Do you love cookbooks but hate the price tag? If so, you're not alone!
After all, the best cookbooks from authors and food writers can retail at $50 each and even more.
Of course, you can find a few recipes from top chefs such as Yotam Ottolenghi and Nigella Lawson online, but these are mere crumbs compared to the main cookbook content. And, as any good home chef knows, the best recipes are in the cookbooks.
Ckbk offers an intriguing way to read and view cookbook recipes without buying the whole book. Sign up for the subscription service, and you have unlimited access to a curated selection of tried and tested cookbook recipes and cookbooks from top chefs and food writers.
Ckbk bills itself as offering "the world's best recipes at your fingertips". We’ve tested it to see if it truly lives up to this claim! Let's take a look below in our complete ckbk review.
How Does ckbk Work?
Ckbk is a website and app where you can access recipes from world-renowned chefs.
It gives you access to digital pages and a selection of recipes from the world's best cookbooks. There are various subscription options, including a free version.
Here's exactly how to use ckbk:
Go to the ckbk website, or download their app
Search recipes by ingredient, author, or cuisine type
Filter your search by dietary requirements, such as vegan or vegetarian, as needed
Find recipes from your favorite chefs, and get cooking!
Features of ckbk
CKBK is a unique platform that offers a plethora of features to its users. Some of its key features include:
Search by Ingredients
One thing we really like about ckbk is that you can search for a recipe based on the ingredients you have available.
Whether you have pumpkins growing like crazy in the garden or tomatoes that are begging to be used, this search filter will give you a range of recipes based on the ingredients you have. This helps reduce food wastage.
Vegan and Vegetarian Filter
Ckbk has a vegan and vegetarian filter, which allows you to search for recipes that fit your dietary requirements. This filter is also great for people who are trying to reduce their meat intake, or trying to reduce their grocery bill.
Smart Cookbooks
Ckbk has partnered with BSH, a European company that owns brands such as Bosch and Siemens.
Ckbk offers a complimentary premium membership to people in the UK who buy BSH's NEFF N90 smart oven.
Users can even have the oven's timer and temperature set by the ckbk app via the N90's Home Connect hub!
Classic and Modern Cookbooks
Whether you want to try the newest Ottolenghi recipe, or a classic apple crumble recipe like grandma used to make, ckbk has a huge range of modern and classic cookbook recipes.
Recipes from around the globe
If you’re like us, getting inspired when dinner time rolls around is a challenge. What we loved about ckbk is their range of global recipes. This inspired us to try out new recipes and think outside the box.
Now Let’s Talk About What I Like and Dislike About It
After trying ckbk, I compiled a list of the things we loved and the things we wished were different:
The likes:
- Affordable access to work by the world's best chefs and food writers
- Free access to three recipes a month, just sign up with your email address
- Ckbk features an ever-expanding selection of cookbooks
- Read whole cookbooks or just single recipes
- Save space on your kitchen shelves
- Cheaper than buying spiny new cookbooks when they come out
- The ckbk app lets you save recipes to "playlists" or flag your favorite cookbooks
- 87,000 recipes in total so far
- Gift option makes the perfect present for chefs and food lovers alike
- The wallet-friendly price point makes great cookbook content affordable for everyone
The dislikes:
- No guarantee your favorite chefs and food writers will be available on ckbk. For example, Market Cooking by David Tanis isn't currently available but his One Good Dish is listed
- For some, reading cookbooks digitally (even on a great platform like ckbk) just isn't the same as having a physical book
- Given the partnerships with premium publishers, there is a fair chance your cookbook browsing habits are being mined for data
How Much Does ckbk Subscription Cost, and Is It Worth It?
There are numerous membership options available, including a free membership.
The free membership allows you to explore and access 3 recipes per month, while the premium membership grants you access to the full recipe collection for $4.99 per month. There is a 14-day free trial for premium membership.
They also have an annual plan for $39.99.
We found that investing in a membership was much better value for money compared with buying expensive recipe books.
It also means that you are only paying for the recipes you like and will use, rather than a whole book in which you only use a handful of recipes.
What Other Users Are Saying About ckbk?
Ckbk has an impressive 4.9/5-star rating on the App Store. Some of the most common reviews include positive experiences accessing a wide range of cuisines and saving hard-earned money on cookbooks.
For example, here is one glowing review from one user:
“I used to buy a few cookbooks a year, but with all the local bookstores having closed, I find myself buying fewer and not keeping up with what is available. Ckbk has given me the thrill of having hundreds of new cookbooks. Not only that, it is an amazing resource for cookbooks from past decades, too.”
-cupcake*sprinkle.
Another lauded the ease of use and extensiveness of ckbk:
“ It has a good combination of a searchable database with the ability to read a cookbook straight through, and the recipes that it suggests once you’ve clicked on one are actually relevant… There is a good selection of different cuisines represented as well, which is important to me.”
-Macetas-Jacinta
We also found that by using ckbk, we were able to save a significant sum of money on the purchase of cookbooks. Additionally, I too was impressed by the variety of cuisines that were represented in the recipes.
Food for Thought
ckbk is a unique platform that brings you some of the best cookbooks in the world for an affordable price. Read recipes or whole cookbooks or sort through the huge number of dishes via ingredients, the choice is up to you. We think a ckbk subscription is the perfect gift for food lovers, particularly because of the "playlist" function in the app, which makes it simple to save favorites.
We would note that there are some similarities between ckbk and Cookstr (read our review of that platform here), but while Cookstr offers up recipes only, ckbk gives you the whole cookbook. Additionally, ckbk has functionality that far surpasses the competition.
All in all, we recommend ckbk. The platform makes accessing the best of food and food writing in the world easy and affordable. The only thing left to do is choose a recipe for dinner, something that can take some time given the number of choices on offer!
FAQs
Eat This Much has free, and paid options available. The free account allows you to create, and customize your meals daily. Meanwhile, the premium option will automatically generate your weekly plans and send them to you together with a grocery list.
Eat This Much Premium is currently $5/month with an annual membership or $14.99 month-to-month. It comes with a free 14-day trial and a 30-day refund guarantee.
Eat This Much Premium is a great way to save time thinking about what meals to eat, it is also a great way to plan ahead. The premium version will generate weekly meals, based on your dietary requirements, and send you a customized shopping list for the week, saving you both time and energy.
Meal plans are a great way to save money. They help you save food wastage, by carefully planning your meals and sending you exact lists of ingredients. They also take out the stress of thinking about what to eat, making you much less likely to eat out, thereby saving you precious money.
Online plans are a great way to take the stress out of deciding what to eat. They also help you keep track of your macros, and allow you to eat according to the calorie and nutrient requirements, without compromising flavor. They are often developed by professionals, for a wide range of people.
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