Frequently Asked Questions About Meal Planning

Time To Plate is a meal planning app and recipe management software designed for people who cook for others. It combines recipe storage, event planning, appliance-lane scheduling, guest dietary tracking, and step-by-step Cook Mode into one platform.

Request early access from our homepage. Once approved, you can import recipes, set up your kitchen profile, and create your first meal event or template.

Yes. The Free tier includes up to 15 recipes, Cook Mode, recipe import from URL, and basic family sharing. No credit card required.

Kitchen profiles are optional but recommended if you want appliance-aware scheduling to reflect your real equipment and capacity. Without a kitchen profile, you can still use recipes and Cook Mode.

Each appliance in your kitchen profile becomes a lane on the timeline. The scheduler assigns cooking tasks to lanes based on which appliance they need, ensures no lane is double-booked beyond its capacity, and plans backward from your target serve time. Preheat, rest, and hold tasks are added automatically.

Absolutely. Time To Plate was designed for exactly this scenario. Enter your recipes, set your serve time, and the scheduler builds a timeline that accounts for oven capacity, prep overlap, and rest times so your turkey, sides, and desserts all land on the table at the right moment.

You can exclude appliances at the event level. The scheduler regenerates the timeline automatically, reassigning tasks to available appliances and flagging any conflicts that cannot be resolved.

The scheduler explains every conflict in plain English and suggests fixes. For example, it might say: 'Remove Beef Wellington to free 30 minutes on Main Oven.' You always make the final decision.

Guests receive an email with a unique RSVP link. They can accept or decline, set their party size, and leave a message. No account is required to RSVP.

No. Once invitations are sent, the theme is locked. You can still add new recipients and resend to individuals who did not receive it.

The invitation closes automatically when the deadline passes. Late visitors see a message that the deadline has passed, with your contact information if you provided it.

Allergens are medical concerns tracked with severity levels (tree nuts and peanuts are separate categories). Avoided ingredients are preferences such as dislikes, religious restrictions, or anything a guest prefers not to eat. Both are surfaced as warnings during menu planning.

Yes. Paste a URL and Time To Plate extracts the recipe data (ingredients, steps, times) automatically. You can edit the imported recipe before saving.

Cook Mode is a distraction-free, step-by-step interface for following a recipe or an entire event timeline. It is optimized for tablets and phones with large text and simple navigation. Timers run in the background and alert you when a step is complete.

Yes. Create profiles for your home kitchen, vacation home, outdoor kitchen, or anywhere you cook. Each event can use a different kitchen profile.

AI assistance is optional and pluggable. The core scheduling, timeline, and dietary features work without any AI. If you want AI-powered suggestions, you can connect your own API key from supported providers.

Most meal planning apps focus on weekly menus or grocery lists. Time To Plate is built for event execution. It schedules cooking tasks across your real appliances, plans backward from serve time, and gives you a live timeline with timers so everything comes out together.