I absolutely need a recipe management app. I have a thousands of recipes I have printed out from the web, stored in Pinterest, stored in King Arthur recipes on the web, typed into my MacBook Pages app, etc. I am at the point where I can no longer easily find a recipe and that is incredibly frustrating. My daughter uses and loves PAPRIKA, but do you regard that as a good app? What do you recommend? I am willing to pay; the app does not have to be free.
I need an app that: 1) will be supported by the developer for a LONG time, 2) will allow me to either import recipes either from the web and from Pages (although Iād be willing to cut and paste recipes into the recipe manager from my Pages app), 3) will allow me to go in and modify a recipe (for example, to increase the amount of a spice from 1/4 to 1/2 tsp, 4) will let me put recipes into categories of my choice such as Muffins, Quick Breads, Cookies and Bars, Yeast Breads, Cakes and Cupcakes, etc. , 5) provide some way for me to distinguish between recipes Iāve already made and recipes Iād like to try.
Staying power isnāt guaranteed, sadly. I used to use Pepperplate, but dropped it after they went to a subscription model as I felt the price was too high for the value it provided. I was able to export everything I had saved there and then import to RecipeSage, another free app. I have been using it for around two years now and I like it well enough. Importing from the web is a snap (not sure about Pages) and you can edit to your heartās desire. Thereās also a tagging feature that will let you create whatever labels you want to categorize your recipes by main ingredient, course, made/to try, etc. I recommend it, especially since thereās nothing to be lost by giving it a go!
I use Paprika Recipe Manager 3 and for years already. I have it on all my mobile devices as well as my computer. It fulfills all your needs: create personalized categories, sub categories. There is a forum for the app users, if you have questions. I read somewhere that the programmer of the app wanted such an app for personal use. So as long as the person stills need this, the app will still be there. The app can be used offline as well.
If you have a newer iPhone that has text recognition on photos, that will save you a lot of time importing text in the app.
I used to use email (iMap) with online storage, but one day the provider just deleted all the categories mail boxes I have created online, no warning. Have been a Pepperplate user before they closed down, I find Paprika much better.
Maybe you can use online services like Evernote, Dropbox, etc. At least if they decide to shut down, they will give you time to get back your stuff.
I have one too, but the problem is every time I cook somewhere from home, I need to call home (if there is anybody) to ask. Maybe I should import the binder recipes into app too.
As others have cautioned, you can NEVER really rely on a consumer level application for long term support.
Your best long term solution is to store your recipes in a convenient format that can be read by a variety of programs. A CSV file (comma separated values) can be read by most spreadsheet programs. Or you could import them into any SQL-compatible database that can be customized with a little know how
Old school here, too. I have large manila envelopes that store all the cut outs and print outs. I go through them periodically and currently am going through some old food magazines I had for fodder. I do this during TV viewing time instead of doom scrolling. I keep 3x5ā cards of cookie recipes in a wooden recipe box in my cookbook cabinet. It works for me.
I donāt know if this is going to be of much help, but my recipe filing system is probably as much a reflection of my age as anything else. I have a binder full of recipes. I have a folder on my computer that has many more recipes, all as Word docs that Iāve transcribed from various sources. I have tried nearly all the recipes in the binder, but not all. About half of the recipes in my computer are untried, but the ones Iāve tried and liked are also in the binder, because I print the recipe to use (I donāt have counter space to put my Macbook or even a tablet when Iām cooking). Mrs. ricepad (sheās WAY more organized than I) prepared the binder, and made dividers for logical sorting (by meat type, desserts, sides, etc), and thatās the first place I go when I canāt decide what I want to make.
I really donāt want to use a hosted organizer for fear that the host will go belly up or start charging. Thereās only so much technology I can handle, and what works for me works for me.
My recipe filing system is Apple Notes, mostly web recipes. I keep broad running notes often with several recipes but also single recipes. Generally I like to look at 3 or 4 recipes to get different takes or to understand biases and shortcuts, and the occasional weirdness.
As time goes by I add specifics that work, like sous vide time and temp and highlight the best recipe or adjustments. Itās easier than using a separate app, just hit the box with the arrow and save. Sometimes Iāll print a PDF of an unusual recipe and put it in Notes. Since Notes can connect to iCloud makes thing simple. Also itās free if you have an Apple device.
Anything I cook regularly or semi-regularly I like to memorize the recipe and process, and know the main concepts. I think this allows you to go faster, adjust if youāre missing an ingredient or something is different, and what cookware and tools youāll need.
If you are a technical type, then look into open source recipe apps. Its basically a community of developers supporting these projects. And concerned they may shutdown the SaaS service one day? Just take the code and host the project yourself.
This is me. All tested and liked well enough recipes are retyped into excel and kept in organized folders, both on my desktop computer and in the cloud. Duplicate hard copies/organization in binders. Every year or two I sort through the whole thing and remove anything which no longer is relevant.
If, God forbid, my mother passes one day, Iāll resume her index card recipe box. Even in both my professions, I still use index cards all the time. Just my comfort zone.
I have a couple binders, divided by type of recipe (app, soup, main, breakfast (specifically), and baking/dessert). These are further subdivided by type of protein or if the recipe is veggie. I need to go through at some point and cull the ones Iām never going to make to our recycling bin. Iām more and more in the habit lately of transcribing recipes to a Google Doc that is saved to the Drive. Could it someday go away? Sure. But, itās free and I like it because I can search pretty easily. I put the recipe title at the top, then paste the URL underneath (if applicable), and finally make a table with ingredients on the left and the steps on the right. Generally keeps most recipes to one page I can stick on my cabinet above my work counter using some blu-tak. Iām not keen on touching my phone to read a recipe with my hand while working.
