The Most Pros And Cons Of Following Online Recipes

Cooking is essentially a practical exercise in chemistry. Each ingredient serves its own purpose, from creating gases to binding other ingredients together. Eliminating any of them would affect the end product.

A website that collates recipes from the internet recently caused a backlash among food bloggers. They argue that such a website is stealing their content without permission and is hurting monetization opportunities.

1. Easy access

Whether you’re looking for a particular recipe or simply want to streamline your cookbook collection, online recipes are incredibly easy to find. In addition to traditional websites, apps such as Tasty offer a unique experience with overhead food videos similar to Tiktok and step-by-step instructions that you can swipe through.

These digital platforms also provide valuable insight into people’s lifestyle and personality as shown through their daily food choices. For example, changing food preferences may highlight a desire for fitness, weight loss, or even a change in culture.

2. Variety

Food brands that don’t create recipes on their sites are missing out on key benefits such as increasing organic search and repeat traffic, building brand credibility as an ingredient expert, and promoting product use. However, launching a successful recipe collection requires ongoing marketing maintenance such as seasonal and event-based updates as well as careful attention to the detail of instructions and ingredients.

For the most control over sales and profits, a food company should open its own online store and recipe site rather than relying on marketplaces like Etsy or eBay that take a large percentage of sales. This may be costly in the short term but will ultimately maximize profits and minimize costs by giving a business full control over its content. This also allows the food brand to set its own prices.

3. Time-saving

If you're a newbie, following online recipes can seem overwhelming. It's also not uncommon for recipes to have cooking times that aren't practical, causing you to either spend extra time in the kitchen or end up with food that doesn't turn out well.

To get your recipe organization under control, start by dividing your recipes into categories based on format. This could include physical and digital recipes, or even ones that you've emailed to yourself or added to your note-taking app. You can also group them based on the source. For example, you might want to include recipes saved on Pinterest, Facebook groups, or even Tiktok videos in your collection. Then, you can use a browser extension or mobile app to save recipes and easily pull them up when shopping for ingredients.

4. Preparation

I've had recipes online that have turned out completely different from how they looked in the picture, requiring additional prep time. Sometimes it may be necessary to modify the recipe based on your preferences for heat settings or the size of your pan. Spacing can vary as well if you want to highlight certain sections of the page, but as long as it's easy to read, consistency is key. You can use a free PDF viewer such as Acrobat to check how your layout will look before printing.

5. Cost

If you are a restaurant owner, it’s essential to know the costs of each recipe so you can price items accordingly. This will bolster your profit margins and help you save on food expenses over time. Using an online recipe costing calculator or a fully automated software like xtraCHEF by Toast can help you streamline the process.

If you are looking to sell your recipes, you may want to consider marketplaces such as Etsy or eBay. However, keep in mind that these sites will take a cut of the profits. Therefore, it might be worth it to open your own store or recipe website so you can set your own prices and have control over your marketing.

-- Abdul Alim - 2023-08-21

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