Definition of "from scratch"

[just_lily]

How do you define "from scratch"?

I was just putting together a pizza from dinner, and started to think about when something can be considered to be made from scratch. There seems to be a sliding scale, so I would love to hear others' opinions.

My pizza, for example. I would say I make everything from scratch, but the sauce is made from store-bought canned tomato sauce and tomato paste. Does that count? I could have canned the sauce myself, and heck even grown the tomatoes. But I didn't... so is it still from scratch?

I bought the mozzerella.

I didn't grind the flour.

Compared to a frozen pizza it is definitely more "scratch-like", but is it really "from scratch?"

What about my chicken and broccoli casserole where I use a canned cream soup and top it with crushed butter crackers? Is that from scratch?

So how bare-bones do your ingredients need to be before you consider yourself to be cooking from scratch?


And I should say that I am quite happy about how I am cooking at the moment. Sure it would be great to be able to do a lot more myself, but I am realistic that in this season of my life, with a young toddler and five other kids in my house 50 hours a week it just isn't going to happen. This is just a thread in fun.

[velochic]

I would call your pizza from scratch and your casserole not from scratch (semi-homemade).

With the pizza, you used whole ingredients. Even if the tomatoes were canned, it wasn't like using canned pizza sauce. They are single-ingredient items, even if they are commercially canned.

But the casserole, you used highly processed/chemical ingredients and that's why I say not from scratch. You could have made your own béchamel instead of using the "cream of" soup and used homemade breadcrumbs instead of crackers, then it would have been from scratch.

In general, I consider food to be from scratch if you've used ingredients that are as close to natural state as possible. Dough made from store-bough flour is from scratch, IME, as much as dough made from home-ground wheat flour. One way or another, it has to be ground to make the dough, whether you do it or the factory does it. Same for mozzarella, same for tomatoes... these are single ingredient items. "Cream of" sauce is not even close to natural in any way.

Well, that's my opinion, anyway.

[cristeen]

Originally Posted by velochic

I would call your pizza from scratch and your casserole not from scratch (semi-homemade).

I agree.

For me, cooking from scratch means that if someone were to open my fridge or my pantry, they wouldn't find food that is ready-to-eat... they'll find ingredients.

Although Velochic is much more eloquent and I could just say "me too"

[wholewheatchick]

I agree with both of the above. I like how velochic described from scratch cooking as using "single ingredient items" to create a meal. But I also agree that you don't need to grind the flour to count it as from-scratch!

And as a play on what Cristeen said: I also don't buy food, I buy ingredients! lol I read somewhere that girl 1 had a friend (girl 2) over and the girls got hungry for a snack. Girl 2 opens the fridge, the cupboard, the pantry, and complains that there is no food to be had. Girl 1 counters that there is plenty of food...it's just that some assembly is required!

[Magelet]

I agree with the pp's. I would say that single ingredient foods doesn't quite cover it precisely (for instance, mozzerella could be considered a more than 1 ingrediant food, as it has milk, cultures, rennet in it). However, for canned foods, I'd say that definitely holds true. (though I don't personally consider canned beans "from scratch".)

I guess for me, from scratch is whole foods and I made the peices from as simple ingrediants as is reasonably possible for me to make, and when there are not reasonable variations made from scratch by someone else for an affordable amount and less labor. I could can my own tomatoes, however I have no place to store them, so it is easier to buy canned tomatoes. I could make my own mozzerella, but I can buy mozzerella made how I would make it at home if I had the know how and time, affordably. I could grind my flour, if i could afford a grain mill, however I can also buy flour that is ground essentially the same way I would grind it, albeit on a larger scale.

To me the cassarole is the epitome of "not from scratch cooking" (I'll admit, I think there is a whole world of processed food that is beyond my conception, however, it's hard to imagine for me, what a diet made entirely of foods with no assembly would be. I mean, box mixes and canned soup I understand, but what is beyond that? entirely frozen dinners?). It contains processed foods, foods that are very different than how you would make them yourself, both in how they were made, their ingrediants, and their nutrients. For instance, you could make cream soup yourself. The joy of cooking has a recipe for cream of everything soups. However, it would be fundamentally very different than canned cream soup. Different ingrediants, different health, different food. Same with the crackers. You could make crackers or breadcrumbs, however you would go about it very differently.

