The problem
Why old family recipes are so hard to read
The recipe card is right there in your hands – but you can't cook from it. Grandmother's cursive loops and swoops in ways you never learned to read. The ink has faded to a whisper on paper that's been splattered, stained, and softened by decades of kitchen steam. And even when you can make out the words, the instructions don't quite make sense anymore.
Old-fashioned cursive that nobody writes or reads anymore – every letter connects differently
Outdated measurements nobody uses today: a gill, a dram, a dessertspoon, a saltspoon
No oven temperatures – because wood stoves and early gas ranges had no thermostats
Assumed knowledge everywhere: 'cream the butter', 'a moderate oven', 'a quantity of flour'
Ingredient names that changed over time: 'salad oil' meant olive oil, 'pearl ash' was a baking soda precursor
The solution
AI reads the recipe – you cook it
Transkribus uses handwritten text recognition trained on millions of handwriting samples. Take a photo of the recipe card or cookbook page with your phone, upload it, and get readable text back in seconds. The AI handles faded ink, connected cursive, and smudged paper – the kinds of documents that standard OCR tools fail on completely. Once you have the text, you can adjust the old measurements, share the recipe with your family, and finally cook the dish again.
Works on recipe cards, cookbook pages, loose notes – any handwritten recipe
Reads faded ink and stained paper that's been through decades of kitchen use
Confidence scores on every line – so you know which words to double-check
Export as plain text, PDF, or share directly with family
Old measurements
Gill, dram, dessertspoon – old measures explained
Even after the AI reads the handwriting, old recipes use measurements that have disappeared from modern kitchens. Before standardised measuring cups became common, cooks used spoons, cups, and terms that varied by region and era. Here are the most common ones you'll encounter – just enough to get cooking, not a full conversion table.
A gill is about 120 ml or half a cup – used for liquids in British and early American recipes
A dram is roughly 1.8 g – a tiny amount, typically for spices and flavourings
A dessertspoon is about 10 ml – halfway between a teaspoon and a tablespoon
A saltspoon is roughly a quarter teaspoon – for precise seasoning in baking
'A teacup' or 'a coffee cup' – not standardised, but roughly 180-240 ml depending on the era
Recipe shorthand
'Take a quantity of...' – when the recipe assumes you know
Old recipes weren't written for strangers. They were notes between cooks who already knew the basics – so they left out what seemed obvious. No oven temperatures, because wood stoves and early gas ranges didn't have thermostats. No exact quantities, because experienced cooks adjusted by feel. And some ingredient names have simply changed over the decades.
'A moderate oven' is roughly 180 C / 350 F – 'slow' is 150 C / 300 F, 'hot' is 220 C / 425 F
'Salad oil' usually means olive oil – the term was common in American recipes before the 1960s
'Pearl ash' was a precursor to baking soda – use baking soda in roughly the same amount
'Cream the butter' means beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy – still used today
Missing quantities often mean 'to taste' or 'as much as you need' – start small, adjust as you go
Frequently asked questions
Ready to bring grandmother's recipes back to life?
Create a free account and start transcribing handwritten recipes today. Upload a photo, get readable text in seconds – then cook the dish again.
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