Taking Cookbooker Out for a Spin

I came across a new and interesting site today during the course of my daily blog reading: Cookbooker.  The purpose of Cookbooker is to more easily keep track of cookbook and magazine recipes as well as to give you an opportunity to review/rate specific recipes and discuss them with others.  After perusing TheKitchn's (where I first heard about it) nice summary of the site’s features, I decided to check it out for myself.

The first thing you are asked to do once you sign up (but don’t worry it is free!) is to add cookbooks, magazines, and/or websites that you use. To test it out I entered one of my go-tos: Ina Garten's (duh!) Barefoot Contessa at Home.  Once I did, I found out that 47 other members also have this book on their “bookshelf” and that seven recipes from the book had been rated/reviewed. Clicking on each of the recipes listed allowed me to see what people had to say about them. You also have the option of entering other recipes from the book which you can then review, rate (using a 1-5 star system), make comments/suggestions or ask questions, or even just index it for your own personal use.  You can also browse books/magazines/websites that others have added (as well as the recipes contained therein) as well.

My cookbook collection-- it needs some organizing!!

I can definitely see the appeal of this type of site and think the ability to search for reviews around specific recipes is probably the best thing about it. I can see it being helpful if you are looking for a sure fire hit or interested in how well a given recipe may actually turn out.  But as TheKitchn pointed out this is not a recipe database per se in that it does not include actual recipes. You either need to have the book/magazine/etc. already in your possession or will have to find it elsewhere. (Also-- in the little bit of looking I did today, the recipe review were mainly "awesome" or "would make this again" which is not the level of information I'd be looking for. BUT it is new and I am sure the comments will evolve as more users participate. Also, I did not look extensively at reviews for every book/recipe so there might be more there than I initially saw.)

It is also billed as an opportunity to keep track of your recipes themselves (which book/magazine they came from, page number, etc) as well as any modifications/substitutions you may make to them. While this is certainly a useful service, I actually have my own method of doing this—a little notebook that I keep in the kitchen at all times and use to make all kinds of notations for individual recipes. From page numbers to cooking times to whether or not we liked the recipe, it’s all in there.  It’s low tech, but it is an easy way to keep track of what you are doing while you are actually cooking.

My little black book of recipes/cooking

I guess you could make these real-time notations via Cookbooker on a computer as well but I am not about to bring my pretty Sony Vaio into an already cramped kitchen if I can help it (talk about a recipe for disaster!).  However, I’d like to see how useful the online community aspect of the site is so I am going to give it a try—I’ll let you know!