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March 19, 2012

Punchfork – What the Cooks Are Talking About

 

At first glance, Punchfork might look like your average, run-of-the-mill recipe app. After all, it’s got all the necessary ingredients: enticing photos, shopping lists, and preparation instructions. Dig a little deeper, though, and you’ll discover a food-centric web-app that does a lot more than just provide people with basic recipes for all their favorite meals.

What makes Punchfork unique is that it culls real-time social data from Facebook and Twitter and uses this information to determine which online recipes are garnering the most attention at any given time. Each recipe being tracked by Punchfork is then assigned a popularity rating between 1 and 100 to reflect how much discussion and sharing has been going on across the web. When you log on to Punchfork, you can then browse recipes by trend, rating, or number of “likes.” You can also limit the recipes you’re viewing by dietary restriction or source. When you come across a photo that looks enticing, give it a quick click and scan through the instructions. Punchfork lets you “like” it and share it, and shows you exactly how many times it’s been shared via Twitter, Facebook, and StumbledUpon. Although Punchfork will show you photos and ingredients of each recipe listed on its site, you’ll have to click through to the original source to view the actual preparation instructions.

Punchfork currently gets its recipes from top food sites like 101 Cookbooks, The Pioneer Woman, Leite’s Culinaria, Serious Eats, Simply Recipes and The Kitchn, but it encourages people with their own food blogs to join its team of publishing partners as a way to drive more traffic and raise brand visibility.

Practical Uses:

  • Find the perfect brownie recipe
  • See which recipes have gotten the most attention on Facebook
  • Browse through recipes posted on The Kitchn
  • Get ideas for what to serve at a dinner party you’re hosting next week

Insider Tips:

  • Limit recipes by browsing only vegetarian dishes
  • The API lets people integrate Punchfork recipes into their own websites or apps
  • People can sign in to Punchfork through Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, or AOL

What we liked:

  • Punchfork is a great way to get an overview of what recipes people are talking about
  • Each recipe includes a high-resolution photo
  • The original source of each recipe is clearly marked
  • People with food blogs can sign up to have their recipes posted on Punchfork

What we didn’t like:

  • Although Punchfork is great for browsing, users still need to click through to the original recipe source to view step-by-step preparation instructions

Alternatives:

Company Info:

  • Launched: 2011
  • Privately Held
  • Headquarters: Palo Alto, California
  • Founded by: Jeff Miller
  • Web site: http://punchfork.com

Costs:

  • Free

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