HOW TO Get cooking with Pestle

1 Import any recipe

Often, online recipes are littered with ads and confusing measurements. We can fix that. Find a recipe using Safari, tap the Share button, then the Pestle app icon, and tap Save. You can now view your recipe in your Pestle cookbook.

2 Add your own recipes

In the Cookbook panel, you can add recipes from multiple sources. Tap the ‘+’, then either add your own recipe from scratch, enter a web address, or scan a recipe from a magazine or cookbook, image, or even a PDF.

3 Convert a recipe

If you’ve found the perfect recipe but it uses imperial rather than metric measurements, Pestle has you covered. Open the recipe in Pestle, tap Scale or Convert, followed by Convert Units, then Convert to Metric (or vice versa).

4 Cooking for less

Online recipes are often for large serving numbers, but what if you’re only cooking for two? Pestle converts recipes for different serving amounts. Tap Scale or Convert, then Scale Recipe, and use the slider to choose your serving size.

5 Avoid tapping buttons

Follow a recipe even if you have dirty hands. Tap Start Cooking, followed by the Microphone icon (top right). Pestle will display your recipe in steps, and you can easily move between steps by saying “Next” or “Back”.

6 Plan your meals

Planning meals is the best way to eat healthier and spend less on food. Tap the Meal Plan button, then pick a day to add one of your recipes by clicking the ‘+’ button next to the date. Choose from any of your recipes already added to the app.

7 Create a shopping list

Now that you know what you want to cook, you need to buy ingredients. On any recipe, tap the Folder icon (top right), then ‘Add to Shopping List’. Select the ingredients, then tap Add. View your list by tapping the Shopping List panel.

8 Discover new ideas

It can be hard to find inspiration. In the Discovery panel, you can add any cooking website’s RSS feed. Tap Edit, then Add New Feed and paste in a feed link. You can now browse thousands of recipes and add them to your cookbook.

9 Find your favourite

Once you’ve built a library of recipes, you can easily find a dish. In the Cookbook panel, type a recipe in the Search field or tap Filter. You can filter based on how you’ve rated the recipe, the time to cook, or different cuisines.