Recipes offers good guidelines even to amateurs so that they can prepare a meal even though they have not tried it before. So it is one document that must offer the best description ever. It can be equated to a user manual, but this goes extra miles to explain many more things. Most people find it hard to follow some badly written manuals, and if you picked it hastily, the project might fail in the middle which is a waste of time and money. According to mom’s meatloaf recipe as a good example, a good recipe should have the following qualities. Qualities of a good recipeIngredients are the different items that will be combined using a particular procedure to give the final dish. A good recipe will list all the ingredients without the omission of any. As much as there is no rule as to the order of listing, it is important that the main items start and the least needed items be at the end. It goes on to indicate the amount needed for each ingredient using the international measurement standards. The measurements need to be accurate. For clarity, it can try and give the most accurate ingredient required e.g. kosher salt instead of just salt. With the right ingredients and their amount, the cook needs to know the procedure. This is the step by step procedure of putting the ingredients together. It includes the type of equipment to use, the mode of heat, stirring procedures and the cook time for every step. The more detailed the procedure is, the most perfect the dish will be regarding final product. If you are baking the procedure must indicate the temperature of the oven and the cook time. The preparation timeA good recipe will also show the preparation time of the dish so that the person preparing can set ample time. Without the time duration, some people can allocate too little time and end up preparing a wrong dish. The cook time is also necessary to ensure one has the abundant source of energy and the time as well. Most people do not prepare dishes for fun. Most are mothers making meals for their family and therefore it is crucial to have the number of servings on the recipe. This will help in increasing or reducing the ingredients to the right proportion. A recipe that carries the above qualities will definitely give the best results and not waste people’s time. So check well before starting off.