---
name: cook-along
description: Guide the user step by step while they cook, time several dishes to be ready together, and time a roast. Use when the user says they are starting to cook, asks "what's next", wants a recipe one step at a time, asks how long something needs or whether it is done, wants a schedule so the roast, the vegetables and the gravy land together, or asks how long to roast a joint or bird of a given weight. Builds the timeline with scripts/serving_schedule.py and the roast times with scripts/roast_timer.py where a Python tool exists. For how much to buy or what to serve for a group see entertaining.
metadata:
  publisher: NeuralTake
  version: "0.17.1"
---

# Cook-along mode, serving-time schedules and the roast timer

## Steps

**Step-by-step mode** (the user is cooking now)

1. Confirm the recipe being cooked (from the conversation or pasted) and the serving time if one matters.
2. Give **one step at a time**: the action, the heat, the time, and the sign of doneness, in two or three sentences. End with "Say *next* when you're ready" or the equivalent in the user's language.
3. Before any step with waiting time, say what can be prepared meanwhile ("while the onions soften, 8 to 10 minutes, zest the lemon and chop the parsley").
4. When the user reports a problem, answer with the rescue first (troubleshooting table below), then the next step.
5. On "how long" or "is it done": give the doneness cue first, the time second, and the internal temperature when safety depends on it (food-safety skill).
6. Keep the user's place: if they ask an unrelated question mid-recipe, answer it and then say which step they are on.

**Serving-time schedule** (two or more dishes must be ready together)

1. List each component with its total time, how much of that is hands-on, and anything that must finish early (resting meat, cooling a sauce) or at the last minute (dressing a salad).
2. If a Python tool is available, write the components to a JSON file and run `python3 scripts/serving_schedule.py menu.json`. Input shape:
   `{"serve_at": "19:30", "tasks": [{"name": "Roast chicken 1.8 kg", "minutes": 90, "hands_on": 10, "finish_before": 15, "note": "rest, loosely covered"}, {"name": "Roast potatoes", "minutes": 55, "hands_on": 10}, {"name": "Gravy", "minutes": 10, "hands_on": 10, "after": "Roast chicken 1.8 kg"}]}`
   The script prints a start-time timeline counted back from `serve_at`, warns where hands-on work overlaps, and adds "oven on" at the right moment. Present it as a numbered timeline. Without a Python tool, count back from the serving time by hand and show the arithmetic for the longest item.
3. Add the oven plan: which shelf, which temperature, and what to do when two dishes need different temperatures (compromise, or stagger and keep one warm, covered, at 70°C / 60°C fan).

**Roast timer** (a single joint or bird)

1. If a Python tool is available, run `python3 scripts/roast_timer.py --meat chicken --weight-kg 1.8` (meats: chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, ham, duck, goose; add `--doneness medium-rare` for beef or lamb, `--stuffed`, `--boneless`, and `--serve-at 19:30` for an oven-on to carving timeline). It gives the roasting time from the standard minutes-per-weight rules, the oven temperature for conventional and fan, the internal temperature that means done, the resting time and the fridge defrosting time. Without a Python tool, state the rule you are applying and show the arithmetic.
2. Finish with the probe reading: the time is an estimate, the temperature is the test.

## Rules

- One step at a time means one step. Do not paste the whole method back when the user asks "next".
- Rescues before explanations; the explanation can wait until the dish is safe.
- Internal temperatures and resting times come from the food-safety reference figures; do not round them away.
- Timelines assume one pair of hands unless the user says otherwise; say when two things need attention at once.

## Troubleshooting (answer with the rescue first)

| Problem | Rescue |
| --- | --- |
| Sauce split (hollandaise, mayonnaise, butter sauce) | Off the heat; whisk a spoon of warm water in a clean bowl and add the split sauce a little at a time. |
| Too salty | Dilute with unsalted liquid or more of the main ingredient; add acid or a little sugar; a raw potato does little. |
| Too spicy | Dairy, fat or sugar; add bulk; serve with rice or bread. |
| Lumpy gravy or sauce | Whisk hard, then sieve; next time slake the flour or cornflour in cold liquid first. |
| Rice burnt or stuck | Stop stirring; take off the heat, lid on, 10 minutes; serve from the top, leave the base. |
| Pasta overcooked | Drain now, rinse to stop it, dress with oil; in a bake it will be fine. |
| Meat tough | Long braise: it needs longer, not shorter. Quick cook: slice thinly across the grain; rest. |
| Cake sinking or underbaked | Return to the oven at a lower temperature; test the centre with a skewer; do not open the door for 10 minutes. |
| Caramel seized or crystallised | Add a splash of water and remelt gently without stirring; brush down the sides. |
| Dough not rising | Warmer spot, more time; check the yeast is alive in warm water with sugar; it may be too cold, not dead. |

## Output

In step mode: one step, the "meanwhile" line, the prompt for the next step. In schedule mode: the timeline from oven-on to serving, the oven plan, and the last-10-minutes checklist. For a roast: time, temperatures, resting, defrosting, and the timeline if a serving time was given.