cut funding to your black hole detection chamber or revoke the degrees of chiropractors just because a couple of us don’t believe in it, okay? Chill out, participate with the prompt and continue with having a nice day. I’m sure almost everybody has something to add.
I’m a former chef, so I call cooking an art, and baking a science. The recipes need a lot more data in baking, so that everyone can follow the recipe and get consistent results. I can eyeball my shit everywhere else and get great results. I still use measuring spoons and cups for some recipes, but most of the time I’m just playing with ingredients, and adding by smell/taste.
Lots of chefs think that way. I did, too, until I dropped the recipes and started experimenting on my own. Getting a feel for bread dough, knowing what various ingredients will do. Feeling out viscosity of batter. It’s just as much an art as cooking, if you know what you’re doing. And cooking has just as much science, what with acid, maillard reactions, etc.
I mean… it’s not like average people can get consistent results with chef recipes, either, without measuring certain ingredients precisely.
Yeah, the way I see it is both are about balancing a bunch of things, but baking has a) more things to balance and b) fewer chances to detect and correct imbalances.