A SHORT SUMMARY
Pros
- Comprehensive Recipes - BigOven provides a massive database of recipes, curated by featured, season, lifestyle, diet and holiday to name a few
- Menu Planner and Grocery List - The Menu Planner feature is a schedule for the following weeks' upcoming meals
- Use Up Leftovers - This is a great feature for those who would like to finish up leftovers left in the fridge
Cons
- Requires PRO Membership for full functionality
- Clunky interface - Some might find the interface to be rather problematic and clunky
BigOven
A recipe database which works as an assistant throughout the whole cooking process. With over hundreds of thousands of recipes, categorized into various lists such as “Quick and Easy Dinners” or holiday-specific like Thanksgiving dinners, you can plan meals for the whole week ahead.
The BigOven app, downloaded 11 million times, is the most comprehensive cooking tool available on both iOS and Android. This app has won several awards including “Best App for Foodies” by PC Magazine. The BigOven app has a variety of handy features. It serves not only as a recipe list, but also helps plan your menu for the week and compiles a grocery list from the ingredients required to make the dishes. The recipes can also be adjusted according to the serving size and provides nutritional values. We’ll go into more depth of the app’s features below.
Pros
Comprehensive Recipes: BigOven provides a massive database of recipes, curated by featured, season, lifestyle, diet and holiday to name a few. After selecting your dish, BigOven displays detailed information regarding the dish, namely the ingredients, instructions, serving size and an image if available. It can also provide nutrition function, although some may find using it to be rather difficult and annoying.
In addition, you can read reviews and ratings of the meal from other BigOven users. Recipes can be saved as either “Favorites” or “To Try”. This app also allows users to upload and share their own recipes with other users.
Menu Planner and Grocery List: The Menu Planner feature is a schedule for the following weeks’ upcoming meals. You can add recipes and freely shift their positions to a different day should something came up. You can then add the recipes into the Grocery List, which automatically compiles the ingredients into one single shopping list. This feature has helped many users save both time and money, and also have to shop much less often.
Use Up Leftovers: This is a great feature for those who would like to finish up leftovers left in the fridge. By selecting up to three ingredients, the app searches its database for suitable recipes, thus allowing you to finally use up those leftovers.
Cons
Requires PRO Membership for full functionality: The free app comes with ads and does not offer all features of BigOven. Those who wish to access all features are required to have the PRO Membership at roughly $16/year. Several of these features include Nutrition Insight to adjust meals according to diet and lifestyle, creating custom folders for recipes and unlimited recipes upload. However, many users noted that the free app has enough features.
Clunky interface: Some might find the interface to be rather problematic and clunky. There are few minor annoyances such as crashes and the search can be frustrating. On rare occasions typing chicken may result in Mac and Cheese instead. Other instances include “Error in Communicating” or the app may delete recipes saved in Favorites. This app also requires internet connection; There is currently no offline support although the concept is already in beta testing.
Conclusion
Overall, BigOven works well and is one of the best recipe apps available in either iOS or Android. It has several beneficial functions, especially the Menu Planner and Grocery List, which can really make a difference for those with a busy schedule. Although the interface could be more user-friendly and there are several glitches, BigOven is still a great service. All in all, this app is a must have for any cooking aficionado and is highly recommended.
