Ann Reardon is the Australian food scientist, dietitian, and pastry chef behind How to Cook That, the Melbourne-based YouTube channel that has built a 4.9+ million subscriber audience around elaborate cake decorating, chocolate creations, and an influential debunking series targeting viral content-farm cooking videos. Active since 2011 and recognized by Forbes, Huffington Post, and the Sydney Morning Herald, Reardons work has reshaped how YouTube viewers evaluate the credibility of food content.
TL;DR
- Australian YouTube baker based in Melbourne, qualified food scientist, dietitian, and pastry chef
- Launched How to Cook That as a website in 2009, YouTube channel on April 16, 2011
- 4.9+ million YouTube subscribers, surpassed 15.3 million video views per month by 2022
- Best known for debunking viral content-farm cooking videos (So Yummy, Blossom, 5-Minute Crafts) starting in 2018
- Author of the cookbook Crazy Sweet Creations, featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, and Sydney Morning Herald
Key facts about Ann Reardon
| Name | Ann Reardon |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Based in | Melbourne, Australia |
| Qualifications | Food scientist, dietitian, pastry chef |
| Channel | How to Cook That (H2CT), launched April 16, 2011 |
| Website | howtocookthat.net (founded 2009) |
| Audience | 4.9+ million YouTube subscribers, 15.3M+ views per month |
Early life and food science career
Ann Reardon trained as a qualified food scientist and dietitian before moving into pastry and cake decorating professionally. After her formal training, she left the food industry to work as a youth pastor in a low-socioeconomic area of Western Australia, an experience she has cited as the foundation for her teaching-focused approach on YouTube. During that period she self-catered for various community events and taught local young people to cook in her own kitchen.
The website howtocookthat.net was an extension of that teaching impulse, started in 2009 to share recipes she had developed for friends, family, and the youth she worked with. The YouTube channel launched on April 16, 2011 as a video extension of the same project. Reardon has lived in Melbourne since well before the channel started and continues to film all videos from her home kitchen there.
How to Cook That career timeline
- 2009 Launches howtocookthat.net as a recipe website while working as a youth pastor
- April 16, 2011 Launches the How To Cook That YouTube channel
- 2012 to 2017 Builds the channel through elaborate cake decorating, chocolate creations, and themed dessert tutorials
- 2018 Begins the debunking series with the video “Is So Yummy the WORST baking channel on YouTube,” targeting content-farm channels that recycle assets and post chemically impossible food hacks
- 2020 Series expands during the pandemic with videos about Blossom, 5-Minute Crafts, and the YouTube algorithm itself
- 2021 Publishes the cookbook Crazy Sweet Creations
- 2022 Channel crosses 4.9 million subscribers, 15.3 million views per month, featured by Forbes
- 2023 Expands the debunking universe to include 6-month-old steak hacks, ice cream bread, and dangerous TikTok food trends
- 2024 to 2025 Continues bi-weekly publishing on a “new video every second Friday” schedule covering food science, dangerous viral hacks, and food-company lawsuits
Ann Reardon signature style and editorial approach
Reardons editorial approach combines pastry-chef teaching with food-science rigor. Each debunking video walks viewers through a tested hypothesis, with on-camera experiments that show what actually happens when you follow a viral recipe. Her response to the Blossom “burn the food to test if its natural” trend involved burning cheese, vitamins, rice, and turmeric on camera to show that the test was scientifically meaningless. The rigor turns what would otherwise be a takedown into a teaching moment.
The non-debunking half of the channel is straightforward, technically demanding cake and chocolate work. Mirror-glaze cakes, chocolate sculptures, themed birthday designs, and complex dessert architecture are all part of the regular rotation. The combination means a single channel covers both aspirational confectionery and consumer-protection journalism, an unusual blend that has helped her audience grow well beyond a typical baking demographic.
Notable work: the debunking series and the channel
The single most influential thread in Reardons work is the debunking series that started in 2018 with the So Yummy investigation. Her video laid out the suspicious mechanics of so-called content farms: vast subscriber counts despite recent launches, re-used video clips, and chemically impossible cooking hacks. The piece was widely shared and pulled YouTube creator-economy attention onto the problem in a way that pressured platforms to address recycled content and clickbait.
Subsequent debunking entries have covered Blossom, 5-Minute Crafts, and a steady stream of TikTok and YouTube food hacks. Some debunkings have addressed material safety, including hacks that would have viewers eating spoiled food, mixing unsafe substances, or pursuing dieting approaches with no scientific basis. The publication Jezebel described How to Cook That as a “one-stop shop for debunking viral cooking videos,” and the channel has been featured in Forbes, The Huffington Post, and The Sydney Morning Herald.
Awards and recognition
- 2018 onward The debunking series brings substantial editorial coverage from Forbes, Huffington Post, Sydney Morning Herald, and Jezebel
- 2021 Publishes Crazy Sweet Creations cookbook
- 2022 Crosses 4.9 million YouTube subscribers, 15.3 million views per month
- Ongoing Supports the channel via patreon.com/h2ct alongside cookbook and merchandise sales
Impact and cultural relevance
Reardons influence runs in two directions. Within the food-creator economy, How to Cook That sits among a generation of long-running YouTube food channels including JunsKitchen that built audiences over years of consistent uploads before YouTube Shorts and TikTok reshaped attention spans. Reardons technical baking content matches that quiet-craft heritage.
The debunking work, separately, has made her a consumer-protection voice within YouTube food media. Where creators like Uncle Roger use comedy to critique bad cooking, Reardon uses lab-style demonstrations to dismantle videos that are not just bad but actively misleading. The combination of technical chops, scientific training, and patience has made the channel a reference point for how viral content should be evaluated, with peer creators like Nick DiGiovanni regularly recommending her debunking work to their own audiences.
How to Cook That FAQ
Who is Ann Reardon?
Ann Reardon is the Australian food scientist, dietitian, and pastry chef behind the YouTube channel How to Cook That. Based in Melbourne, she has run the channel since April 2011 and built it to over 4.9 million subscribers. She also founded the website howtocookthat.net in 2009.
What is Ann Reardon known for?
Reardon is known for two things in equal measure: elaborate cake decorating and chocolate creation tutorials, and her debunking series targeting viral content-farm cooking videos. The debunking series, which started in 2018, has made her an influential voice in food-content credibility on YouTube.
Did Ann Reardon write a cookbook?
Yes. She published Crazy Sweet Creations in 2021, focused on the elaborate cake and chocolate work the channel is known for. The cookbook is sold via her website and major book retailers.
How often does How to Cook That post new videos?
The channel publishes on a “new video every second Friday” schedule, alternating between debunking videos, food science explorations, gadget reviews, food-company lawsuits, and elaborate dessert tutorials.
Is Ann Reardon a real food scientist?
Yes. She holds qualifications as a food scientist, dietitian, and pastry chef. She worked in the field before transitioning to youth ministry and self-catering, which led to the founding of howtocookthat.net in 2009 and the YouTube channel in 2011.
What is next for How to Cook That
Reardon continues to publish bi-weekly, balancing debunking videos, food science explorations, and confectionery tutorials. The website howtocookthat.net hosts the recipe archive alongside the YouTube channel, and Patreon supports the long-running content. Follow her on Instagram (@howtocookthat).