(I guess artisan ingrediants and single ingrediant ingrediants for me mostly count as from scratch.)

[mamadelbosque]

I'd count the first one as from-scratch, for sure. I make pizza on a fairly regular basis "from scratch" but I still buy ragu pizza sauce cause' I just havent' found a home-made recipe that I/we prefer (if you have a great one, please, please let me know!!).

The 2nd is debateable. It's definetly cooking, but really not 'from scratch' mroe because of the canned soup than the crackers, IMO. I still buy crackers & tortills & tortilla chips & bread & cereal because I just don't have the time/energy/inclination to make those things (and when I've tried tehy haven't really turned out that great). I also definetly buy cheese, cream cheese, yogurt & sour cream & tofu on occasion. I'm sure theres some folks who consider those things processed too, and I suppose they are. But I for one don't have the time to make absolutely 100% of everything I/we eat every single day.

[just_lily]

OP again.

So far I agree with you ladies. But you are also all a group of people that do a lot of cooking. I imagine that people who eat a lot of take out and prepared foods would definitely think my casserole example would be scratch cooking.

I try to do as much as I can from whole foods, but there are some recipes that we enjoy and I don't stress about. Maybe someday I will find a recipe I like for cream of brocolli soup and take the time to prepare it ahead in order to make a casserole, but for now I am not all that concerned about one can of soup every few weeks. In the mean time I am not going to beat myself up for it.

And as for my sauce.... I used to buy pizza sauce as well, but one day I started making dough without checking the cupboard to make sure I had sauce, while I had a house full of kids and no means of getting to the store. So I found this recipe on All Recipes that I like. I don't always use the exact spices, and put in about a teaspoon of sugar to cut down on the acidic taste of the tomatoes. I only use about 1/4 to 1/3 of it on a single pizza, but freeze the rest in ice cube trays to use later.

[Jaxinator]

That was a really interesting question. I agree with Velochic, that single item ingredients make it from scratch, although I'd allow some exceptions. Pasta and bread are two of them. Although I have made bread from scratch and *plan* on making pasta, those are two things that would require a lot more planning, and I'd let it slide. Brown sugar is another one, off the top of my head. Although I do make my own, I find it doesn't turn into a brick if I make it myself.

[elizawill]

for me the term "from scratch" encompasses a lot. most things i make utilize ingredients that i bought from somewhere, ykwim? even my "from scratch" bread uses store bought flour. regardless of the terminology, your dishes were made in your home for your family & if you feel good about it - i wouldn't worry about anything else.

ETA- i just read previous responses & see that the flour issue was mentioned already. i should have simply read through first & said "yeah that", lol.

[Gingercat]

Originally Posted by just_lily

I try to do as much as I can from whole foods, but there are some recipes that we enjoy and I don't stress about. Maybe someday I will find a recipe I like for cream of brocolli soup and take the time to prepare it ahead in order to make a casserole, but for now I am not all that concerned about one can of soup every few weeks. In the mean time I am not going to beat myself up for it.

I guess when you have young kids your definition "from scratch" would have to be changed a bit!

For example in the winter I love making vegetarian curries. I always soak and cook my own beans, same goes for Basmati rice. And in the past I always prepared my sauces from scratch. But now I'm pregnant in my last trimester and my OB advised me to avoid standing still for prolonged periods of time as I have a pretty nasty varicose vein. I also have an extremely active 30-month old toddler, who's capable of turning the house upside down if I leave him unattended for too long (at least I do not have to go to work at the moment, I took time off due to my pregnancy).
So I found a very good (minimally processed) and tasty organic brand of Indian sauces and I use their sauces whenever I want to make curry for my family. But I still have to prepare the beans, the rice, chop and fry the veggies, prepare steamed greens on the side and/or a fresh salad, so I still spend a lot of time in the kitchen.
Therefore I definitely consider this "from scratch" cooking, not in the same manner I used to do it, but still it is a lot whole better and nutricious for my family instead of relying let's say on Indian takeaway!

[velochic]

Originally Posted by just_lily

So far I agree with you ladies. But you are also all a group of people that do a lot of cooking. I imagine that people who eat a lot of take out and prepared foods would definitely think my casserole example would be scratch cooking.

