Cooking

Cook view presents a recipe one step at a time. The checklist, steps, and timers work without AI.

Alpha documentation

These steps follow the current repository implementation, pending fresh-install verification against a released image. Browser-dependent features need testing on the device you cook with.

Before you start

• Add and check your recipe, especially imported quantities and instructions.
• Confirm the intended servings. If cooking from a plan, check that meal’s servings too.
• Use a phone, tablet, or computer that can reach your Merran server. Voice controls additionally require browser support and microphone permission.

Open cook view and gather ingredients

1. Open a recipe and choose Start cooking, or choose Start cooking from a planned meal’s menu.
2. On Get ready, review the servings and ingredients. Tick each ingredient as you gather and measure it.
3. Choose Text size to make the steps easier to read where needed.
4. Choose Start, then use Next and Back. Use Steps to jump to a step or return to getting ready.

Expected result: each step appears with relevant recognized ingredients under For this step. The full ingredient checklist remains useful if automatic ingredient matching misses something.

Merran tries to keep the screen awake while cook view is open. The Screen stays on indicator depends on browser support and permission; it is not guaranteed on every device.

Use timers

1. Tap a recognized duration in a step to start its timer, or choose New timer, enter Minutes, and Start.
2. Watch the timer chips while continuing through the recipe. You can run more than one.
3. Use +1 min to extend a timer or its cancel action to stop it. Dismiss the timer when it finishes.

Expected result: timers count down independently of the current step. They are saved on this device, but sound and background execution depend on the browser and device. Keep the cooking page available and use a separate timer when you need a dependable alarm with the phone locked or browser closed.

Not every written duration is recognized. Start a manual timer if a time is plain text rather than an interactive control.

Optional hands-free controls

1. In cook view, turn on Hands-free and allow microphone access when the browser asks.
2. Wait for Listening, then try “next,” “back,” “read it,” or “ingredients.”
3. Try “timer for 10 minutes” to set a duration, or “how much garlic” to hear a matching ingredient amount.
4. Turn Hands-free off when finished. Touch controls remain available if a command is missed.

Expected result: supported commands navigate the recipe or control cooking actions, and steps can be read aloud. Listening pauses while Merran speaks. This is a set of cooking commands, not a general-purpose AI conversation.

Browser speech recognition and device speech synthesis are required for hands-free operation. Recognition may use the browser vendor’s online service; this is not a guarantee of offline or fully local voice processing. Microphone access may require HTTPS or a trusted local context.

The optional server voice module can read using a configured Kokoro service or OpenAI. Device voices do not require an AI provider key; Kokoro requires its service to be configured, while OpenAI reading requires a usable OpenAI key and incurs provider charges. Server voice failure can fall back to a device voice. A server voice does not add speech recognition to a browser that lacks it.

Finish and keep notes

1. Choose Done cooking when you have finished.
2. In How did it go?, add a rating and A note for next time, then choose Save, or choose Skip to leave without a note.
3. Find saved notes under Cooking notes on the recipe. Use Add a note there to record something later.

Expected result: the recipe is marked made today. Merran marks a matching meal on today’s plan cooked, or moves a matching meal from this week’s any-day pool to today and marks it cooked. A cooked plan entry can consume its pantry stock. Cooking a recipe with no matching plan entry records that it was made; do not assume it deducts an unplanned meal from the pantry.

Cooking notes record what happened on a particular occasion. Use Edit → Notes for lasting recipe instructions. When optional AI note suggestions are available, a note may produce a proposed recipe change in Review; inspect it before applying it.

Resume and troubleshoot

Progress is remembered in this browser for up to 12 hours, including the step and checked ingredients, when the serving scale and paired recipe match. Start over discards that progress. This is not cross-device cooking progress or an offline copy of the recipe.

What you see	What to try
No steps	Return to the recipe’s Edit screen and add one step per line.
Hands-free is unavailable	Use touch controls. The browser must expose both speech recognition and speech synthesis.
Microphone denied	Allow microphone access in this site’s browser settings, then try again.
No read-aloud voice	Check device voices and volume; use Text size and voice / Test voice where offered. Ask the admin to check an optional server voice if configured.
Ingredient amount is wrong	Recheck the recipe’s original servings, current scale, units, and parsed ingredient text.
Screen sleeps or timer is silent	Check browser/device restrictions. Use the device’s own timer for a reliable background alarm.
Pantry did not change	Check whether a matching planned meal was marked cooked; off-plan cooking is not a general pantry deduction.

Next steps

For speech setup, see Kokoro, OpenAI, and device voices.

For provider-backed voice and note suggestions, see AI setup and costs and AI privacy.

Correct pantry stock after substitutions, edit the recipe with improvements, or plan next week’s meals.