117 English soft pretzel recipes. For every word used in at least 10 of their titles, the recipes that use it against the rest, on every ingredient, in grams per 100 g of flour. 2 words go with a clear difference; 2 others change nothing measurable.
This is what recipe writers do when they pick a word, not proof that an ingredient makes the texture: the numbers show what recipes with the word have in common, and a recipe can earn its word through the method, the pan or the oven instead.
Words that promise how the result eats or how the recipe goes.
Recipes called “homemade”: less salt (1.3% vs 1.8%).
“homemade” (19)the rest (98)middle half of all
Saltrecipes called homemade 1.3% vs the rest 1.8%
For example: Easy Homemade Soft Pretzels (sallysbakingaddiction.com) · Homemade Pretzel Bites (iambaker.net)
Words that name something in the recipe or the kind it is. Some differences here are what the word says outright; they show the numbers can be trusted where the answer is known.
Recipes with “sourdough” in the title: most use no yeast (83% vs 0%); less water (56% vs 64%); more salt (2.1% vs 1.6%).
“sourdough” (12)the rest (105)middle half of all
Yeast · share using anyrecipes with sourdough in the title 16% vs the rest 100%
Waterrecipes with sourdough in the title 56% vs the rest 64%
Saltrecipes with sourdough in the title 2.1% vs the rest 1.6%
For example: Soft Sourdough Pretzels Recipe (littlespoonfarm.com) · Sourdough Pretzel Rolls (baking-sense.com)
Recipes with these words in the title use about the same amounts as the rest on every ingredient, within what chance would explain. The number is how many titles use the word.
Titles are split into words, with two-word names kept whole ("small batch", "cream cheese", "brown butter") and spellings folded together ("crisp" and "crispy"). The dish's own name, words like "the" and "recipe", and any word in half the titles or more are left out. A word needs at least 10 recipes, and there must be 10 without it. English titles only, so a word cannot stand in for a language.
A difference is shown when the medians sit at least a third of the middle half of all these recipes apart (about half a standard deviation, a medium effect) and a rank test puts it at 3 standard errors or more. For an ingredient many recipes skip, the share using none counts too: 25 points apart at the same 3 standard errors. With dozens of words and every ingredient tested, about one chance difference in 370 comparisons would pass, so a lab may show one that is luck; a finding that repeats across labs is unlikely to be.
Shares are rounded down. Each card links two recipes that use the word, nearest its own medians.