The Bad
One of the problems with user-based submissions is the fact that people tend to put things in the wrong categories. I mean, sure, the Swedish meatballs do have cranberry sauce on them, but that does not make them a fruit entry. This sort of screw-up plagues online recipe sites, and Dinner Spinner is not immune. When I go to look up a specific type of meal with a specific ingredient, I expect that ingredient to be featured, not just an add-on. Heck, I even found one where the specific ingredient (fruit in bread) was an OPTIONAL ingredient. To me, this flaw is a big problem, and allrecipes.com needs to work on this.
Another problem with Dinner Spinner is the lack of more search options. This is not really a flaw as it is more of a missing feature. Sure, it is nice to pick by ingredient, type, and time, but what if I only care about two (or even one) of these items? Currently you must have all three picked (though you can randomize any of them). I want to be able to see all breakfast chicken entries at once, not have to sort through them by timing. This seems like an easy fix, and will hopefully show up soon.
Overall
I have to say that as a fledgling cook (who worships cookbooks like they were Bibles), I really like the concept and execution of Dinner Spinner. The ease of use, the shopping lists, and the helpful hints from other users makes it well worth it (if you check a few recipes, you will notice my own tips). The only thing holding this application back is the shoddy categorical placement by the users and the lack of less specific searching. As one of these is fixable, the good parts of Dinner Spinner quickly outweigh the negatives. So, if you want to start cooking, then grab Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner from the app store for free today.
Article comments
1 - Loren Bast
Hi, Robert "
I’m one of the folks who’s working on the Dinner Spinner app, and we appreciate your review!
We just wanted to let you know we just released version 1.1, and as part of the new version we’ve cleaned up some of the more egregious recipe matches (in other words, “Shrimp Scampi” won’t show as a Fruit dish simply because it has some lemon juice in it). In addition, we’ve added a new Favorites section, as well as more popular recipes.
We have some other features in the queue for 1.2…stay tuned.
Loren Bast
Allrecipes.com
2 - Robert M. Barga
thanks for the update