When does a recipe become yours?

Big Poppa

Administrator
This is interesting because as you know Ive done a few vids and have recipes and am in the planning process of the BPS cookbooks...dont tell anyone...one is general pellet cooking and the other is the Smokers Diet!

How many ingredients do you think you change before its yours? I ask this as a conversation starter...Many reciepoes that we all love here are called by the original posters name....is introducing it enough?

THis is just a fun little topic

Ill start by saying Sparkys nutella pork butt is his!
 

TentHunter

Moderator
Ooooh a rethorical question to ponder. This is gonna be a great thread ;)!

I'll be the first to admit I'll often research the heck out of "a food recipe" then develop my own. Take a look at the Pineapple Upside-Down cake recipe and you'll see I used the phrase, "Here's my adaptaion... ."

The original recipe is from one my wife's Cookbooks. BUT it's been modified in a couple major ways. The cake was a tad dry in my opinion, I don't like crushed pineapple for the topping, etc. And the cookbook certainly didn't call for it to be smoked. So, over the years I've tinkered with it (ingredients, amounts, technique) until it now only resembles the original. So how much of that recipe is original and how much is mine?

On the serious side of this question:

Owning the copyright of a cookbook you publish is not the same as owning a recipe itself. Recipes are like any other product. If you develop a new recipe you can Trademark its name and file for Patent rights with the U.S. Trademark and Patent office. You'd better believe the formula for Coca-Cola is legally and literally protected. Yet, there are many other brands of colas; when you drink any of them you know you're drinking cola. So how much does any company "own" Cola recipes?

I'm lovin' this!
 

HoDeDo

New member
If you change it, I would say it is yours. When I was a writer for outdoor cooking blog... I had a rub of the week article. I essentially provided all my favorite rubs, and noted if I had changed the original recipes. I think like anything you publish, as long as you are giving credit where it is due, you should be fine. I called out recipes I got from individuals in the page... if it was one I got out of a cookbook I liked, I gave credit to the cookbook. If it was "tweaked".... I usually said something to the effect of " this rub is one of my favorites for "x". It started life as "blank" rub, that I got from "book x". After changing, "y and z" it was just perfect for "nutella butts".
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
Yeah I know what I think I just wanted to stimulate discussion...I didnt want to call out anybody and their recipes ...just wanted to talk about it...

The strawberry Shortcake I ate at a big green egg demo by DR BBQ I added vanilla to the butter and the strawberries....from there I did it with peaches...I acknnowledge that I tweaked the strawberries but think that I created the peaches....follow my drift?
 

jimsbarbecue

Moderator
With regular patents if you improve on a product by a certain amount it can be argued it is new and better product and desires its own patent. So changing a recipe to improve it could be done. Coca Cola I believe is NOT patented. It is a trade secret.If it was patent anyone could view the patent because of the freedom of information act.
TentHunter the Cake recipe I would call your own because of all the changes / modifications you have made.
The high heat tri tip I do is from the Dueling Bubbas out of a Weber cookbook. Very little change in procedure. Now if I am using different spices and different sauce when wrapping it will change the final outcome/taste and can be argued it is different.Beginning to see the gray area where Lawyers live? (By the way a friend of mine was a patent Lawyer when he had his practice). Recipes are not patented for reason including defending them aren't worth the legal time and they don't fit the patent litmus test.
 

TentHunter

Moderator
TentHunter the Cake recipe I would call your own because of all the changes / modifications you have made.
Even then, or when I create a totally from scratch recipe, I often wonder, "Is this really 'mine' or is it just a reworking of other recipes?". Either way its fun sharing recipes. I sure enjoy others' recipes.

This really is a good forum topic to make you think to have fun with :).
 

sparky

New member
my family thinks all my recipes are mine. i'm not telling them that i plagiarize everyones recipes here. when i make carters fish tacos my family loved them so much i got a $100 bottle of cognac for that meal (thanks carter). BP once said that if you change a recipe a little to make it your own. when i made jeanies apple desert with a little rum drizzled over it. that was a good weekend for spark (thank you jeanie). yours, mine. does it really matter. nah, just having fun bbqing. sweet and simple. if anyone likes my recipes by all means use them. i don't care. its about sharing info and good food. if it's not the best bbq you have ever but in your mouth, try again. PERIOD. :cool:
 

Big Poppa

Administrator
Everybody I m not talking about the legal aspects just when does it become yours as a point of discussion
 

TentHunter

Moderator
When it turns out good its MINE. When it doesn't I say don't blame me its Sparky's Recipe.:rolleyes:

ROFL!!!! I'll have to remember that one next time one of my ideas don't turn out. "No really honey, Sparky said the Fat Tire & vanilla frosting would make the salmon taste better."
 

ITFD#15

New member
We all want to make it better. So once we adjust things and make them better we make them ours. I have tried many recipes and have used the original recipe and then modified it to suit my taste and style. This is what we do, everyone of us on this forum we try and make it better.
Just look at Sparky he will make the perfect ribs with the help of everyone on this forum
 

sparky

New member
i do have some skill in the bbq area. i do have to hit the start button and set temp. i also have to put my own rub on ya know. i have also used FT on my fish. see, great minds do think alike. :)
 

scooter

Moderator
from my experiences with family and friends this is how it's considered: When I get a recipe from Bob, in my mind it was "Bob's recipe" and when I pass it on to friends and family they consider it Scott's recipe no matter if I passed it over to them as I got it from Bob or tweeked to my specifications. The only caveat to that would be if the recipe is named after the originator like "Johnny Trigg's Rib Recipe" would never be considered Scott's because it's titled after the originator.....
 

Trooper

New member
Any recipe that I use, regardless of it's original source, has been modified and tweaked by me and is now MY RECIPE.

And they are all SECRET as well.
 

Thom Emery

New member
You cook it twice with good results, change up a few things each time and presto it is "make your nutella pork please"
 

Rip

New member
A lot of great answers! My take is a lot like Scooters, who's recipe it is depends a lot on if your giving or receiving. Most of the time we are all borrowing and tweaking ideas we picked up along the way....who's recipe it is depends a lot on who took the time to codify the ingredients and cooking technique.

When I cook apple dumplings, I use Jeanie's recipe, so they are Cowgirls Apple Dumplings. Btw, the latest tweak on this, (discovered by accident while repairing a botched dumpling); When rolling out the dough, sprinkle both sides with brown sugar. This embeds the sugar and take the crust flavor up a notch!

When I try something new and write down the ingredients, like I did with the Thai PB Chicken Roulades....then it becomes my recipe.

And, don't worry Sparky (and I know you're not), we give you credit too! :cool:
 

jimbo

New member
Funny thing is, the recipe you copied from someone else, most likely was copied by that person, and the person they got it from, and so on. Don't know if you can ever trace a recipes origin.
 
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