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Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

stovetop.app

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Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#131
post #126

I love the tabulated recipes shown on cookingforengineers.com [1]. Ever since I first saw this, whenever I get a recipe, from anywhere, I convert it by hand to this format. Perhaps you can automate that process? That would be rad! [1] http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/108/Banana-Nut-Bre...

This site still holds up better than most today. Imagine if we had how-tos and tutorials like this instead of a youtube video for everything.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#132
post #126

I love the tabulated recipes shown on cookingforengineers.com [1]. Ever since I first saw this, whenever I get a recipe, from anywhere, I convert it by hand to this format. Perhaps you can automate that process? That would be rad! [1] http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/108/Banana-Nut-Bre...

Oh wow, thank you for sharing this! That tabulated view is almost exactly what I've been looking for when baking. I had an idea along the same lines, but a slightly more visual approach where portions are represented by illustration that quickly give you a sense of the size of the portion as well.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#133
post #31

Great idea! But please read https://www.evanmiller.org/how-not-to-sort-by-average-rating...

It shouldn't be sorted by rating to begin with. If I search for "doughnuts", it's rather unlikely that I'm interested in "Chapssal doughnuts" (top spot), "Pumpkin Doughnuts" (second spot) or even "Gluten-Free Baked Chocolate Doughnuts Recipe" (third spot). The list should be ordered (somehow, no idea how) by classic or common interpretation of the query first and pushing exotics, varieties and fusion stuff down to th…

I feel like having 2 separate sections for this would work pretty well. Recipes for making ingredients from scratch vs. recipe for a meal.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#134
post #12

Looks great! https://based.cooking/ might be another good source of recipes if you're not already using it.

For all the borderline-insane things Luke Smith endorses, I'm glad he has at least one decent contribution to the internet. based.cooking should be a model for everyone else trying to take back the internet on their own terms.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#135

next level: mining the sites for the content and getting rid of the recipe's life story. to me, no-bs means ingredients and instructions. Maybe a few pictures of the target meal. thats it.

This is already mentioned upstream, but the Paprika app does exactly this. It makes online recipes useful and understandable again.

https://www.paprikaapp.com

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#136
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fair points, I'm not saying all of Wiki's policies need to apply. I'm just saying the format and ease of consuming content is good, and there's nothing popular for cooking with those qualities.

Yes, sorry if I seemed too dismissive, I agree and like the idea on the surface, it's just to me what makes the format and ease of consuming Wikipedia good is that there's one page for everything, not a bunch of conflicting entries for the same thing. (Well, any encyclopaedia!) But you can't achieve that with recipes, because they're not encyclopaedic entries, they're one person's opinion piece on how to make a nice…

There's probably ways to handle that. Grouping variations together and letting the community rank them for example. It's not a new problem

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This! Cookbooks have editors, and the recipes are tested so they can be made with common ingredients. They want cooks to be successful! Oddly I've found cookbook recipes to ALWAYS be better than online recipes. Book recipes tend to be shorter, clearer, and more successful. Online recipes are okay but sometimes don't come out the way I'd expect, they're more fiddly. It's great to have options!

The barrier to publishing online is lower, so recipes are always hit or miss. Really depends on the author.

Online content is optimized for (a) SEO and (b) immediate visual appeal. Most ranking signals are not coming from actual cooks testing the recipe.

Your'e right, I've found some good content online. e.g. Chef John / Food Wishes has great recipes and videos. He also conveys some good tips & technique.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#138
post #81

Great tool to improve the dismal experience of searching recipes online. To intrepid cooks I encourage getting a good cookbook, e.g. from Julia Child or Mark Bittman – where you can learn cooking fundamentals and techniques aimed to teach you how to cook self-sufficiently. Break away from recipes and you’ll be dancing around your kitchen to your own culinary tune instead of recreating mediocre click bait.

My latest favorite is Cook it in Cast Iron from Cook's Country. No recipe in it has been bad. One or two have been "too much work to be worth it", but on average, the food has been good to excellent. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X2E308K/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?...

America's Test Kitchen, which Produces Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country – is my single favorite publishing resource.

A perfect balance of technical information & pragmatic recipes for the amateur cook to be very productive in the kitchen with minimal tools & ingredients.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#139
post #126

I love the tabulated recipes shown on cookingforengineers.com [1]. Ever since I first saw this, whenever I get a recipe, from anywhere, I convert it by hand to this format. Perhaps you can automate that process? That would be rad! [1] http://www.cookingforengineers.com/recipe/108/Banana-Nut-Bre...

Recipes are basically flame graphs, but for food.

Re: Show HN: I built a no-BS recipe search engine

#140
post #81

Great tool to improve the dismal experience of searching recipes online. To intrepid cooks I encourage getting a good cookbook, e.g. from Julia Child or Mark Bittman – where you can learn cooking fundamentals and techniques aimed to teach you how to cook self-sufficiently. Break away from recipes and you’ll be dancing around your kitchen to your own culinary tune instead of recreating mediocre click bait.

I highly recommend Ratio by Michael Ruhlmann. So far I've only used it for basic doughs, cakes, biscuits. Learn the ratios, and why they're like that. Very liberating.

A corollary to this is to purchase an affordable ($20) food scale. Despite appearances, a scale advances your skills by making it easier to measure ratios correctly, memorize them and reduce the # of utensils needed. All your ingredients are measured in a single bowl instead of using multiple measuring cups & spoons which each need washing
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