Food-Related Software

[Matthew Grant]

Can anybody recommend some good food related software? I am specifically interested in a database that will be able to save the recipes I have collected or devised over time and allow searches by various criteria.

Is there any other food related software people can recommend?

[helenas]

As a database for recipes, you might want to consider the following package:

RecipeCenter Software.

You can download an evaluation copy for free.

Come to think of it, if there is enough interest on this board, we should invite the guys from this company to discuss the possible enhancements, as i definitely see the potential in their software.

[Annie Girl]

I am very happy with my Mastercook software - have used for 4+ years. I have slowly been inputting all my favorites and editing away. You can search by category, ingredient, etc. Relatively easy to learn and use.

Now, when I finish reading a food magazine, I go back through, find the recipes I want, go to their website and cut and paste into my Mastercook. Then I take the magazine to work and leave in the kitchen to be recycled.

Good luck!

[helenas]

thanks to Drew's (aka vogelap) recommendation, i downloaded accuchef v6.

really decent stuff: i'm moving "to try" recipes from my cookbook collection into this software: fun project for a weekend.

[Zeb A]

Does anyone know of any quality recipe software? I'm looking for something pretty simple in which we could input recipes, thereby eliminating our mounting pile of recipe scraps. I tried to find something on Amazon, and everything I could find looked kind of crappy. Thanks

[Marlene]

There's MasterCook, or the one I use is called Cookin. cookin software They both have recipes, and the cookin software allows you to input recipes, set up new categories and will re-size recipes for you. I have the Mastercook as well, and I find it cumbersome to work with.

Edited January 24, 2003 by Marlene (log)

[nightscotsman]

Just did a quick search on Download.com for recipe software for Macintosh and got 11 hits. All are free to download and try with very low purchase prices. Check it out.

[Zeb A]

Thanks! The download site has so many options it is almost overwhelming.

Marlene: The cookin software was one that I saw on Amazon, but the reviews were poor. I am always dubious of such reports, and it sounds like you have had success. Thanks.

[Fat Guy]

We're working on something Web-based that may come as a pleasant surprise.

[Stone]

An on-line eGullet cookbook?

[Jason Perlow]

An on-line eGullet cookbook?

Yup.

[Marlene]

I guess this means I won't be moderating a recipe forum in the near future! On online cookbook sounds really great though!

[Stone]

But nobody takes my brilliant ideas seriously.

I'm just glad that someone took one of my brilliant ideas seriously.

Edited January 29, 2003 by Stone (log)

[vengroff]

I'm not independently wealthy, and I don't have an abundance of free time. However, I was intrigued by this project.

I can't help posting an early sneak peak. Don't expect to see this for real for a number of weeks or even months.

Here is how a typical recipe looks:

This is the same recipe, but in editing mode:

Tonite's project is the search page:

Please consider this vaporware until we work out the remaining software and server issues.

Edited January 29, 2003 by vengroff (log)

[col klink]

Sweet! Can I help out in any way?

[nightscotsman]

Cool, cool, cool! Can I assume we will be able to create our own personal cookbooks by both submitting our own recipes and flagging/including recipes that others contribute? Sort of like "My Favorite Recipes"?

A few other pie-in-the-sky wish list features:

- The ability to indicate ingredient amounts in both volume and weight (cups and grams) simultaneously.

- The ability to scale a recipe (1/2, 2X, 1/4)

- A field for special equipment needed (baking pan, tureen mold, madoline, deep fryer, smoker, etc.)

- recipe categories (appetizers, cocktails, entrees, vegetables, desserts, etc.)

Of course it looks like what you've built will be wonderful even without these extra features. Thanks so much for taking this on!

[col klink]

Good ideas NSM!

[tommy]

But nobody takes my brilliant ideas seriously.

I'm just glad that someone took one of my brilliant ideas seriously.

i expertly PM'd jason and steven regarding this very idea long before you even registered.

[snowangel]

The fact that the Powers That Be are willing to tackle this, plus the new look of TDG, the Q & A's, lead me to wonder how they even have time to work for $. They are to be commended for dedication to this and the many other things on their plates. Remember, there are plenty of people who could and would volunteer to help with the mundane aspects of this; just ask.

[vengroff]

Sweet! Can I help out in any way?

Absolutely. There will be a beta test period before it goes public. It could also perhaps benefit from a little design work, and of course, someone will have to enter the recipes that have already appeared in threads on the site. To make this easier, I'm going to try to build a recipe parser that can take a recipe in plain text and get an 85-90% accurate version into the db.

[Anna N]

Count me in to do any editing/typing of recipes.

Anna N

[ahr]

Exceedingly cool.

Will it also allow the entry of links to favorite copyrighted recipes on other sites, which would turn up in keyword and category searches, and, similarly, references to recipes in cookbooks by title/edition/page?

A little more work on this and you'll be able to sell it instead of donating it.

[JAZ]

If you could figure out a way to do this, it would be nice to have a section where members could add variations or notes about preparation (i.e. "I tried this recipe but used pork rather than lamb" or "if you blanch the beans before sauteeing, they seem to retain more color").

[Jinmyo]

The fact that the Powers That Be are willing to tackle this, plus the new look of TDG, the Q & A's, lead me to wonder how they even have time to work for $.

While logged in to eGullet, part of your computer's processing power is accessed by the eGullet Mysterious Orb in geosynchronous orbit and is sold to fast food chains to run their cash registers and other computerized equipment. A nice bit of proprietary software registers the kinetic energy of your keystrokes and coverts that into wattage that keeps the heat lamps and steam tables burning. So you can see that the site pays for itself and gives a nice little daily wage to the Super Admins. Both Jason and Steve are currently monitoring the site by brainwaves while they float submerged in osetra caviar in mother of pearl-lined solid gold eggs.

So stay logged in and keep typing. We're trying a system upgrade to beluga caviar.

You're welcome.

[helenas]

My dream feature of a recipe software is to allow the storage of references to the recipes/ingredients in the cookbooks. I have the Word file on my laptop, where i type in some notes as i go through a cookbook, but as the file grows i'd like to have more sophisticated search capabilities.