This is a hobby to a lot of people.
This is a job to a lot of people.

Critique on the original submission if the skill level is around the same

Good tips are always nice, like what should they add do the dish to make it even tastier
otherwise I think they should keep it to themselves unless the person says they want criticism with it.

Critique is something a Chef is always willing and should be required to take. For a home cook or hobbyist, unless they specifically want it it's usually not welcome or required.

As a Chef, you are constantly critiqued by superiors, by coworkers, by diners, and by actual food critics. It's how you get better.

For the record, this wuff is always open to suggestions or constructive critique. But Vrghr can definitely understand how those can go the wrong way, cause hurt feelings, or might cause furs to avoid posting their work for fear of them.

This wuff recommends those contributors who want or welcome comments to say so on their submissions. And such comments be limited to the original posting site, unless (like some) FACCC is the place where the only recipe is posted.

For those making suggestions, please do it in the spirit of sharing and kindness, to help the cook and the dish both. Be positive, not destructive, in the comment.

As an ex chef in training i would have to say i love the idea of critique

Easiest way to impliment this would be for the original post to specify critique wanted or not from fellow culinary beasts with a header and sig line, kinda like:

=====Critique Welcome!=====

Description of culinary goodness

======================

Just a quick and dirty solition :)

I don't necessarily like negative feedback, but I will accept it as long as it's done tactfully. I would say don't post here unless you can handle a certain level of feedback.

I think they should all be shot!... but that's jus' my critique on the matter... aaaw crap! *shoots self* :P

*critical hit*

I think more people need to have thicker hides and realize that critique =! attack, it's because someone cares enough to go out of their way to help you improve. Isolating yourself in a box because you don't potentially want your feelings hurt means you don't grow at all as a person and remain stunted. Not only that but someone who doesn't know what they are doing could be dangerous in a kitchen. Imagine if no one ever pulled them aside and said "Dude, you can't feed someone raw chicken, it could kill them" because it might discourage your chef-to-be. You have to learn to get over yourself and deal with things you don't necessarily like to be a successful, functional adult in our society.

Listen to people that are better than you and know better. Keep improving until you surpass them. Critique each other's stuff. Share ideas. Get in conflicts. That is the process of evolving and becoming a better artist, chef, writer, programmer, or human being in general.


The other side of the coin is some people should be writing critique and some shouldn't. I won't say negative reinforcement isn't worth anything, because Ramsay wouldn't have a TV career if it wasn't. The difference is, obviously, he has years of experience and a three star restaurant. I'm going to hazard a guess MOST people commenting on FA do not. Critique is a tool of learning, not about debasing novices to make your e-peen bigger.

There are things that are objectively right or wrong, like the previous example about raw chicken, and there are matters of personal opinion and taste. If you're going to critique, stick as closely to objective points as possible. When you stray away from the basics and get into advanced technique that your run-of-the-mill weekend chef aren't familiar with it can be an overload of information and your advice will be lost in a sea of gibberish. With anything else it's fair to offer it as a suggestion or an alternative, but saying it is the CORRECT way to do something when it's entirely subjective is just as limiting as someone denying critique at all. Assert your logic and reasoning for your advice, establish yourself as a knowledgeable source so people feel comfortable looking to you as a source of information.


It's more complicated than can be summed up in a comment on a furry art site. Critique is a delicate process, and both giving it and receiving it are acquired skills. There are entire books of philosophy and theory about the subject. The only way you REALLY get better at anything is by doing it over and over again.


TL;DR
Dude, just help each other not suck. The concept shouldn't be controversial.

Only immature people can't take a well-wishing critique.

All the critiques I've gotten so far have been ideas that wouldn't have occurred to me otherwise! More!

Is it really that big an issue in this group? I don't think I've really seen comments that were out of line.. but that may just be me. Sometimes I wonder if we can post anything beyond "nice!".. and that's for more than just this group. I fear I speak my mind, if something looks like the cat yacked it up, I may teasingly say that. I've been guilty of taking pics of dishes with bad lighting and the end result is not appetizing

From Chris:

Speaking respectfully - From time to time, it certainly can be a very big issue :3

And I can give you two examples - and granted this was from a good while ago, but still -

was critiqued - rather unfairly, mind you - about one of her meat dishes.

