Best recipe app?

[Kristen]

Would appreciate any advice on an App for iPhone / iPad. We have a collection of scrap books with more torn out loose pages than anything written in the books themselves! and I'm coming to think that an electronic version would be better.

No idea how recipe apps are used / useful, but the thoughts that occur to be are: if we see a recipe on TV how easily we could "convert" that into the App to add it to our library?, and how well presented the App makes the recipes for use on, say, an iPad Stand in the kitchen?

Thus would also appreciate any Gotchas or unexpected benefits you encountered too pls.

Ta and Merry Christmas

[Jay22]

So what you are after is an app where you add recipes you like to and not one which comes with recipes? That's a very good idea, wouldn't mind that myself as like you I have bits of paper here and there with different recipes on.

A good app with recipes is...am I allowed to name it on here?

[Kristen]

An App with recipes (and to which I can add recipes) would be fine ... but I'm not really after millions of new recipes ... I am imagining I can Google for a new recipe and then "import" it into my shiny new app and I am bound to be tempted by something I saw on TV that I then want to import from the TV Channel's website's printed recipe

I've done a bit of Googling and it seems that Recipe App Features include:

• Convert US/Imperial/Metric units
• Scale ingredients for number of diners / cake tin size
• Tick off ingredients already added (and perhaps ones needed to copy to a shopping list)
• Multiple timers - e.g. whenever the recipe says "For 2 hours" etc.
• Import from "standard recipe format file" - it seems that some/most? will allow Cut & Paste of Ingredient List and Cooking Instructions and just mangle them into its own preferred format
• Synchronise modifications/additions across all devices

[Kristen]

Added:

Synchronise modifications/additions across all devices

[Alison]

I have a word document which I just copy and paste into and use that - apps never seem to work quite as I want them to but that could be me!

Oh and I sync them by saving the original file to dropbox which I then have on all my devices.

[Kristen]

I have a word document which I just copy and paste into and use that

Bit lacking on my Features Wishlist though

I tried Paprika Recipe Manager just now (Works on PC as well as various phones/tablets). Found Dahlia's Christmas Cake recipe on her website (for which I had the book open to find out what fruit I needed to stick into the brandy bottle for 24 hours ) and it was as simple as Cut & Paste the Ingredients into one panel, and the Method into another. I added a Title (I guess that would be important!) and also went to the trouble of pointing it at the Photo on Dehlia's website, adding some new categories (Cake and Christmas) and the URL from the website for Belt & Braces. I doubt it took me more than a couple of minutes ...

I can now:

• Click/Tap on Ingredient (to gray/strike out to indicate "done")
• Ditto on Method to highlight current step I am on - e.g. if phone rings
• Click on Grocery List and all the ingredients / Qty are listed. Checkbox next to each so I can remove from the shopping list.
• Scale ingredients - bit MickyMouse but it does allow from 1/6th to 4x (but the fractions are "alphabetical" so 1/2 comes before 1/3rd and that is before 1/4 and 1/6th ... Pants! if one of my DEVs did that they'd be shot!

It also has a Meal Planner with Calendar, and a Pantry (can't see me keeping a computer uptodate with what is in stock in my larder!)

Can't see any conversion US/Imperial/Metric.
Nor any Timers

[stevejohnson53]

Like Alison, any recipes if find online I cut and paste into a Word document. However it can become addictive, at the moment word doc is over 1400 pages I have been doing this 10+ years.

[Scarlet]

I use Paprika. You can copy and paste recipes or type in. Take photos etc. I also use it for calculating different size portions. Love it as when I'm shopping and I see a bargain piece of fish I can find a recipe on my phone and buy the extra stuff I need.

# just read all the posts you've already tried Paprika.

[Scarlet]

.... I use a separate app for conversions us/imperial etc and the ipad alarm app for a timer.

[Kristen]

you've already tried Paprika.

I've only (so far) tried the PC version.

Any chance that the Tablet / Phone version has Timers and Conversion of units (US/Imperial/Metric)?


Additional to my comments above I have now tried the inbuilt browser - should have tried that before I did some Cut & Paste from Browser into Paprika. The Cut and Paste was easy enough and only took seconds, but the inbuilt browser is smart enough (on the ones I have tried) to automatically "digest" the page into an imported recipe - if I had a lot of them to do I think that would be useful, and for a Tablet/Phone probably easier - strikes me that Cut & Paste on Tablet/Phone is nothing like as easy as with Big Monitor and Mouse

[Kristen]

.... I use a separate app for conversions us/imperial etc and the ipad alarm app for a timer.

Good point, conversion would only be a one-off so not that hard.

The Alarm thing I was after detects in the text where it says "cook for 62 minutes" and underlines it / provides and ICON, so as easy as just click-to-start. With multiple dishes on the go having the timers linked to the recipe, and having them also alert a "start time" based on finish time for the recipe, would be a good time saving (compared to manually entering them into Phone timer). That's my thought anyway - haven't tried it so see if more-trouble-than-worth.

Now and again we cook for hoards here and we like to try complex recipes, also some veggies, some fish-rather-than-meat and so on.

[Scarlet]

There is a timer - I've just tried it. You can add multiple timers too, which is good for cooking for the masses. I'm usually out of the kitchen so the phone in my pocket works good for me, my ipad gets left in the kitchen.

[Kristen]

I've just tried it

"Sea Bass with Citrus sauce" and "Nutella Fudge"? Interesting

Thanks, I'll download the Tablet version and see if I can push my few test recipes across from the PC.

[Scarlet]

"Sea Bass with Citrus sauce" and "Nutella Fudge"? Interesting

I'm a big fan of sea bass and this recipe is fabulous
Sea Bass with Citrus Recipe - Great British Chefs

[Patchninja]

I just scan recipes I see that I want to keep. The oven has a timer and I don't often need to convert. Scales do everything these days. Boy, Kristen, cooking's complicated in your house LOL

Seriously, if anyone comes accross an app that is less trouble than use then I'd love to hear about it but I don't want to spend more time fiddling than cooking.