frequently asked questions

Do I have to have made the recipe to review it? If not, why not?

No. Simply, we don't require that people prepare a recipe before reviewing it because it would be impossible to enforce (we could send a private investigator to your house to find out for sure, but we don't like to do that ). If we rejected reviews where the reviewer stated that they had not prepared it, folks would just stop mentioning this fact.

Often you will find a recipe that you have made before, and will want to review the recipe even if it is not the exact one you used before. Usually these comments offer valuable suggestions or possible substitutions. That information is valuable, we wouldn't want to eliminate it just because the person didn't prepare this exact recipe.

We think it is great when folks mention whether they made this recipe or not, and anyone reading the review will use that information to decide how they treat the comments in the review. Above all, honesty is the most important quality we seek in reviews.

What does each star level mean on the recipe ratings?

Five stars is the highest and one star is the lowest. Everyone has their own thoughts on what each star represents, and the law of averages will make the overall rating generally accurate.

5 Stars = Outstanding!
4 Stars = Loved it
3 Stars = Liked it
2 Stars = OK
1 Star = Didn't Like it
No Star = Posting a comment only

Do I have to write comments to go along with my review?

No. But they are definitely preferred. Surely, you have some information to share, such as how easy it was, any changes you made, etc. People who post the recipe will appreciate the feedback, and by sharing your experience you will help make Recipezaar a better place for future visitors as well.

What are the "helpfulness votes" on the reviews?

They allow you to tell us which reviews you find helpful. This will allow us to guide you to other recipes you may like based on how you agree/disagree with reviewers. Also, the reviews on the recipe are sorted by most helpful so that the most helpful reviews are most visible to people. Helpfulness votes also help us determine who are the Top Recipe Reviewers on Recipezaar each month.

Please click on the reviews that you find helpful or not. We keep your votes completely private.

Someone gave me a low rating on a recipe my family and I love. What can I do about that?

Well, everyone has different taste buds, so even though you and your friends & family may love a recipe, not everyone will feel the same. Sometimes it just boils down to a difference of taste. Take pride in the fact that your friends & family think its a winner and please don't take another person's opinion of your recipe as a personal insult. They are rating their experience with your recipe, not you personally.

Also remember that not every cook who tries your recipe will be at the same level of cooking experience, and therefore their results may vary greatly from yours. Have you checked over your recipe for any errors? Can you perhaps clarify any instructions that the reviewer may have had trouble with? You may submit a correction to a recipe at any time using the link on the recipe page. Even if there are no errors, the person who tried your recipe may have done something differently that affected the outcome - you may even have an idea what they did wrong based on their comments. Take heart in the fact that other more experienced cooks will also know this from reading the review and chances are, will still try your recipe despite the lower rating.

Can I post in the Forums about a (bad) review on a recipe?

Yes, if you are looking for suggestions on how to make the recipe better, or seeking a little sympathy. But you must be polite and respectful and you cannot name the reviewer by name or provide any information that would allow others to identify the recipe you referring to. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and you must respect that.

Please do not post at all if you are simply wanting to vent or seeking a little revenge — call a friend or family member instead. Even if you don't mention the name of the recipe or reviewer in your message, people can still figure out rather quickly which review has upset you. No matter how politely you attempt to vent your frustration with a review or reviewer, others will run to your defense and the thread will invariably turn into a witch hunt, which will cut down or humiliate the person that posted the review.

Personal attacks are specifically against our rules and these kinds of threads will be promptly thrown into The Frying Pan (What's The Frying Pan?).

Threads which tear down other people's opinions discourage others from posting honest reviews. Everytime one these threads is posted, we get hundreds of e-mails from people who tell us they will not review recipes on Recipezaar for fear they will be "bashed" for their opinions in the Forums, or folks will otherwise gang up on them. This is a very serious problem for Recipezaar, and we will always protect people's rights to their opinions. Please understand that everyone's taste is different and some people are not as articulate or as thoughtful in their reviews as others; their opinions are still worthwhile.

Note: You may publicly discuss how you personally choose to rate reviews — things such as what things you look for in a good recipe, how you personally interpret the meanings of the star values, etc. You just may not publicly discuss and/or analyze how others rate recipes.

Related:
What SHOULD you do if you have a concern about a review?

If I don't like someone, can I hurt their rating by reviewing their recipes low or voting their reviews unhelpful?

No. Recipezaar's rating system does not allow one person's ratings/votes to skew an individual's rank. You can try, but it will be a futile waste of your time because that's not how our system works.

Additionally, attempting to manipulate our system in this way (or with fake accounts designed to do the same thing) is specifically prohibited in our Terms of Service Agreement. We have computer systems which signal alarms when suspicious behavior like this is found, and your membership will be revoked and all reviews and recipes posted by you will be removed for such behavior.

How to write helpful recipe reviews

New to writing reviews? Want some tips on how to make your reviews more helpful to others? Here are some ideas to help you learn how:

• Remember to check the Stars.

  5 stars is for highest, 1 star for the lowest. See "What does each star level mean." If you just want to leave a comment without any stars, then select "no stars." This is allowed and does not count as a zero(more on this below).

• Leave some written Comments about the recipe.

  Whether you loved the recipe or hated it, or just thought it was ok, we want to know what you liked or disliked and how the recipe can be improved.

