Recipes decide what a machine makes and what it consumes. In practice, recipe choice changes the whole shape of a line: inputs, outputs, rates, power, and whether the layout makes sense.

If you want the in-game background behind Ferrumium's recipe data, see Recipes and Alternate recipes on the Satisfactory Wiki.

Where you work with recipes

You will usually run into recipes in two places:

• on a machine node that already exists
• in the right-click menu when you are building around a specific item

The same idea runs through all three. Ferrumium is not showing every recipe all the time. It tries to show recipes that fit the machine or the item you are working with.

Recipes on a machine node

A machine node shows the recipe that was chosen when that machine was added to the planner. Once a recipe is selected, the node header shows the recipe name and the node updates its inputs, outputs, power, and efficiency.

You cannot change the recipe of an existing machine in the planner UI. If you need a different recipe, add the machine again from the right-click menu with the recipe you want.

The machine node is a read surface for recipe choice. You use it to inspect what the machine is doing, not to browse a new recipe list from inside the node.

What the recipe list shows

Recipe rows are built for quick comparison.

A row can show these things:

• product icons at the start of the row
• the recipe name
• an ALT badge when the recipe is an alternate recipe
• the machine that can run it
• an expand button for the full input and output breakdown
• craft time in seconds per craft in the expanded view

The expanded view is where you check the real tradeoff. That is the part that tells you what goes in, what comes out, and how the rates differ.

Recipe memory and defaults

Ferrumium keeps a few kinds of recipe memory in the right-click menu:

• Recent Recipes remembers recipes you picked before
• the pin button can mark a recipe as the Auto-Connect Default for a specific item context

That default matters when you are building from an item outward. If you often want the same recipe for an item, setting it as the default can make the right-click suggestions more predictable.

Recipes in the right-click menu

The right-click menu can work in two different ways.

If you open it in a general area, you can search for a recipe or resource directly. In that view, Ferrumium shows Recent Recipes, matching Recipes, and matching Resources.

If you open it from an existing item flow, the menu becomes more specific. It can show:

• Using Item or Needs Item in the header
• directly compatible recipes for that item
• Alternative Recipes when a raw resource path makes more sense
• Recommended Source with Resource Node when the item should come from extraction first
• No directly compatible recipes found when nothing fits cleanly

This is one of the fastest ways to extend a line without manually scanning the whole recipe list.

Detailed mode and compact mode

Recipe behavior is simple in both modes: the machine shows the recipe it already has. The main difference is how much surrounding detail you see while reading that recipe choice.

In Detailed, the selected recipe sits closer to local inputs, outputs, power, and efficiency.

In Compact, the same recipe is presented in a denser summary view.

For the broader mode difference, see Detailed and Compact Mode.

How to choose between recipes

A good recipe decision usually comes down to four checks:

1. does this machine support the recipe
2. do the inputs match what your layout can actually provide
3. do the outputs match what the next step needs
4. does the power and complexity tradeoff make sense

Do not pick a recipe just because it looks efficient in isolation. In planner terms, the better recipe is usually the one that makes the whole line easier to feed, route, and balance.