With the rise of food bloggers and technology, foodies now have the option to satisfy their cravings by searching for recipes online instead of dealing with the hassle of searching through printed cookbooks. According to new sales information, however, the public's appetite for cookbooks may not be satisfied just yet.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, The Chronicle Books and the Ten Speed Press’s cookbook sales “have, depending on the source, either risen, held steady or decreased less rapidly than most other forms of print.”

One reason? Cookbooks appear to offer more organization and direction to its readers. Searching "spaghetti recipes" online, for instance, results in more than 15 million recipes, which can be quite overwhelming.  

Also online, many recipes are submitted by users and therefore not always seen as reliable. Kaitlyn Goalen, the former National Edition editor of Tasting Table said, “Overall, cookbooks tend to be safer bets. They are written by experts, either chefs or writers who have been in the business for years. And secondly, the recipes are almost always tested to ensure that they will work for readers.”

"I think our culture increasingly recognizes the value of storytelling," food writer Emily Thelin Kaiser told the Chronicle. "Many simply enjoy the physicality, the object.”

On the other hand, free online recipes have thrived from the comparatively high price of cookbooks and flexibility of the Internet. There are countless recipes online and anyone can create a food blog or post recipes at their convenience. Celia Stack, a cookbook storeowner, told The Kitchn she believes there is room for both. “Both ways work for me, and I refuse to get in my corner and fight for one way or the other," Stack said. "Ditto cookbooks; there is room for print and virtual versions, and I believe both will endure."