Paprika: the recipe app that keeps on giving
Between our smartphones and tablets and the digitization of content, we have become used to having information always at our fingertips. The Kindle meant we could take our entire library of books on the airplane. For those of us whose libraries consist of cookbooks, a myriad of recipe and cooking apps let us figure out what’s for dinner, take our grocery lists on the road, and cook from our own kitchen or from an Airbnb across the country.
While there are cooking apps that serve as databases to limitless recipes (BigOven has over 350,000 recipes) and countless brand-specific apps, it’s the apps that help manage our recipes that have been lifesavers for the unorganized cooks among us. Thankfully, I have a son whose early interest in Apple and all things Mac and iOS saved me. Over the years, I reaped the benefits of dinnertime conversations on the latest and greatest Apple products and analysis of WWDC announcements, and hence became a recipient of a gift that truly keeps on giving: Paprika Recipe Manager.
Paprika’s well-built user interface makes it easy to access information from anywhere and easy to use the app across screens.
Built-in browser: Find a recipe anywhere online that you like and easily save it into your app with a couple clicks. Each morning I browse various food-related newsletters in my email box and quickly save recipes of interest. When I first started using Paprika, many blogs and less popular sites weren’t supported. However, today I very rarely come across a recipe that isn’t compatible. Good to know however, that you can also copy and paste recipes into your app. Initially, I took a digital file of family recipes that my daughter had typed up for me many years ago and imported those recipes into Paprika.
Customization and Categorization: Create and assign categories that custom-organize your digital cookbook. Choose salads, appetizers, desserts and the like; or types of cuisine. Organize by ingredient (beef, chicken, fish) or have more fun with your titles. When you save a recipe, give it one or more categories. (I even have a Thanksgiving category.) You can also add notes, change ingredients, upload your own photo, and make other customizations.
Cloud Syncing: Paprika automatically syncs your recipes across all your devices, and works on Android, iOS, Mac and Windows. Browse and manage recipes from your computer, cook in the kitchen from your tablet or phone, and take your phone on the road and to the grocery store with confidence that your information will be on all devices.
Auto-lock: keeps your screen on so you don’t have to “wake up” or refresh your device with honey or butter on your hands. You can also cross off ingredients as you add them – great if you get distracted and can’t remember if you added salt.
Search: Customize the way you search for recipes. Search within all your recipes or within a category. For instance, search “sweet potato” in the title or within the ingredient list. You can also search by source and bring up all recipes from your favorite cookbook author or celebrity chef. Or even those recipes from Mom. (Note that when you download a recipe, it saves the source or you can type in the source, say if it’s Grandma or Aunt Gladys.)
Grocery Lists: I confess. I don’t use this feature that often, but I do find it super helpful to be in the grocery store and refer to a recipe’s ingredients to make sure I have everything I need in my cart. I think I’m missing out though. The smart grocery feature automatically sorts your items by typical aisles, i.e. dairy, produce, meat, and adds up like items.
Additional Tools:
Scale: Oh this is my favorite. Paprika lets you scale your recipes up or down. This became especially helpful when we became empty nesters and the time I made Tamale Pie for 30 family members.
Time: Who can’t use another timer? Especially handy when you have a pan in the oven and several pots on the stovetop.
Convert: Helpful when I’m making something from a Donna Hay cookbook or others that list metric ingredients vs. the American holdout Imperial system.
Pin: When you’re making 2 or 3 things at once for a dinner party or baking holiday goodies simultaneously, the ability to switch back and forth between recipes saves on frustration.
Share: Open a recipe and email or Airdrop it to a friend. I’ve converted many a friend and family member to the app this way. My kids, husband and all three sisters use Paprika, which makes sharing seamless. They open the email and import it into their custom recipe book. Seems like texting the recipe could be helpful. Today my total number of recipes in Paprika is 1582 and counting.
The developers have really thought about how someone will interact with the app and they’ve made it easy-to-learn and use. User guides exist but you can find your way around the app without them. Turns out, the folks behind Paprika are working on an Apple Watch companion app. If you have an Apple Watch, you can join their public beta via TestFlight.
Hmm, son, mama needs an Apple Watch.