Guided cooking (Cook Mode)
A hands-free, step-by-step cooking experience on your recipe pages
Cook Mode shows a recipe one step at a time, with the ingredients for each step, built-in timers, voice control, and the assistant available while readers cook.
On this page
What readers experience
A reader taps “Start Cooking” on your recipe and gets a step-by-step view of it:
- one instruction at a time, so there's no scrolling through the post with wet hands
- the ingredients used in the current step, shown next to it
- total, prep, and cook time and servings, always visible
- timers they can start from a step
- optional voice control
- a chat for quick questions without leaving the step
Cook Mode is part of the free reader experience.
The guided view
Each step shows what comes next, and the ingredients it uses appear alongside when the recipe data links them, so readers don't have to scroll between the ingredient list and the instructions. A progress view shows the recipe's sections; readers can tap a section to jump to its first step, or say “step 5” in Voice Mode to go to any step.
Timers
When a step mentions a time, readers can start a timer from the step. Several named timers can run at once (“pasta”, “sauce”), and a timer picker handles custom durations. Timers can be paused, resumed, reset, or dismissed by touch or by voice.
Voice Mode
Readers turn on the Voice Mode toggle in the cooking view to control it by voice, with no app or smart speaker needed. These are the recognized commands. Filler words like “the” are fine, and most actions accept several phrasings.
Moving through the recipe
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| Next step | “next” · “next step” · “next instruction” · “forward” · “forwards” · “go forward” · “go to next step” · “move to next step” · “show next step” · “skip” · “skip step” · “skip ahead” · “jump ahead” |
| Previous step | “back” · “back a step” · “previous step” · “previous instruction” · “go back” · “go backwards” · “go to previous step” · “move to previous step” · “show previous step” |
| Jump to a specific step | “step 3” · “go to step 3” · “jump to step seven” · “open step 12” · “show the third step” · “move to instruction 5”. Works with digits, number words, and ordinals (“step twenty five”, “the fifteenth step”), in either order (“step three” or “third step”), and with “instruction” in place of “step”. |
| First step | “first step” · “go to the first step” · “start over” · “restart recipe” |
| Last step | “last step” · “final step” · “go to the last step” · “show last step” · “open the last step” |
Scrolling
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| Scroll down | “scroll down” · “go down” · “move down” · “page down” · “show more” |
| Scroll up | “scroll up” · “go up” · “move up” · “page up” · “show previous” |
Step image
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| Minimize | “minimize” · “minimize image” · “hide image” · “collapse image” · “shrink image” · “make image smaller” · “close image” |
| Expand | “expand” · “expand image” · “show image” · “open image” · “enlarge image” · “make image bigger” · “restore image” |
Switching views
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| Guided (step-by-step) view | “guided” · “guided mode” · “guided cooking” · “step by step” · “step by step mode” · “switch to guided” · “start guided cooking” · “open step by step” |
| Full recipe / ingredients view | “full recipe” · “show full recipe” · “show all steps” · “show the recipe” · “ingredients” · “show ingredients” · “show me the ingredients” · “ingredient list” · “open ingredients list” · “switch to full” · “switch to ingredients” · “standard” · “standard mode” |
Timers
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| Start a timer by duration | Any start verb (“start”, “set”, “create”, “add”, “begin”) + “timer” + a duration: “set a 10 minute timer” · “start a timer for twenty five minutes” · “add a ninety second timer” · “create a 1 hour 30 minute timer”. Durations combine hours, minutes, and seconds, spoken as digits or words (up to ninety-nine). |
| Open the timer picker | “set a timer” · “set timer” · “create a timer” · “add a timer” · “new timer” (with no duration, this opens the timer picker) |
| Start the current step's timer | “start timer” · “start the timer” · “turn on timer” · “turn on the timer” · “begin timer” |
| Pause a named timer | “pause” or “stop” + the timer's name: “pause the pasta timer” · “stop pasta” |
| Resume a named timer | “resume”, “unpause”, “continue”, or “start” + name: “resume the sauce timer” · “continue sauce” |
| Reset a named timer | “reset” or “restart” + name: “reset the rice timer” |
| Dismiss a named timer | “delete”, “remove”, “clear”, or “dismiss” + name: “clear the bread timer” |
Named-timer commands work with or without the word “timer” - “pause pasta” and “pause the timer called pasta” both work.
Cook Mode (screen stays awake)
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| On | “cook mode on” · “turn on cook mode” · “enable cook mode” |
| Off | “cook mode off” · “turn off cook mode” · “disable cook mode” |
| Toggle | “toggle cook mode” · “switch cook mode” |
Controlling voice itself
| Action | Example phrases |
|---|---|
| Stop listening | “stop listening” · “turn off voice mode” · “disable voice mode” · “stop voice mode” · “voice mode off” · “turn off voice” · “disable voice commands” |
Speech that doesn't match a command is ignored.
Screen stays awake
By default, the reader's phone or tablet won't dim or lock while they're in guided cooking. You can widen this with the Keep screen awake setting on the portal's General tab:
- Guided cooking only (default) - the screen stays on during guided cooking.
- While using Allspice - the screen stays on whenever the reader is using the widget.
Readers can also switch on the Cook Mode toggle in the cooking view (or say “cook mode on”) to keep the screen awake.
Ask while cooking
Where Pico (the AI assistant) is available, a chat stays open alongside the steps. Readers can ask about substitutions, technique, or a confusing step, and Pico answers with the current recipe and step in mind. Pico can also act for the reader: go to the next or previous step, set a timer, adjust servings, and start or exit Cook Mode.
Serving adjustments
Readers can change servings with the + / − buttons or by asking Pico, and the quantities update to match. You can hide the servings buttons with Readers can change servings (see Chat Customization).
After cooking
Using Cook Mode is one of the signals that can trigger a short star-rating prompt. Good ratings can invite a comment, which goes to WordPress for your approval. You control this in the Recipe ratings card; see Ratings & comments.
Why it matters for your site
Readers who would otherwise screenshot the recipe or lose the tab cook from your page instead, with every step, timer, and question happening in your experience. Cook Mode is built from your structured recipe content, including WP Recipe Maker cards.
What you can configure
- Entry points. With the Floating and Inline widget styles, the adaptive rail shows “Start Cooking” near your instructions. You can also link to
#allspice-guided-cookingfrom any button on a recipe page (see Link hashes). The premade Guided Cooking button, Action Bar, and Cooking CTA still work but are deprecated. - Keep screen awake. Guided cooking only (default) or While using Allspice, on the portal's General tab. See Screen stays awake.
- Colors. Your theme colors on the General tab apply to the cooking view. See Theme & branding.
- Assistant answers. Your site background, author notes, and scaling and substitution rules shape what Pico says while readers cook. See Chat Customization.
- Recipe quality. Clear, well-structured steps make the best guided view. See Recipe guidelines for writing instructions that split cleanly into steps and timers.
FAQ
Do readers need an account or Premium?
No - guided cooking is free. Voice control and timers are part of the core experience. Open-ended chat questions draw from the reader's monthly free AI chat allowance (see Reader access).
Does Voice Mode send audio somewhere?
Voice Mode uses the browser's built-in speech recognition. Allspice doesn't record or store audio; the widget only matches the recognized text against the commands above. Some browsers, such as Chrome, run that recognition on the browser maker's servers. Voice Mode listens only while the reader has it on, and isn't available in browsers without speech recognition.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes. The cooking view has a mobile layout, and ad placements stay in place while readers cook.