I really liked this mechanic, a timing game, and kind of similar to the curry cooking in the new Pokemon (last bit). I think eight seconds is a good amount of time to wait, and the fact that its not too forgiving does have me coming back to try again. I liked the golden carrot when you get it right, but I thought the game could benefit from other carrots in different states. For eg, a charred black burnt carrot, or a frozen blue raw carrot maybe? Additionally, it could be cool if there was some visual effect as the cooking goes on. Maybe smoke appears above the fire/carrots, or the carrots start browning, or the pan getting redder/hotter.