Pestle: Recipe Manager

I have been searching for a good recipe app saver in the chance that tik tok is banned in the US in a few weeks. I quickly found that for this app and similar, the key to whether or not the app will be able to load the video is dependent on in the recipe and directions are listed in the caption of the video! That took me longer than I’d like to figure out and it would be nice if that were explained in the app or description of the app. Unsure if I will end up paying for this app or not but wanted to mention as I assume I’m not the only one in this predicament right now. I will say, the app is very user friendly and laid out better than others I have tried.

Does not auto-populate TikTok recipes as it claims to do. Every recipe I tried to imported stated “not in system, unable to load”

How do I save recipes from Pinterest

Mela is better and far less expensive. I think I paid $25 for an annual subscription for Pestle. I use my apps as cookbook for recipes from the web, not Instagram nor TikTok. Nor do I use it to make shopping lists. I have found multiple instances where Pestle did not recognize a recipe on a web page. Mela has worked EVERY time. Pestle worked about 90% of the time. Mela has all of the same features that I use such as scaling a recipe, making adjustments, and notes.

A year or two ago I decided to by the a lifetime license for pestle pro, I’ve not used it too much since then since I usually just throw some food together, but every once in a while its nice to do things by the book, especially for baking. It has some pretty neat scanning features for turning website recipes into a readable format and the app is fairly easy to use. That being said, today it randomly decided to delete all of my recipes. I don’t know if it logged me out, or something, but now I need to add all of them again. Very frustrating to have that happen in an otherwise great app.

I lucked out. I downloaded this when it was first offered for free. I love it! It’s user friendly so I now keep all of my recipes in this app. I love how easy it is to edit recipes, adding notes and alterations I have made after cooking. I can link other recipes I the ingredients menu, so if I’m making a pie, my preferred piecrust recipe is there. I can print out the recipes when I don’t want my iPhone or iPad in the kitchen, which is great. The app scales the recipes for fewer or more servings. The nutritional information is available if offered by the recipe maker. I can share recipes with friends and family, and it will also generate shopping lists. It does everything I want it to, including scanning a recipe from a cookbook. What’s not to like?

I love Pestle, has made finding recipes so much easier!

It’s alright. The importing tools are similar and better than others since you can import from social platforms. The phrasing and recipe/ingredient hierarchy need serious attention. Merging marinating, dry, and garnishing ingredients is not helpful. Other apps like ReciMe do this well. In addition: The grocery shopping list. When shopping for items, the measurements are important but not as important as the actual ingredient name. Pestle does 1/2 ounces turkey thighs, whereas ReciMe does turkey thighs (1/2 ounces). At a glance, I know I need turkey legs. It’s frustratingly ugly and friction-rich. The recipe lists garlic three times. Transferring it over to the grocery list results in three separate shopping items instead of compiling the total amount and listing it once.

Two years ago I downloaded this app and it seemed to be really great! I developed a bunch of recipes within it and found it super convenient to make changes and use the app as I was cooking. A few months ago I accidentally dropped my phone into some boiling chicken stock (ironically I was cooking from the app) but I was able to back up all my data to the cloud before going to Verizon to purchase my new phone. I assumed that was all I needed to do to save everything that was on my phone. A few days later I opened Pestle and everything was gone. I tried a few things to see if I could recover them and the last thing on my list was to email support. I didn’t get around to it until yesterday when I needed one of my recipes for Thanksgiving with my family. I ended up trying to make the recipe from memory, but I also finally emailed Pestle’s support thinking this must be a quick fix. Unfortunately, the developer, Will, let me know that no, the recipes really are gone forever. He tried to tell me I must have deleted my account when I was literally using it up to the moment my phone became unusable. So I’m upset I lost my recipes, and I’m also frustrated at this person’s failure to take responsibility for the issues within his app. All this to say, if you want to be able to store your recipes long term, through multiple phones, maybe don’t use this app.

I don’t usually write reviews, but this app is so brilliant, it deserves as much praise as it can get. I love finding new recipes from all over and finding a way to organize them has been…challenging. This takes all of the hard work out and makes a smooth, intuitive experience. No more smudged and stained printouts scattered around or lost web links that I know are somewhere in my browser history. Thank you so much for creating and sharing this app with the world!