{Book Review} Test Dorie’s Cooking App!

“Are apps making cookbooks obsolete?” Such was the headline in a popular New York Times article last week, which went on to praise Baking with Dorie a critically-acclaimed new baking app from FOF Dorie Greenspan, one of our FOFeatured Women. We went straight to the source, Dorie herself, to get the scoop on what makes apps so well-suited for the kitchen and whether or not cookbooks will go the way of the dodo.

Plus, 3 FOFs will get to try Dorie’s app. Enter, by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post.

Who knew that one of the most buzzed about cooking apps would come from an FOF chef and not a 20-something!
I’m excited about new technology. I’ve had an iPad from day one and thought it was a miracle. I have 84,000 followers on Twitter. I feel like a baking evangelist. I want everyone in their kitchens baking. Apps and social media are tools to help me reach new bakers. You thought a new app would come from someone in their 20s, but it was my hope that by doing the app, I’d reach people in their 20s. 

Do you think cookbooks are dead?
No. The best apps supplement cookbooks–they give you something that a cookbook can’t. I’m not giving up cookbooks; in fact, I’m working on a new one now. But, I’m thrilled we have this technology and excited about what it can do and how it’s going to evolve.

What does your app give someone that a cookbook can’t?
You can get my recipes in the book. The app is me with you in your kitchen. When I write recipes for a book, I try to include many visual clues so they know what they are doing is right–for instance, what color a finished cake will be and the way it should spring back when you press the top. An app brings this alive. My app has a ton of video, which gives me a way really show home bakers the techniques.

So what specific techniques are best learned from the app?
There’s a way that I knead dough that I can describe in a book, but when you see it, it’s completely different.

One feature that foodies have been buzzing about is the unique ways a user can view recipes in your app. Tell me about that.
CulinApp, the company that created the app, presented each recipe in four different ways because they understand that people learn in different ways. There’s “cookbook view,” where the recipe looks like a traditional cookbook. There’s “spin view,” where you can spin a carousel to choose pieces of the recipes you want to see. There’s “step-by-step” which is the videos in order with the steps beneath it in text. Then there’s “CulinView” which is a flow chart of the whole recipe so you get an overview of everything that needs to be done.

What’s your favorite view?
My preference is step-by-step.

So cookbooks will still have a place in our kitchen a few years from now?
Yes, for sure. Although, the other day, I saw a picture of kitchen cabinets that are built to hold iPads. I think it’s the wave of the future.

3 FOFs will test Dorie’s app. Enter to win, by leaving a comment at the bottom of this post.

By entering this contest you are agreeing to read and submit a written review of this app to FabOverFifty and to send a photo of yourself to accompany the published story.

(Contest closes 11/24/2011. See all our past winners. See official rules. Our panel of editors will choose winners based on the quality of their written comments. We look for clear, concise writing; creativity; and thoughtfulness.)

0 Responses to “{Book Review} Test Dorie’s Cooking App!”

  1. mandrada says:

    Great idea, Dorie! I welcome and love the encouragement …”yes you can do it…” The apps will keep us updated and want to cook more since we know you will be at immediate grasp.

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  2. mrs meowrr says:

    I’m 70…just got married six months ago and I have been teaching myself cooking and I’m doing pretty good but baking! eeek! Help! thanks…:)

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  3. jules56 says:

    I go to the internet for most of my recipes. To have a cooking app on my iPad and to find recipes with just a click would be amazing.

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  4. Michele says:

    I am a recipe-aholic! I have saved recipes for years and recently catologed them all. I have more recipes than my days left here on this earth, but I love to cook! I’m constantly trying new recipes. I would completely enjoy putting this app to good use!

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  5. Mg says:

    I am always open to trying something new!

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  6. mary1 says:

    This app sounds wonderful and I can use all of the help that I can get in the kitchen

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  7. Teri says:

    I love Dorie and her app, not just because it’s fun and helpful and entirely useful, but because it gives me her company in the kitchen! I’m typically alone in the kitchen and this gives me company and teamwork. Two wiggly thumbs up!

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  8. mabrei says:

    This cooking app sounds very comprehensive and unique.

