# How to cook a recipe step by step in cook mode

Cook mode shows one step at a time in large text, keeps your screen on, ticks off ingredients and turns every time in a step into a timer.

Tap **Start cooking** on any recipe and Phork It! walks you through it one step at a time, in large text, with the screen kept on. Get everything out first, then follow the steps, with a timer for every time the recipe mentions.

## Start cooking

**1. Set servings and units first**

On the recipe, choose the servings and units you want. Cook mode uses them, and they can't be changed once you start.

**2. Tap Start cooking**

It's under the recipe's title. For a recipe with options, choose the **Servings** and **Recipe options**, then tap **Start cooking** again.

**3. Get everything out**

The first card lists every ingredient. Tap each one as you get it out, then tap **Start**.

**4. Follow the steps**

The current step has an orange border, with the ingredients it uses listed underneath. Tap **Next** to move on and **Back** to go back, or tap any step to jump to it.

**5. Tap Finish**

On the last step, **Next** becomes **Finish**. Your cook is saved, and you can add a photo, stars and a note.

## Leave and come back later

Tap ✕ at the top left (or Android's back button) and choose what to do:

- **Continue later** keeps your step, your ticks and your timers running. The recipe's button changes to **Continue cooking** to pick up where you were. You can have several recipes on the go at once, each with its own place and timers.
- **Finished cooking** saves the cook, just like **Finish**.
- **Discard session** stops this recipe's timers and forgets your place, without logging a cook.

In the app, the recipe you're cooking stays on your lock screen (and in the Dynamic Island on iPhone) with the step you're on. Tap it to go straight back to cook mode, even if you closed it by mistake.

> **Forgot to tap Finish?**

If you leave cook mode partway through and don't come back for a couple of hours, Phork It! asks "Did you cook …?" next time. Tap **Yes, rate it** to log it, **Still cooking** to keep going, or **Discard session**.

## Good to know

- Amounts in the steps are scaled to your servings and shown in your units.
- Section headings like "For the dough" show between the steps, and a step's photos show on its card.
- Started from a planned meal, cook mode ticks that meal off your plan when you finish.
- In the browser, cook mode works the same way, but keep the page open: browsers can pause pages in the background.
- Cook mode works offline for recipes you've opened before and for this week's planned recipes, which are saved on your device ahead of time. **Mark as cooked** needs a connection.

- [How cooking timers work, and why one didn't ring](https://phorkit.com/help/en/cooking/cooking-timers)
- [How to mark a recipe as cooked and rate it](https://phorkit.com/help/en/cooking/log-and-rate-cooks)

Source: https://phorkit.com/help/en/cooking/use-cook-mode (updated 2026-11-04)