What does it cost to level Cooking right now?

11g in reagents at today's US auction prices, over about 385 crafts. Sell the results and it comes back to 48s.

Where do these numbers come from?

The skill thresholds are read from the game client data for build 12.1.0.68914. The prices are the region-wide auction house, refreshed every few minutes; these are the snapshot taken at 16:57 UTC.

Why does the route change when I reload?

Because the prices did. The cheapest recipe for a stretch of skill is whichever one's reagents are cheapest at that moment, and that moves through the day.

Profession leveling · Classic Cooking · US · prices as of 16:57 UTC

Cooking leveling 1 → 300 · Classic Cooking

11g in reagents over about 385 crafts. Sell what you make and it comes back to 48s.

Start skill

Trainer recipes only

Recipe names carry the colour the profession window gives them: orange is a point every craft, yellow is three in four, green is one in four.

Before the first craft — buy it all at once

One trip to the auction house. Vendor lines are cheaper from the profession vendor than from the board.

ReagentNeedEachTotal

Red Wolf Meat×1803

Total11

Step 1 · Skill 1 → 35

Orange→Yellow

Spice Bread

trainer

About 36 crafts.72

per skill point2

Simple Flour×36

Mild Spices×36

Step 2 · Skill 35 → 215

Orange

Hot Wolf Ribs

needs the recipe item

About 180 crafts.5

per skill point3

Red Wolf Meat×180

Step 3 · Skill 215 → 300

Orange→Green

Clamlette Magnifique

research

About 169 crafts.5

per skill point5

Zesty Clam Meat×169

Skill 300 — done. Now sell what you made.

Crafted itemUnitsEachTotal

Hot Wolf Ribs1803

1805

Clamlette Magnifique1693

1695

Spice Bread365

361

Capped at what the market takes in 3 days, so a route never pretends to sell hundreds at once.

Back in your pocket48

What's worth crafting with Cooking right now

Questions

How this route is built

What does it cost to level Cooking right now?: 11g in reagents at today's US auction prices, over about 385 crafts. Sell the results and it comes back to 48s.
Where do these numbers come from?: The skill thresholds are read from the game client data for build 12.1.0.68914. The prices are the region-wide auction house, refreshed every few minutes; these are the snapshot taken at 16:57 UTC.
Why does the route change when I reload?: Because the prices did. The cheapest recipe for a stretch of skill is whichever one's reagents are cheapest at that moment, and that moves through the day.

A first craft pays Knowledge, not skill, so it is shown as a badge and left out of the craft count. Vendor reagents are priced at the lower of the vendor and the auction house.