MasterCook Deluxe 8.0 :: Education by Design Store

Customer Reviews

Good enough

2005-10-11
I have been using MasterCook since version 4. I love the ability to get recipes from the internet. And I like the added field for the URL source. Other than that not much has changed from version 6. The search function is still clunky. And I still don't like the recipe display window where you have to scroll down to see ingredients and instructions, not very useful when am cooking and reading from the screen. It should look more like the print preview screen.

To Much Work!

2005-08-27
Granted this is about the only software on the market that semi gives you what you need, but it takes alot of time to learn. I actually had to print out all the help notes, and i'm an experienced user. The shopping list is really worthless. You need to write the recipes exactly in the same wording, so it understands what items to add to your shopping list. When I first got it I spent hours loading and re-loading the software because it would freeze up and just quit. What's with that? I did like the "pantry" feature, but when you want to buy two different sizes of the same item, trying to figure out the ounces takes major time. I think Valusoft needs to listen to their customers before releasing their product. But the recipes are a hugh benefit.That's the only reason I didn't return it....

Mastercook is the King of the Kitchen

2005-08-21
I started with MC 4.0 and didn't care for it..the interface was too clunky.

I picked up MC 6.0 and really liked it and ValuSoft took it over and has impressed me with each release by fixing some bugs and adding new features such as PDA support in version 7 and with 8.0 we get the Web Import Bar that makes gathering recipes revolutionary.

Unfortunately, ValuSoft seems to have gotten a bad rap in the reviews I've read, but each new release is quite an improvement.

This is great recipe, nutrition and meal planning software. For $20, you can't beat the value of this power-packed software.

Great Program/ Not complete Package

2005-08-12
The program is wonderful but it took me much longer than I though it would to learn. It would have been helpful if I had known this CD was not a package and would not include any sort of instruction booklet. I would have spent the extra money to get the CD and guide book all at once if I knew I wasn't going to get even a 1 page basic guide.

MasterCook Deluxe 8.0

2005-08-09
Excellent upgraded software from Sierra. The new feature attraction enables you to download ANY recipe from the Internet. What a time saver......love it!

Wow

2008-02-05
There is more to MasterCook than just recipes. I started using MC to create weekly mealplans. I was amazed when I found out that I could set up a listing of everything in my pantry or fridge in a list and the program would subtract everthing that I already had from my shopping list. It also does nutritional analysis. All I can say is WOW!

Impressive Application

2007-09-12
Having been forced by health issues to watch the nutritional value of the food I eat, I am already finding that this product makes that job a whole lot easier. There is a lifetime supply of new recipes to try included with the program, but the biggest advantage to me is the breakdown of sodium, fat, cholesterol, sugar and other nutrients included with each recipe and the program's ability to extrapolate this information from recipes I enter myself.

In a household of two, there isn't much need to make a recipe that serves 50, but with MasterCook's ability to scale a recipe, a smaller version of the recipe can be prepared with ease, allowing the recipes to be used in suitable proportions. This product is worth far more than I paid for it!

Not great software

2007-08-18
I have had both the 7.0 and 8.0 versions of this software, and was duly unimpressed with both. It is loaded with LOUSY recipes, the search function is awkward, the software runs slowly, backups are unreliable and, the thing that irritated me most, the nutritional analysis of recipes was always WAY off. Either it didn't recognize half the ingredients in the recipe or it was just plain old unable to calculate the values. I thought that perhaps the 8.0 version would have worked out the bugs from 7.0, but I was wrong. I just purchased Cook'n software and so far it appears to be far superior.

mastercook deluxe 8.0

2007-06-02
This is a horrible program,it is not user friendly. For a recipe program pictures are very helpful. Whoever thought picture weren't necessary for a recipe was an idiot. I wish I had known this before purchasing this product. Waste of time and money

It isn't just software, it is a hobby!

2006-04-24
I've been using Mastercook software for about six years. This is the 4th version I've purchased. I'm totally pleased with 8.0, and have had no problems upgrading the previous versions and integrating the old cookbook collections into the newer program. What I like best about this program is that I can enter the ingredient "scallops" and pull up dozens of recipes and select one based on what is in my pantry. (I've never had much luck planning meals in advance). I do not find the software buggy or difficult to use at all. I've also used it to load recipes onto my Dell Axim PDA (handy when at the grocery store). I've had no difficulty printing recipes onto paper or index cards. After you try a recipe, you can annotate it with comments. Better yet, I even take digital photos of some dishes (like the Christmas duck I made) and add them to the recipes. To the extent there are recipes in the collection that are not appealing, simply delete them! I like having a growing family cookbook which I can print for my kids someday!