Help needed- What Recipe Software do you use?

Hi Folks,

By far the most common response to the "What resources do you want in the New EOL” survey is the pro Recipe Database. I'm moving forward with this and have to make some preliminary decisions on how to set it up. One of the biggest issues is making it easy for users to post and use the recipes. Because of this I need to know what the most common programs being used are, if indeed you are using a Recipe management Software program.

Please post the name and author of the Recipe software, be it home cook type or something that accompanies a professional package you are using or are familiar with.

Thanks,

George

By Cheftim (Cheftim) on Saturday, January 15, 2005 - 05:22 pm: Edit

I use .txt (text) files. Nothing fancy. Easy to cut and paste from webpages and everybody (mac, win, linux) can use them no hassle.

By Espcs (Espcs) on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 04:22 pm: Edit

I use Mastercook 6.0. Easy to import and export.

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 06:05 pm: Edit

6.1 is even better!
Ranging from $20-$600 most of the programs out there either do too much or not enough!!!!
The $40-$50 ones are the best, we are working with a programmer now to adjust his so it does what we need. I will let you know as soon as it is done, it's on the market now but it needs tweaking!!!!
Mastercook is good though, and it comes with the On Cooking text we use.

By Foodpump (Foodpump) on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 08:03 pm: Edit

Curious about that Mastercook stuff, version 5.0 sits in a drawer long forgotten. Not being "Computer literate" I found too many trees blocking the forest's view. No patience to customize the ingredient lists, but the final straw was trying to e-mail recipies. I kept getting snotty little messages TELLING me that I couldn't e-mail until I acknowledged that the e-mail and it's contents(my recipie) would be property of Sierra.

I now have my own home-made "Orthodontics" spreadsheet. I can now enter in any ingredient, be it in lbs, kilos, 11/9 cu. bushels, 100oz can, etc and it will give me the price per kilo. With this I can do a reasonable inventory cost, and cost out any recipie without hunting through 6ooo ingredients.

By Chefmanny (Chefmanny) on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 - 08:15 pm: Edit

The new one (6.1)is good, you only add what you use.

By Espcs (Espcs) on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 01:45 pm: Edit

Oops, sorry, I'm using Mastercook 8.0, not 6.0. I considered switching to another software program because when I had 6.0 it appeared to me that Sierra wasn't supporting it anymore. I really couldn't find another program that was in my price range with comparable features. Then I stumbled on 8.0 at a Fry's Electronics earlier this year for about $25. It pretty much looks the same, but it has a VERY simple tool for backing up and importing recipes and entire collections or cookbooks. And Sierra's name isn't on it anymore, it's Valusoft. Check it out at www.valusoft.com for more info. Cheers,
Elizabeth

By Chefspike (Chefspike) on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 09:54 pm: Edit

foodpump.
will you share yours? (homemade ? )
i never thought about this before.
i run xp pro, on windows
i don't know what import export stuff means, but i'm sure i don't have it.

By Foodpump (Foodpump) on Thursday, January 20, 2005 - 10:21 pm: Edit

Uh, like I said, I'm very compute illiterate, but I used a normal spreadsheet. First column: ingredient and package size/weight, second column: unit cost/cost per weight. Third column is hidden but it converts everything to 1000 grams. The fourth column is price per kilo.

Now of course oil is lighter than water, but not by very much. A liter of milk is something like 996 grams, a liter of oil 985 grams, so all my liquid ingredients are converted to kilos as well. I first did this spreadsheet as an inventory tool Who's gonna measure out an ice-cream tub of say home made glace de veau at 11:30 at night end of the month? But slap that tub on a scale, deduct 100 grams for container and lid and you have a pretty accurate estimate of what the tub is worth. No more guessing if it's a 1/3 or a 1/2 block of aged white cheddar and then dividing the cost of a 5 lb block of cheese by 1/2 or 1/3 either.
Since ALL of my recipies are in weight, and in kilos, it doesn't take me very long to cost out a recipie for say, chocolate buttermilk cake just by using a calculator, the printed out spreadsheet and the actual recipie.

By Sevenstar (Sevenstar) on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 12:24 pm: Edit

I use Cheftec 4.0 which is actually an outstanding program. It costs around $500 for the base one and $995 for the big boy. http://www.cheftec.com/
I like to know that what I am charging my clients is both profitable and fair. This software lets me add invoices and keeps me exactly up to date on food costs. Plus it scales the recipes for you. You can add pictures, video and post as html.

By Sevenstar (Sevenstar) on Monday, January 24, 2005 - 12:25 pm: Edit

also the newest version is i believe ver 8.0 for cheftec

By Bittersweetlady (Bittersweetlady) on Friday, February 04, 2005 - 01:11 pm: Edit

I use a program called NutraCoster Professional, by SweetWear. It is a Recipe/Formula costing and Nutritional Analysis program. Not what everyones' looking for. It's not an easy program to learn, and it comes with an enormous ingredient data base. I wouldn't recomend it to everyone. But if you need nutrional analysis in additon to costing, it is less expensive than other programs. I bought it several years ago, and I think at that time it was less than $500. But I buy updates every couple of years for about $99 each.