The things we got wrong
This page is a log of corrections—not a list of what we do well. It exists so you can see what we’ve fixed, how we found it, and who did the fixing.
If you’re reading a recipe here, this is where you check if it’s been adjusted since the last mistake.
Most recipe sites hide their failures. We don’t. A correction published is a promise kept: if we get something wrong, we’ll own it, rewrite it, and never let it stand again. That’s the only way to earn trust in a place where bad instructions ruin meals.
Three we had to fix
Every site makes mistakes. These are the three that mattered most—wrong measurements, steps that didn’t work, and a page that should never have gone live. None were intentional. All were caught too late.
How we track mistakes
- 1The mismeasured lentil stew
The recipe called for 1.5 cups of dried lentils, but the yield was half what it should have been. Wallace Kowalczyk tested it three times before realizing the original weight was off by 200 grams—no one had caught it in editing. The fix went live within 48 hours, and the old version was marked as deprecated. Now every recipe includes a yield note from a real batch.
- 2The roasting time that failed
A sheet-pan chicken recipe said ‘roast at 400°F for 35 minutes,’ but the first dozen testers burned the skin or left it raw. Wallace Kowalczyk recreated the conditions—home ovens, crowded pans, door openings—and found the time varied by 12 minutes depending on the appliance. The fix added a range (30–42 minutes) and a note about checking at 25. The original stayed up for a week before being updated, but the damage was done: some readers had already tried it. Now we test on three ovens before publishing.
- 3The unpublished garlic scape recipe
A draft for a garlic scape pesto sat in the queue for two months because the editor thought the season was too short to matter. Wallace Kowalczyk found it buried in a folder labeled ‘2025’ and realized it had never been reviewed. The recipe was simple but had a critical error: the blender time was listed as ‘30 seconds’ when it needed to be ‘1 minute.’ By then, three readers had emailed asking where it was. It was fixed and published the same day, with a disclaimer about the delay. Now drafts get a hard deadline, or they’re archived.
What those three changed
These failures forced us to build rules that now shape every recipe. The mistakes weren’t just corrected—they became the foundation for how we work.
Rules that came from mistakes
- Every recipe must be tested on at least three different ovens/stovetops (from the mismeasured lentil stew).
- Roasting/baking times now include a range and a ‘check early’ note (from the roasting time that failed).
- Unpublished drafts expire in 30 days or are archived (from the unpublished garlic scape recipe).
The people behind this
Wallace Kowalczyk is the founder and editor of *Bean Recipes Bin*, and the only person who signs corrections here. You’ve just read three things they got wrong—this is how they introduce themselves: by admitting failure first. The rest of the work happens in the kitchen, where the real mistakes live.
Keeping a log like this is uncomfortable. It means owning up to errors in public, even when they’re embarrassing. But the alternative—pretending everything is perfect—is worse.
Wallace Kowalczyk writes this list because they’d rather be honest than polished, and because the people who cook here deserve better than vague instructions or half-tested recipes.
One mistake that wasn’t public: the first time they made a miso-glazed tofu, they forgot the sugar entirely. The result was a salty, bitter block that ruined dinner. They ate it anyway, just to prove it could still be edible.
Now they keep a ‘burn book’ of small disasters—like over-salted beans or a cake that collapsed—so they don’t forget the lessons.
If you find something wrong here, don’t just email. Try the recipe yourself, then tell us what didn’t work. The next correction might be yours.
There will be a next one
This list isn’t finished. When a reader or tester finds an error—whether it’s a typo, a failed step, or a recipe that doesn’t deliver—we fix it and add it to the log. The goal isn’t perfection; it’s proving that we’ll listen, correct, and never let a mistake stand.
If you’ve spotted something, the contact page is where to tell us.
The recipes are grouped by category: Appetizers, Beverages, Breakfast & Brunch, Desserts, Main Courses and Reviews.