Mastercook 2020

Ive been using MasterCook since about version 8, for home use. As far as Im concerned, theyve priced themselves out of the market about 2 or 3 versions ago, but I hung with it up to version 15. They use to be moderately priced and the subscription cost was around $24 per year, its well over doubled that now. If youre looking for a recipe organizer for home use, there are plenty of moderately priced or even free apps that are just as good as this. Dont waste your money on MasterCook...their just NOT WORTH IT!

There is no ability to divide a cookbook into chapters.

Im not certain why Im giving it two stars instead of one. It installed okay. I tried to import recipes from a prior version using the directions from the publisher. That didnt work. But whatever. I just wanted to make a cookbook with it using a few family recipes. I wasnt interested in sending it in for publication: I just wanted to print and spiral bind a cookbook. The formatting tools are VERY limited: there is no way to make it look nice. I finally gave up and used a free Microsoft recipe template. That wasnt easy, but at least I could format things. Perhaps Im just inept. If you are just looking for a place to store recipes digitally, it might be okay. If you are looking to publish them, you may want to look elsewhere.

Ive used this product in earlier versions for years, and have been able to import files from previous versions with only a small amount of difficulty. THIS version will only allow me to import the one cookbook Ive created, not any of those that came with previous versions, and does not seem to come with any of its own versions. Very disappointment. Am thinking of returning this and going back to my previous version. This is a waste of money.

I have been using MasterCook since the first version was released in the 1990s and swapping recipes and cookbooks with my MasterCook and Living Cookbook friends for over 25 years. I use MasterCook to organize my recipes into cookbooks and use its tools to drag/drop recipes into menus and shopping lists. I can print my menus and shopping lists to PDF files instead of printing directly to my printer. I frequently use this tool to help with my camping meal planning. I even have a separate Pantry List for items I want to track in my camper that are not recipes or food items. If you want to use the online features at MasterCook.com and the mobile apps, you can purchase an online subscription separately. Then you can sync with your online account to access and even edit your recipes and shopping lists when you are away from home and your computer. Then sync those changes with the program on the computer when you return home.

Using for catering business. User friendly app.

The only good things I can say is it was easy to install and set up. Ive used mastercook since version 5 but this will be my last one. Its hard to use and doesnt do everything they say it will unless you use the subscription service. Too bad because I was a long time customer but disappointed in this one.

Don’t buy unless you want to spend hours and hours trying to do updates. My husband has bee trying to do the update for days. Support just keeps telling him to do the same things over and over. Unfortunately the backup didn’t work so our recipes are gone. We followed their instructions and it says there is a backup but after doing the update the recipes wont load. If you buy it don’t do any updates. Waste of money.

Storing recipes. Love the calories, details, etc.

Not as useful as I had hopped. As an accomplished home chef (retired) I now rely on the me knowledge of cooking methods and skills. this accumulation of recipes is almost valueless. (Pardonnez mon pauvre anglaise.)