Recipe software review and compare

Recipe software can help you take control of clippings, meal times and grocery lists.
 
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  • Updated:5 Aug 2005
 

02.Results tables

No standout product

All the software we tested can perform the same type of tasks so whether or not you’ll like a program is a matter of personal taste (excuse the pun). We found shortcomings with all the programs. Try several trial versions before you buy. All the programs will take time to get used to but if you don’t like the user interface or you find a program hard to navigate, you probably won’t enjoy using it — even over the long term.

 

 

Results tables

Specifications
Program/version (in rank order) Price1 ($) Ease of use2 (%) Min. system requirements
Living Cookbook 1.5
www.livingcookbook.com		 US30 82 95
BigOven 1.8.2 (a)
www.bigoven.com		 US35 75 95
Cookbook Wizard 2.0.1
www.mealmaster.com		 US24 72 95
AccuChef 6.6
www.accuchef.com		 US20 70 95
Cook’n Recipe Organiser 6.993
www.dvo.com		 US40 67 95
Recipe Keeper Plus 6.5
www.reg-software.com/recipe.htm		 US20 65 95

Features3
Program/version (in rank order) Nutrit-
ional data		 Scaling Measure-
ments		 Additional data fields Costing Menu calendar/
Meal planner
Living Cookbook 1.5
www.livingcookbook.com		 • • • • • •
BigOven 1.8.2 (a)
www.bigoven.com		 • • • •
Cookbook Wizard 2.0.1
www.mealmaster.com		 • •
AccuChef 6.6
www.accuchef.com		 • • • • •
Cook’n Recipe Organiser 6.993
www.dvo.com		 • • (b) • •
Recipe Keeper Plus 6.5
www.reg-software.com/recipe.htm		 • • •

Features3
Program/version (in rank order) Pictures Send by email Import different formats Web page creation Backup Glossary
Living Cookbook 1.5
www.livingcookbook.com		 • • • • • •
BigOven 1.8.2 (a)
www.bigoven.com		 • • • • •
Cookbook Wizard 2.0.1
www.mealmaster.com		 • • • • •
AccuChef 6.6
www.accuchef.com		 • • • • • •
Cook’n Recipe Organiser 6.993
www.dvo.com		 • • • • •
Recipe Keeper Plus 6.5
www.reg-software.com/recipe.htm		 (c)

Table notes:

(a) Replaced by new version that includes some additional features.
(b) There’s a method for switching to metric measures, but it’s very time-consuming to set up.
(c) Can only import recipes in its own format.

1 Price recommended retail in May 2005.

2 Ease of use a combination of how easy the program was to install and uninstall, use for the first time, search and sort for recipes, input recipes, learn to use over time and create recipes to share with others.

3 Features Nutritional data includes nutrition information that you can edit; Scaling allows you to increase the number of servings and automatically adjust ingredient quantities; Measurements allows you to switch between American and metric measurements; Additional data fields allows you to add new entries to cover areas not included in the program; Costing allows you to build a price list of ingredients; Pictures allows you to attach images to recipes; Send by email allows you to share recipes via email; Import different formats lets you import recipes in other file formats; Web page creation allows you to create an html web page of your favourite recipes; Menu calendar/meal planner allows you to create menus based on calendar events; Backup; Glossary explains ingredients.

All the programs let you edit existing recipes, search by alphabetical order and create a shopping list.

 

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