You're right that many here cook a lot. In my family, we literally *never* eat fast food. We do eat out, though, but we eat in places that have whole foods made from scratch... not places like Applebee's and TGIFriday's where the food is heat 'n' eat. It's just a choice you have to make and often is a journey. You progress as you can, over time. You don't have to make changes overnight.

Still, I wouldn't call your casserole "scratch" cooking. Assembled at home, home-cooked, but not from scratch.

Cooking from scratch has two major advantages: health and finances. The closer you get to cooking at home and cooking from scratch, the better each of these will be.

However, in the case of your casserole, using the "cream of" stuff really just nixes the healthy part of making something at home. You'd be better off buying an "all natural" heat and eat frozen lasagne. Does that make sense? What I'm saying is that you can still make things at home... assemble them, if you will, but they are still not from scratch, they're still not healthy, and they may not be frugal.

So, if your goal is to make meals healthier, you have to look at the big picture. A good "processed" frozen meal that is all-natural is probably going to be healthier than a casserole made with that soup. There is just no way to consider it "from scratch". It's just homemade, at best. This is my opinion, of course.

To substitute that soup, all you need is 2T. of butter, 2T. of flour, and 2 c. of milk. Put the butter in a pan, heat it until it is melted, let it get very lightly browned... don't burn it!. Then whisk in your flour and cook that for a couple of minutes to get the raw flour taste out. Slowly add the milk, whisking. Bring to a boil and let it thicken. Now it's time to season... add salt, pepper, freshly ground nutmeg, herbs, sauteed veggies (you can puree these into the sauce if you want it smoother). It literally takes 10 minutes to make a sauce to substitute the cream of stuff. In the time you are putting together the other ingredients, your sauce is made.

[junipermuse]

for me there is a difference between food simply being homemade vs. being made "from scratch". While the first would include anything not store bought or prefrozen, the latter would only be something created from the most basic of ingredients. For example if I make a pumpkin pie, but used canned pumpkin, and a premade pie crust, than that would still count as a homemade pie. However it would not be from scratch. If I made a pumpkin pie from a fresh pumkin and made the pie crust from flour and shortening that would be from scratch.

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by junipermuse

for me there is a difference between food simply being homemade vs. being made "from scratch". While the first would include anything not store bought or prefrozen, the latter would only be something created from the most basic of ingredients. For example if I make a pumpkin pie, but used canned pumpkin, and a premade pie crust, than that would still count as a homemade pie. However it would not be from scratch. If I made a pumpkin pie from a fresh pumkin and made the pie crust from flour and shortening that would be from scratch.

And, I'd call it from scratch, if made from canned pumpkin, but with a homemade crust. I wouldn't call it from scratch if it was premade pumpkin pie filling, though.

I think we're all mostly on the same page, but with slightly different tweaks.

[JamieCatheryn]

Hmmm thinking of the term "from scratch" reminds me of the little red hen. She found the wheat, chicken scratch, she planted the wheat, she cut the wheat, she threshed the wheat, she took it to the mill, she baked the bread... and after all that work had a really bad attitude, understandably.

My "from scratch" cooking is storebought flour, produce, meat, cheese and such for now, or maybe canned tomatoes, frozen veggies, so long as it's single ingredient. Sometimes I'll buy sauces or pie crusts or pizza crusts, then it's no longer from scratch. Bought pastawith homemade sauce still counts as homemade to me since I've never made pasta.

[Smokering]

My not-terribly-consistent definition of "from scratch" allows for storebought pasta, which makes no sense at all, and plain canned tomatoes. Not Cream Of soup, though.

Does it matter? I mean, getting hung up on "from scratch" as a value judgment seems kinda silly. If someone were to quibble that my lasagna made with bought noodles wasn't from scratch, I wouldn't feel guilty about not making the noodles by hand. I'd just think "OK, whatever". If someone's guilt-tripping you into thinking you have to make everything by hand, don't let them! I do make a lot of stuff myself - stock, bread, etc - but TBH, you could probably buy healthier bread than I bake, and save precious time doing it.

[velochic]

Originally Posted by Storm Bride

And, I'd call it from scratch, if made from canned pumpkin, but with a homemade crust. I wouldn't call it from scratch if it was premade pumpkin pie filling, though.

I think we're all mostly on the same page, but with slightly different tweaks.

Absolutely. Because canned pumpkin is just pureed pumpkin, canned, and pumpkin pie filling is a bunch of other stuff with pureed pumpkin.