Could You Take Down Gordon Ramsay in the Kitchen? A Surprising Amount of Americans Think They Can

Rochelle Bilow
Rochelle Bilow
Rochelle Bilow is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute, and the former social media manager at Bon Appétit and Cooking Light magazines. She has also worked as a cook on a small farm in Central New York and a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City. Her first book, a food and farming memoir titled The Call of the Farm, was published in 2014. Her second book, a romance novel set in Scotland, will be published in February 2023.
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published Feb 23, 2022
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Chef Gordon Ramsay attends the 2018 Fox Network Upfront at Wollman Rink, Central Park on May 14, 2018 in New York City
Credit: Getty Images/Dia Dipasupil / Staff

Thanks to an explosion of cooking competition TV shows, cookbooks that teach recipes and skills, and an endless supply of foodie inspiration on social media, many of us have grown more confident in the kitchen. After all, who among us hasn’t done a little victory dance after taking the first bite of a luxe home cooked meal or gorgeous baked good? That universal feeling of being a rockstar home chef is totally a “thing,” recently confirmed by a new study which revealed 63 percent of adult home cooks feel they’re talented enough to take on a pro chef like Gordon Ramsay.

The survey, which was commissioned by kitchen design brand, Signature Kitchen Suite, was conducted by one poll with a relatively small sample size of 2,000 respondents. Still, the results are indicative of a larger trend within society: Folks are cooking with greater frequency, feeling increasingly confident in the kitchen, and having more fun doing it. 

The survey found that a whopping 77 percent of Americans count cooking as one of their favorite activities — and do it from scratch nine times a week on average. If you’ve ever dreamt big (think: beyond the backyard burger), you’re not alone. Results revealed that two-thirds of respondents felt they had adequate skills to open their own restaurant or catering business. Not into the brick-and-mortar business plan? Maybe you identify more with the 62 percent who believed they had the chops to host their own cooking show. 

Browsing through the survey results is a fun read — there are a lot of numbers to digest. But I’ll admit that I was less interested in the amount of home cooks chomping at the bit to take down Chef Ramsay. The poll results that interested me most were the ones with heart and soul. Almost 85 percent of respondents said that having a loved one compliment their food was the best feeling they could experience. I totally get that. 

I also loved that just about half of respondents cited family recipes as a major source of inspiration, along with cookbooks (48 percent), magazines (43 percent), and friends (42 percent). At the end of the day, it seems like it’s the love of the game that keeps us at the stove. After all, I’m definitely in the 27 percent of folks who believe they’d get eliminated in the first round of a cooking competition (spoiler alert … I did). But no matter what, creating dinner will always be my favorite way to come home to myself. How about you?