Or, had the same thing happen to him. (basically, they objected to the use of meat in the dish, and in a rather offensive manner, put it that way.)

On my end, all I can say is, I've seen enough drama and I want to prevent further issues, its as simple as that.

Those are very odd criticisms, and hardly constructive. That's like going to an artist and complaining that they use a particular medium (although I suppose if it was carved into ivory.. maybe.)

Thanks for clearing it up for me. I didn't think we really had issues with it ^^ Sounds like just some folks who need something to gripe about.

If you're doing any kind of art, be it dancing, drawing, singing, cooking, you should take criticism. You won't improve if you get in a huff and cry every time someone doesn't absolutely love what you make/do. Part of improving and reaching your full potential is accepting feedback and critique, whether its good or bad.

I would think that if someone is willing to post up something in order to show it, they should be able to live with at least basic critique.

I can't help but think this came about from my recent critique on someone's post wherein they showed a nasty kitchen and it was quite offputting to me in and of itself. If I insulted someone, or made someone who had done something for the first time not want to post more things? I can't really say I'm sorry for what I said. Even if they hadn't posted anything here, if I had seen a kitchen looking like that it would have made me wince... that they thought it would be fine to post such an image online and no one would notice is confusing. You'd think a person would clean their kitchen before cooking in general, not just if they planned to post an image later on.

I can understand if someone calls them out for something silly, then tries to get "technical" about it, claiming to have more skill and knowledge than the person posting the recipe and ripping into them some small change or difference in the preparation or ingredients. That's not really required, since to each their own when making food; one person will enjoy a flavor that another might want presented another way.

But a clean kitchen and utensils seen like the FIRST thing any cook would want. Yes things get messy during the cooking process and that's to be expected. But in the case I commented on, it was well beyond just the dishes that had been used. I hope I'm wrong, but... if you're going to post something to eat online for others to consider eating, at the very least give ypur kitchen a good cleaning, or if not, prepare a simple area that's neat and orderly to take the pictures in.

I don't mind critique if the person knows what they are talking about. It helps the cook/artist/whatever improve. But sometimes an opinion is just an opinion. I'm a professional, so I'm going to be critiqued whether I like it or not, good or bad.

What bugs me is comments like this: "I think I'll take a pass on this one...Not a fan of chicken and cabbage together." (posted on my chicken cabbage recipe a few months ago) I held my tongue on this one, but I didn't like it. Nobody cares if you don't like a certain food or a certain pairing. Its better to just not comment.

Tips on shooting food better = should pretty much always be okay because while there will naturally be variances in what someone can achieve, regardless of WHAT you're cooking if you're showing it off shouldn't you want it to look as good as you can manage with the skills and tools available to you? Something might be amazing but if it LOOKS like a plate of puke and macaque diarrhea that's going to defeat the purpose of sharing it in the first place. I don't expect cook book levels of food photography, but if we can banish the looks-like-dog-turds-and-vom experience we will be in a slightly better place as a species.

As for HOW it is made... idk it really depends? If it's a matter of personal taste that's being presented as fact, that's not cool ("ugh it should always be made with THING" - I'd say I view it as similar to when people whine on art about the subject matter. Cool, you feel a way! It doesn't matter. Note that I wouldn't put "have you ever tried it with y?" in the same category.) and generally unneeded and kinda pointless and can even dip into being rude. If it's offering tips that can help someone I feel fairly strongly that that should be okay, provided the person is respectful (which I realize should be inferred by "constructive critique" but just what that is can vary from person to person, where some feel that if they didn't spit in the person's face and tell them to kill themselves everything else is "constructive"). If it's educating about food safety issues that should absolutely be okay ("are you.. uh.. putting the salad in the bowl that had the raw chicken, without washing it?") across the board, provided it adheres to generally accepted levels of not-being-a-douche about it, and I privately reserve the right to laugh to myself if Captain Salmonella ever gets themselves sick after snottily refusing to listen to well meaning food safety advice.