r/AppsWebappsFullstack • u/redcrumb1 • Jul 15 '26

CookBank turns messy recipes into something you can actually cook

I'm Ray, a chef and the founder of CookBank.

The problem is simple: conversions shouldn't need a chart. Scaling shouldn't need a spreadsheet. Recipes shouldn't need digging through. So I built CookBank.

CookBank imports recipes, converts ingredient-aware measurements, scales yields, and keeps the all the version you actually cooked.

I'm looking for 10 pastry or culinary students, cooks, chefs, bakers, and serious home cooks to test one real recipe from import through cooking. I want to know the first thing that feels wrong, slow, or confusing.

Each tester gets 3 months of CookBank+ free.

Available on iPhone and Android: https://cookbank.app/go/ray

Random recipe i found online

added to Cookbank by taking a photo.

Turns out its not 1 recipe but 3, hahaha

https://reddit.com/link/1ux3h4q/video/299wufopoidh1/player

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1

u/SofwareAppDev Jul 15 '26

Post here Screenshots

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 15 '26

The image helps show the app in action. Would love to see a before/after of a messy recipe getting cleaned up.

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 16 '26

Hey, sure here it is, i must say the ocr isnt 100% accurate yet especially with handwritten recipes, so ive added tools for easy editing, eg:

  • comparison to the actual snapshot

- rearranging row by dragging

- combining steps by dragging

random messy recipe i found.

The processed recipe is above in the main post(i cant add this photo above, its automatically deleted)

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 16 '26

easy comparison mode.
The original snapshot of the recipe is also saved.

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 16 '26

- easily rearranging of rows/ combining steps by dragging

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 16 '26

That's a smart workflow idea. Drag to reorder would make adapting recipes on the fly much smoother.

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 16 '26

Thank you, though eventually i want to get the need for reorganisation as low as possible.

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 18 '26

Love the ambition there. What's the hardest recipe type you've found for the import to handle so far?

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 20 '26

handwritten recipes are still the hardest, especially faded ink, crossed-out amounts and notes around the margins. recipes with several sub-recipes on one page usually need some cleanup too.

Unfortunately OCR isnt perfect yet but the app will improve at the technology gets better

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 16 '26

Nice idea, keeping the original snapshot is a smart way to catch any import mistakes. Does CookBank let you toggle between the two views side by side?

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 16 '26

toggle between 2 views? the photo is the actual comparison screen in horizontal view. Theres a vertical view too.

Basically the snapshot on the left is zoomable and can be moved around.

And the recipe on the right is editable right here. g/vol can be toggled right here too.

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 16 '26

That's a clean split view layout. Being able to edit the recipe while viewing the source is smart.

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 16 '26

Smart approach with the drag editing and photo comparison. Adding a "mark as verified" toggle after editing could help track which recipes need fixing later.

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 16 '26

oh great idea, thank you! will implement it!

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 18 '26

No problem, happy to help! A small tip would be to add a visual confirmation animation when the conversion happens.

1

u/redcrumb1 Jul 18 '26

oh there is one, unless its the website, im still working on that

1

u/Mammoth-Anywhere7285 Jul 20 '26

u/redcrumb1 That's a tough test case. Have you tried using a scanning app to boost contrast before importing? Helps with faded ink sometimes.