Cheapest way to lvl cooking now?

[Voyager]

On my server, none of the items listed in the cooking guide can turn a profit anymore, so, what I'm asking about now, is how to level cooking the fastest, for the lowest loss, when selling the good to vendors. I don't even plan to bother with the auction house, until I make items that can at least turn over at a reasonable rate.

So what items, at what levels have low per-synth costs? The carrot broth, due to a high demand for carots in my region, was costing me close to 400 isk a synth, and was returning less than 40. Right now, I'm considering Roast Corn, as a possibility, through lvl 5. Peeled crayfish is another one I could use to get through that lvl, though I'm having to save my wind crystals for dealing with certain drops from my money farming.

Any opinions, and ideas on synths for past lvl 5? I need to get up to the point where I can make pinaple juice, and preferably boiled crab reliably.

Harry Voyager

[Xephoid]

roast corn

roast corn would likely cost you far more money than carrot broth. It uses the expensive fire crystal instead of cheap water, and hardly anyone buys roast corn, so you'll be selling it back to NPC for almost a complete loss.

Do orange juice at a loss for to get past 5, or sliced sardine would work. if you never fail, you'll break even on sliced sardine selling back to fishing guild, but chances are you'll fail many of the syns at Lv 5, and wind crystal is one of the more expensive crystal to lose.

Basically, you want to keep the crystal you use to be as cheap as possible as if you fail a syn (which you will always do when leveling), there is a chance to lose one or more of your ingredients, but the loss of the crystal is guarenteed.

[luckki]

Here are some possible alternatives if you are working on a low level job and fighting worms and rabbits:

Pebble Soup (Skill up to 5 ) = Fire Crystal + Flint Stone x3 + Distilled Water

Grilled Hare (Skill up to 6) = Fire Crystal + Dried Marjoram　+
Hare Meat.

So you fight worms and rabbits for the flint stone and hare meat then you fight orcs/gobs for the fire crystals and then you get dried marjoram from guild at like 40ish each. So you really aren't loosing too much money (besides opportunity cost with time and selling of the farmed items). But you would also be getting rabbit hide which can be used for Sandy quest or stacks used to sell for pretty high (don't know how much it is now).

After that try the OJ and Sliced Sardines?

[Apoc]

Re:

Selbina Butter at around lvl 14 with image support is REALLY cheap

Selbina milk+ Rock salt+ice crystal

[Voyager]

A stack of 12 carrot broth sells for 200 gil on my server. No, I haven't misplaced the decimal point. Carrots cost 1000 a stack, so I was losing over 400 gil a synth on those. While fire crytals cost 1600 a stack, the corn only cost 700 a stack, so I was "only" losing 200 a synth on those.

When I say nothing is turning a profit, I mean *nothing* is turning a profit.

I've ended up going with the roast corn, because I can at least use it. It's only a +3 Vit and +7HP, but I'm using a low lvl job, so its a decent boost. The grilled hare is good too, but it doesn't stack, so I'm stuck selling it off to the vendors.

Harry Voyager

Addendum: Does anyone remember what Rock Salt is under? I was trying to price it at the AH the other day, and I couldn't find it. I checked under Food>Ingredients, Alchemy, Tanning, and Misc. but I didn't see it.

[Cali]

Originally posted by luckki

Pebble Soup (Skill up to 5 ) = Fire Crystal + Flint Stone x3 + Distilled Water

Grilled Hare (Skill up to 6) = Fire Crystal + Dried Marjoram　+
Hare Meat.

Problem with those 2 is the fire crystal, the most expensive crystal, and those 2 foods don't sell...

I would suggest:

Peeled crayfish (skill up to 3, and lvl fishing if you want)= wind crystal + crayfish

Orange juice (skill up to 10)= water crystal + saruta orange

Not many low lvl cooking sell good, so pick the cheapest one... and juices can always be used by your mages, even orange juice is better than no juice...
Basically, before you get to say..meat mithkabob lvl in cooking, try to pick the cheapest synthesis... least expensive crystal(preferabbly the crystals you can get from lvling), least ingredients...

[neighbortaru]

carrots are cheap in sandoria. only 32/per make a trip over and get like 4 dozen or have a mule parked there.

The peeled crayfish one is a good alternative too...