  Things you might mention would be:

  • How did it taste to you?
  • How accurate were the measurements and/or instructions?
  • Were the instructions clear or vague?
  • Did you feel the need to make any changes? What were these changes?
  • Would you make the recipe again?

  Note: You don't have to answer all of those questions - these are just suggestions. You also don't have to write a lengthy review (although you may ) Even just a few words about why you liked it or didn't like can be very helpful. Even though currently comments are not required, most people will find your review much more helpful if you do leave some.

• Be polite and tactful!

  No one likes to hear that you "fed this to the dogs it was so bad" or that their recipe "looked like puke." Real people have submitted these recipes and they have feelings. You can say the same thing politely and still get your message across, such as: "I did not enjoy the taste of this recipe and would not make it again" and "I thought the dish looked very unappetizing."

• Always be HONEST.

  This is one of the most important rules to follow. Writing a review should never be a scary experience. Don't be afraid to write your honest comments and rate the stars according to your particular experience with this recipe. You are not rating the recipe poster but the recipe itself. Don't be afraid of hurting the feelings of a friend - as long as you are polite & honest, a lower rating is not hurtful.

• Don't deliberately over-rate or under-rate a recipe.

  Leaving a bunch of inflated marks for recipes your friends have posted really isn't helpful to most people looking for good recipes to try. Folks might tend to discount your reviews if they think you are just trying to boost someone's ego. Does this mean you can't rate the recipes of your friends and family? Not at all - you most certainly are allowed to rate the recipes your friends or family members have shared. Just rate them honestly and don't be afraid of hurting their feelings.

  Also, if you are mad at a recipe poster and want to "get even" with them by giving them a crummy review, think again. Reviews are NOT the place to start a feud and you should never mark down a recipe as a vendetta. This type of review is not allowed and will get rejected or deleted. If you have an issue with someone, contact the Webmasters or that person directly.

• You may leave a No-Star Comment

  If you have not made the recipe, but want to comment on its authenticity or changes you would make, etc you may do so. However - you might consider not selecting any stars. You are not required to leave stars in order to leave a comment. Leaving a no-star comment, when tactfully worded, can be very helpful to others, but folks tend to get very upset when someone marks low stars on a recipe you have not tried. If you really feel you must leave stars anyway, then you may do so, it just might not earn you many helpful marks.

• Bear in mind any changes you made

  Many chefs like to play with the ingredients of a recipe or choose to make substitutions due to cost, ingredient availability, dietary needs and personal tastes. This is part of the fun of cooking! But please remember that changing the ingredients or method may sometimes produce a good result, but may also have contributed to an unsuccessful outcome. We do want to know what changes you made, but you might want to consider whether your changes affected your impression of the recipe. It might be more helpful in some cases to leave a no-star comment explaining what you did differently, so others may still benefit from your experience, but without falsely lowering or raising the star rating of the "as directed" version of the recipe.

• Reviews are not the place to ask questions of the chef.

  If you want to ask the recipe poster a question about the recipe or just to let them know that you think their recipe sounds great, you can do this two different ways. You can either select the "ask the chef a question" link at the bottom of the recipe page - the webmasters will send your question directly to the recipe poster via Zmail (Premium Feature). Or, if you need a quicker response, you can post a question on the message boards.

• You can revise reviews to make them more helpful.

  If you would like to re-write an old review, you may do so. Simply re-enter the stars and write new comments in the review box - your new review will replace the old one. If you simply want to add more info to your original comments, copy & paste your old review comments into the review box, and then add the additional comments (and don't forget to check off the stars again). You can fix typos this way too, by the way.

• You may not review your own recipe.

  If would like to address a point made by a reviewer, you may send in a correction and update your description, ingredients or steps. If you want to contact a reviewer, you may do so by leaving an ISO message on the message board for them or asking the Webmasters to privately email them with your message.

• If you don't have any recipes posted you MAY still review recipes.

  There is no requirement that you post recipes here in order to rate a recipe. The number of folks who are only here to gather recipes far outweighs the number of folks who actually post recipes. Zaar has thousands of members who only visit to try out recipes and never post one here themselves. Don't be afraid to share your experience with others. We are happy you found something to try and hope you'll try more.

  Furthermore, new members may also rate recipes. You may rate recipes as soon as you join Recipezaar. There is no waiting period, no mandatory number of posts etc. You can jump right in!

Why doesn't Recipezaar just get rid of the stars and only allow comments so people's feelings won't be hurt?

With as many recipes as we have, we need to have a ratings system to help people find recipes they will like. People really do read the comments, they don't just pay attention to the stars.

What to do if you have a concern about a review?

If you have a concern about the legitimacy or content of any review, you should contact us privately using the Contact Us form (link at the bottom of every page) and including the recipe ID #. We are happy to investigate issues — mistakes are sometimes made.

You may post an ISO message for a reviewer to ask a question, respond to a question they posed regarding your recipe, or to thank them for trying your recipe.

For example,you might say something like this:

"Thank you for trying my recipe. You mentioned in your review that you substituted some ingredients, I suspect this might have caused the problem."
or

"I'm sorry the recipe didn't work out for you. Can we discuss what may have gone wrong?"

However, it is almost always wrong to post in the Forums about a (bad) review.