What is the problem? It's only following a set of basic instructions. They seem to be ok following instructions for other things, like setting up their latest gadgets.

I've got some mates who are verging on being neanderthals and even they can knock up a basic curry or chilli

It's like people who say they can't iron. I mean, come on....

It's not bloody rocket science.

They're just lazy drama queens, that's what it comes down to.

My husband says he can't cook, he won't cook more like. He can soft boil an egg perfectly every time, cook a bacon sandwich or a steak but that's all. I cook every night from scratch, to be honest most of the time I like it that way but once in a blue moon I wish he'd cook for me. The last meal he cooked for me was steak and chips in 2007!

You should have more BBQs. A real man wouldn't let his lass anywhere near that

I can't do any of the above. I am lazy but I'm not a drama queen.

Ive done a few cooking tasks in my time and i am able to scramble up something but its the small details that make me a bad cooker. I dont read things properly or im either easily distracted when cooking as i either put too much or too little of something in,burn it or mess it up completely.

I have a couple of friends with husbands like that and oh wow when they do cook they never shut up about how great was their meal and their wife's have to praise them like they are little boys.

I remember once my husband vacuumed for "me" and I walked over his newly vacuumed carpet and he went nuts and said he would never do it for me again

He is now a ex husband of course

Whats with all the sexist cooking comments?

I'm a bloke and do half the cooking in our house!

Practice makes perfect. Love is the key to good cooking. Without love and due care, it can become a nasty mess.

He has become lazy and needs re-training.

Go on strike.

Can only say what I have seen in my life and to be honest most blokes of my generation never cooked and if they did they needed a fan-fair or drum roll as they served the dish up

I have two boys both cook as much as their partners do, I also have a daughter and her partner cooks as much if not more than her.

This reminds me of that show 'Cant Cook, Won't Cook'
I liked it, I think it should be brought back.

hubby gets all stressed and doesn't enjoy cooking, whereas i actually enjoy pottering around the kitchen so i don't mind him not cooking

Make the non-cooking people clear up after the cooking people in the kitchen, that's a good rule. I know which I'd rather do!

that is what we do in our house

i got no choice, either that or live on takeways or starve

My Dad cooked, he helped with the Sunday dinner and when mum was ill he cooked most of the time. I suppose he is from different days.

i will cook and even if i had someone living here i would cook. in fact I did when I had a lodger here i would cook for her, it was cheaper shared between us both.

I personally think cooking in almost an art and some people have more flare than others.

Yes almost everyone can cook but some people will be more adept that others.

I can cook, I enjoy cooking BUT I am not a natural? I can also get quite stressed if I am trying a new dish. I have a friend who never follows recipes, she cooks using her senses and instincts as to what will taste nice and she always delivers.

I can do basic cooking, but I quickly get out of my depth with recipe books. They typically require a lot of exotic ingredients that I don't have, or cooking utensils I don't own, or reference procedures that I don't know how to do.

The other week I considered buying a cheese-cake packet. It turned out to need butter. I don't have any butter in the house, and haven't wanted to use any for 5 years, so I didn't bother with the packet.

I think it's like most things. Some people have an aptitude for it, enjoy it and are willing to spend the time and effort and money to get good at it. Often they either have experience, or someone experienced to help them, because cooking often involves an element of judgement.

cooking is easy, just get a bunch of stuff u like , bang it together then heat it up till it looks good

id like to think if i really tried id be pretty good, but i have the missus to do things like this for me

i agree with you i can cook as i can follow a basic recipe i do however tend to get a bit bored if it has a large prep time and can forget things are in the oven

However i couldnt just look in my cupboard and throw something together with what is in there, i have no flare for it and cant ad lib

I wish I could cook, I wish it came naturally to me. I always struggle. I'm so slow 10 minutes prep time translates to at least 20 minutes. I try hard to follow the recipe but things never turn out the way they should. I then lose heart and don't try that recipe again.

I would say I genuinely can't cook, but it's not for want of trying.

It's not that simple. Instructions are more guidelines as not all appliances work the same or cook at the same speed etc. You have to learn what goes together, how to store different foods, thawing/defrosting things properly, measuring ingredients and using the right ones, judging how thoroughly cooked something is amongst a ton of other things. It may seem easy to you now because you know how to cook and may have learnt quickly, but not everyone is the same...

Sure, if you followed a recipe and bought the ingredients for it you might get it right first time but that doesn't mean you automatically learn how to do everything I listed.