Hammond brought to his web startup a pinch of his own successful recipe, as a media executive. The chairman and CEO of American Hometown Publishing, he was previously founder, chairman, president and CEO of Publishing Group of America, where his tenure saw the creation of American Profile, the second-largest magazine launch in U.S. history, and currently the sixth-largest publication, with more than 18 million readers each week.

Featured in Fast Company’s 2003 list of Fast 50 CEOs, his Publishing Group of America business plan has been used as a case study at Harvard’s business school. We asked Hammond how he parlayed his publishing background into Just a Pinch.

“Building a brand with “Middle America focus” appeals to most all audiences and includes urban and rural niches and is far superior to a singular focus on just an urban or suburban or rural audience,” he told us.

“We also learned that when it comes to recipes, while most women (and men) enjoy observing celebrity cooking and high level culinary skills, the overwhelming majority of cooks in this country are looking for recipes that can be trusted via proof in the form of a recipe submitter’s comments, personal photos & background, instructions, declaration that it has been home-cooked and as/if more important, personal descriptions of why that cook has submitted the recipe/why their family enjoys it.”

The other ingredient in the site’s success, he added: “The ability for a home-cook to participate in live communication with a recipe submitter to ask questions, compare results and generally comment/strike up a relationship furthers the belief that these recipes can be trusted because they originate from ‘real cooks.’”

Website

JustaPinch.com has collected over 37,500 user-generated recipes, as compared to Allrecipes.com, which took a decade to amass 46,000. Hammond says that visitors average five minutes on-site and seven page views per session, while members average more than 17 minutes and 20 page views.

Basic access is free, and users create a home page to post, chat, and receive a virtual but functional utensil drawer with an electronic recipe box where “coupons of the week” are delivered.

Premium perk level costs $0.99/month and includes a $35 retail-value club apron, a larger electronic recipe box, a 20% discount in the club’s online store and $350 worth of coupons annually, sent in weekly increments.

A virtual test kitchen evaluates submissions and awards coveted ‘Blue Ribbons’ to adorn winner’s home refrigerators.

A variety of discussion groups dedicated to non-food topics, such as The Pampered Pooch and Army Wives of the Army, have proven equally popular with the scores of food groups like Wisconsin’s Cheese Heads, and Coconut Lovers Unite.

“The members have freedom to create discussion groups as they see fit and just as this social network emulates the age-old custom of swapping recipes and delivering cooked dishes to your neighbor, it also emulates the conversation that occurs around the kitchen island in homes all across this country; often centering around a recipe or meal, and then moving to other topics such as family, pets, health…basically, JustApinch creates a “real” platform to conduct the same “at-home” activity on-line,” said Hammond.

“The most popular theme in our “welcome wagon” discussion group is one where current members greet new members and playfully warn them that this site is “addictive!”

Just a Pinch values its community as much as its recipes, with interaction through posting, rating, voting, recipe testing, chat groups, private messaging, Facebook connect, Twitter, and other third-party platforms.

49,801 people have "Liked" the club's Facebook page, and tweets are steady and often mouth-watering at @JustAPinchClub.

Quarterly cooking contests generate excitement, and a winner receives an all-expense-paid trip for two to Nashville, limo service for a night on the town, a $1,000 shopping spree at the Viking culinary center and the chance to prepare their personal recipe with the JustApinch kitchen crew before a live studio audience.

There’s a dedicated YouTube channel, featuring videos such as member Leah Stacey, winner of the Rise 'n' Shine Breakfast Challenge, showcasing her winning Bacon and Green Onion Breakfast Tart at the Blue Ribbon Showcase.

For every recipe submitted, Just a Pinch Media issues a custom news release is sent to that member’s hometown newspapers, and the site provides free syndicated content, Just A Pinch Blue Ribbon Recipes and cooking tips to newspapers nationwide.

“This serves as evidence that this is a real recipe network with a test kitchen and real recipes submitted by real home cooks,” says Hammond, a key distinguishing feature from competitors. “Our users call this “Facebook for recipes.” We call it “The fastest growing social network connecting cooks, recipe enthusiasts and grocery shoppers together with food, recipes and grocery/household coupons.”

What’s next for Just a Pinch? “Mobile apps and enhanced custom publishing (produce any printed cookbook on demand), a true electronic recipe box to reside on user computer desktops, and a significant expansion of e-commerce…along with continued robust growth,” says Hammond.

He’s starting to raise backing ($5 million projected) to spin the Just A Pinch Recipe Club online business unit out of American Hometown Publishing, but Hammond tells us he will remain CEO of the brand.

Competition in the space is growing, with AllRecipes and Recipes.com, but Hammond is confident that his "secret sauce," one part "loyalty with your users/readers" and an equal measure of "continuing to evolve," ensures his brand’s future.

That future could also include digitally enabled products and services, a national quarterly magazine, and a physical test kitchen that might just be the setting for video production.

Hammond is an expert at the common threads of family, food and friendship that Just a Pinch personifies…and that extra pound of business savvy has made his web startup a tasty, home-cooked success.