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  9. Diane Rice says:

    I’m eager to see the four different ways each recipe is presented, especially the “Culin View” flow chart! I love that a FOF has done this – proving once again that we are definitely NOT old fogies, and that newer technologies do NOT intimidate us!
    I’m “kneading challenged” – that is, I cannot make a decent kneaded loaf of bread! Either I incorporate too much flour (and end up with a doorstop!) or not enough. The “Spin View” would be SO helpful to me!

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  10. Jean Marvin says:

    I have 34 coming for Thanksgiving and I think this app would be a huge help to me. I have 4 kids and a hubby who all love to cook so I am sure this app would be fought over in our house (the only ipad in the house belongs to me and maybe, just maybe I would be willing to share!)

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  11. Patricia Assanowicz says:

    Now this is something I am very excited about, take out the old and bring in the new. I still refer to some of my cookbooks, this brings new excitement into my kitchen and that I love, thanks for an awesome opportunity.

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  12. Amy says:

    This is great….so easy.

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  13. debbi frank says:

    A cook who is on the cutting edge of tecnology and a member of FOF- that rocks! Just goes to show we are forever young and forever learning…..fifty just keeps getting hipper……

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  14. Janet Hattem says:

    This sounds so great! I would love to have a new resource to try some new dishes!!

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  15. Kai W. says:

    I love trying new recipes and see if they are as tasty as the cookbook say it is. I haven’t try using an app for cooking. Would be nice. No pages to ruin with spills.

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  16. slbennetti says:

    I have never used an app before, this could be very interesting.

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  17. Zoe lee says:

    I would love to try this app, thanks.

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  18. Becky Beer says:

    This “foodie” would love to test and review this app! I love to cook and try out new things,and this sounds great.

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  19. VJ says:

    I also saw a kitchen with a door specifically made for an iPad. It’s ironic, but just this morning I mentioned to my husband that since I have started cooking again, after my recent weight loss, I REALLY need him to alter one of my cabinet doors with a iPad frame.

    Just imagine the Thanksgiving dinner I could prepare if I had this app and were able to attach my iPad to the cabinet door. The iPad is up out of the way and out of harms way and the food could not help but turn out fabulous. The mashed potatoes would be creamier, the gravy would, of course be totally lump free, tender sweet potatoes fit for a queen, turkey succulent and golden brown, rolls so light they would appear to float just above the plate. Pecan pie, pumpkin pie, apple pie… oh, my.

    That is what my Thanksgiving Dinner would be like if I had this app and my iPad was attached to a cabinet door.

    Add to that family and dear friends and what do you get? A Perfect Thanksgiving!

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  20. terry says:

    Wish I has one to use : (

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  21. Jill Montgomery says:

    I am most definately a visual learner and I love to cook so this will be really interesting to try!

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  22. omiobabbinocaro says:

    I love to cook, but baking with yeast and kneading has always been a challenge. How great it would be to see what something should look like as opposed to just reading and thinking I know what is meant.

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  23. patatwell says:

    I have never used a cooking app. I pick up my Nook Color Tablet tomorrow. Would love to try this one. I don’t think cookbooks are on there way out. I love them and love going to bed with a new cookbook and reading every page. Will however try cooking apps.

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  24. Debbie Chaney says:

    Still love my cookbook collection, but I also love my iPad…bring it on!

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  25. Mary Bouchard says:

    I love hearing Dorie on the Splendid Table with Lynne Rosetto Kasper, and I would just as much love to try out this app!

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  26. gramhebert says:

    I would love to own this app. Could use all the help I can get in the kitchen for the Holidays!

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  27. smfsprout says:

    I agree with CulinApp and Dorie that each of us learns in a different way. Using Dorie’s app, even a novice cook would be able to select and execute a recipe with little difficulty just by choosing the view most suited to their personal style. I would love to preview this app and utilize it to enhance my cooking skills. Thanks.

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  28. Gloria says:

    It’s a great idea! I have never used one! How interesting would it be in my kitchen. I love cooking!

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  29. katholeen says:

    I use my iPad in the kitchen all the time – mostly with Epicurious and plain old google searches…would love to try Dorie’s app – I have some of her cookbooks and they are fabulous!

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  30. Andy says:

    What a neat idea! Makes life a lot easier and I’m ALL for that! Reminds me of the joys of a Kindle, which I thought I’d never use. Wrong !

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  31. Loesje Shema says:

    This app sounds so useful, especially that there are four ways to see a recipe, depending on one’s style and preference.

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