A pizza pop is just a tiny calzone.
May 15, 2020 6:28 PM Subscribe
On the popularity of cooking and recipe videos: Cooking Food On The Internet For Fun And Profit
Totally missing the point of most of the video, I have to say a pizza pop is a tiny panzerotti, not a calzone. Also, you microwave them for half-time then finish in the toaster for 5 minutes to crisp them up.
posted by cardboard at 8:22 PM on May 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by cardboard at 8:22 PM on May 15, 2020 [1 favorite]
Well.
That's pretty much spoiled my interest in cooking videos, so thanks for that I guess.
I mean, that "thanks" is half sarcasm, but also half sincere. I like food, and I enjoy cooking, but I'm now painfully aware that my stated rationale for watching cooking videos - "looking for new ideas and techniques" - was shading well into the addiction of consuming spectacle (often while simultaneously consuming quick unspectacular fare or junky snacks or food made and delivered by someone else) instead of actually applying all the amazing stuff I've seen toward make amazing food in my own kitchen. So, thanks. But also, thanks!
Maybe now I'll spend more time cooking or cleaning house rather than remain slouched in front of my computer screen. Or, wait! I wonder what sort of cool "housecleaning hacks" I could find on YouTube! You know, to help get me into that Clean All The Things mood...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:23 PM on May 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
That's pretty much spoiled my interest in cooking videos, so thanks for that I guess.
I mean, that "thanks" is half sarcasm, but also half sincere. I like food, and I enjoy cooking, but I'm now painfully aware that my stated rationale for watching cooking videos - "looking for new ideas and techniques" - was shading well into the addiction of consuming spectacle (often while simultaneously consuming quick unspectacular fare or junky snacks or food made and delivered by someone else) instead of actually applying all the amazing stuff I've seen toward make amazing food in my own kitchen. So, thanks. But also, thanks!
Maybe now I'll spend more time cooking or cleaning house rather than remain slouched in front of my computer screen. Or, wait! I wonder what sort of cool "housecleaning hacks" I could find on YouTube! You know, to help get me into that Clean All The Things mood...
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:23 PM on May 15, 2020 [4 favorites]
And learning that bannock was derived from government rations distributed to displaced indigenous peoples was pretty fucking wrenching.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 PM on May 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:29 PM on May 15, 2020 [2 favorites]
Yeah, that bit about bannock was pretty revelatory. Interestingly, the wikipedia article seems pretty good about that.
posted by vernondalhart at 12:24 AM on May 16, 2020
posted by vernondalhart at 12:24 AM on May 16, 2020
This was really interesting, I enjoyed it!
posted by freethefeet at 1:58 AM on May 16, 2020
posted by freethefeet at 1:58 AM on May 16, 2020
Also, you microwave them for half-time then finish in the toaster for 5 minutes to crisp them up.
No, you put them in the nuker for two minutes (plus or minus, depending on your microwave's capabilities), get bored and do something else for a while so you miss the beep when it's done. By the time you remember, they will have cooled to a manageable temperature. You then eat them with your hands, keeping a paper towel or napkin handy to keep from getting grease on the keyboard and scrape off the congealed cheese and sauce from the plate with your fingernail and lick them off.
posted by suetanvil at 3:13 AM on May 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
No, you put them in the nuker for two minutes (plus or minus, depending on your microwave's capabilities), get bored and do something else for a while so you miss the beep when it's done. By the time you remember, they will have cooled to a manageable temperature. You then eat them with your hands, keeping a paper towel or napkin handy to keep from getting grease on the keyboard and scrape off the congealed cheese and sauce from the plate with your fingernail and lick them off.
posted by suetanvil at 3:13 AM on May 16, 2020 [3 favorites]
I've also noticed an inherent class bias in a lot of these internet cooking videos. Outside of gold leaf donuts, most channels tend to assume that the viewer is middle class or at least isn't on a controlled budget for food. As a broke ass person, it really hits home sometimes when a channel I occasionally follow puts out a video for a relatively expensive cut of fish, beef, or some shrimp which end up tantalizing in both "oooh, I bet that tastes good" and "oooh, I wish I could afford to not give a fuck and spend $10 on a protein for 1 meal". I know it's not the creator's intent to alienate those who might not be able to afford what they're making, but it happens regardless.
posted by Philipschall at 5:21 AM on May 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Philipschall at 5:21 AM on May 16, 2020 [2 favorites]
This was interesting and I'm glad I heard his point of view.
I think most YouTube users would be best served by ignoring YouTube's recommendations and only using search. I've only recently had any interest in cooking videos, but it's clear that I'm finding a completely different genre of them than the ones he's analyzing here. His critiques seem spot on for a lot of video "content," even beyond YouTube, but they also don't apply so much to the things I actually spend time on. The ones I'm interested in are very low on spectacle.
It occurs to me only now that I've actually got a keyword search set up in my web browser so I don't even see the front page of YouTube at all when I search for a video. I type "yt banana pancakes" and YouTube's ideas about what's important to me today can go jump in the lake.
posted by Western Infidels at 10:04 AM on May 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
I think most YouTube users would be best served by ignoring YouTube's recommendations and only using search. I've only recently had any interest in cooking videos, but it's clear that I'm finding a completely different genre of them than the ones he's analyzing here. His critiques seem spot on for a lot of video "content," even beyond YouTube, but they also don't apply so much to the things I actually spend time on. The ones I'm interested in are very low on spectacle.
It occurs to me only now that I've actually got a keyword search set up in my web browser so I don't even see the front page of YouTube at all when I search for a video. I type "yt banana pancakes" and YouTube's ideas about what's important to me today can go jump in the lake.
posted by Western Infidels at 10:04 AM on May 16, 2020 [1 favorite]
Hey! An intellectual used the word "spectacle" a dozen times without once mentioning Guy Debord and the Situationists! I'm impressed.
posted by kozad at 11:06 AM on May 16, 2020
posted by kozad at 11:06 AM on May 16, 2020
This guy's great. His video on the movie Annihilation wrinkled my brain.
posted by LegallyBread at 7:29 AM on May 18, 2020
posted by LegallyBread at 7:29 AM on May 18, 2020
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posted by SansPoint at 6:44 PM on May 15, 2020 [2 favorites]