Getting Your Recipes Out of BigOven

Let's start with the honest part: getting recipes out of BigOven is harder than it should be. BigOven does not offer a bulk export feature. There is no "Download All My Recipes" button. If you have been using BigOven for years and have hundreds of saved recipes, that is a frustrating reality.

This guide explains what options you actually have, what MoveMyRecipes can do to help, and where the limitations are.

Why BigOven Is Tricky

BigOven operates as a web-based recipe platform with social features. You can browse their large recipe database, save recipes to your collection, and create your own. A Pro subscription runs about $2.99 per month.

The problem is on the way out. BigOven does not provide a recipe export feature for regular users. There is a public API available at a cost of $99 per month, which is clearly priced for commercial integrations rather than individuals trying to back up their own recipes.

For personal users, that leaves one practical approach: extracting recipes from their individual recipe pages.

The URL-by-URL Approach

Each recipe on BigOven has its own public URL. And here is the useful part: BigOven recipe pages include JSON-LD structured data -- machine-readable recipe information embedded in the page's HTML following the Schema.org standard.

MoveMyRecipes can read that structured data. Here is how it works:

1. Go to movemyrecipes.com/url.
2. Paste the URL of a BigOven recipe page.
3. MoveMyRecipes fetches the page, extracts the JSON-LD data, and parses it into a structured recipe.
4. You can then export that recipe to any of seven formats: JSON, CSV, Markdown, CookLang, PDF, HTML, or Open Recipe Format (YAML).

The JSON-LD data on BigOven pages typically includes the recipe name, description, ingredients, instructions, prep and cook times, yield, category, image URL, author, and ratings. It is a fairly complete representation of the recipe.

Being Upfront About the Limitations

This approach works, but it has real constraints:

It is one recipe at a time. There is no way to paste a list of 200 URLs and batch-process them. You enter one URL, get one recipe. For a large collection, this is tedious. There is no way around that.

It only works with public recipe pages. If you have private recipes that are not visible without logging in, the URL import cannot access them. MoveMyRecipes fetches the page as an anonymous visitor -- if the page requires authentication, there is nothing to extract.

It depends on BigOven's structured data. If BigOven changes or removes the JSON-LD markup from their pages, this approach stops working. As of this writing, their recipe pages do include it, and since JSON-LD is standard SEO practice that helps with Google search results, they have a strong incentive to keep it.

Recipes you saved (but did not create) may be trickier. If you saved a recipe from BigOven's community database, the recipe has its own BigOven URL that should work. But if the original author deletes it or makes it private, the URL stops working.

Your personal notes and modifications are not included. The JSON-LD on a BigOven page represents the published version of the recipe. Any personal notes, modifications, or ratings you added to your saved copy within the BigOven app are not part of the page's structured data.

A Realistic Workflow

If you have a manageable number of recipes in BigOven -- say, 20 to 50 that you actually cook regularly -- the URL approach is practical:

1. Open your BigOven collection in one browser tab.
2. Open movemyrecipes.com/url in another tab.
3. For each recipe you want to keep, copy its URL, paste it into MoveMyRecipes, and export it.
4. Choose a batch-friendly format like JSON or Markdown so you can accumulate your recipes in a single folder or file.

If you have hundreds of saved recipes, you will need to prioritize. Start with the recipes you actually cook, your personal creations, and any family recipes. The long tail of "saved but never made" recipes from BigOven's community database can probably be found again elsewhere.

What About BigOven's API?

BigOven does offer a developer API, but at $99 per month it is not a realistic option for someone who just wants to export their personal recipe collection. The API is designed for third-party app developers building integrations, not for end-user data portability.

It is worth noting that legislation like the EU's Digital Markets Act and Data Act is pushing platforms toward better data portability. Whether platforms like BigOven will eventually be compelled to offer bulk export for personal data remains to be seen, but the regulatory trend is moving in that direction.

Why This Matters

BigOven is a perfectly fine recipe platform for many people. It has a large database, active community, and a reasonable price. But the lack of any bulk export option means your recipe collection is effectively tied to the platform. If BigOven changes its pricing, shuts down features, or goes away entirely, your saved recipes go with it.

We have seen this before. Ziplist, a recipe saving and meal planning service, shut down in 2014. Pepperplate, another popular recipe manager, was effectively abandoned around 2022. In both cases, users who had not exported their recipes beforehand lost them.

Having a portable copy of your recipes -- even if you continue using BigOven day-to-day -- is just good practice. It takes a bit of work with the URL-by-URL approach, but the result is recipes in a format you own and control.

Getting Started

Head to movemyrecipes.com/url. Paste a BigOven recipe URL, see the structured data get extracted, and choose your export format. No account required, no cost, and your files are automatically cleaned up after seven days.

It is not as convenient as a one-click bulk export. But until BigOven offers that, it is the most reliable way to get your recipes into a portable format.