From auxiliary docs:
I propose that this algorithm be changed to continue searching for recipes if the furnace does not have enough of the item to start the first recipe it found.When selecting a recipe based on the item ingredient, the first recipe in inventory order (by subgroup and then order) that matches the item ingredient is picked.
Essentially, in the attached images, I want the furnace to be able to craft Steel plate 4 when provided with 4 iron plates in a single tick, and to craft the vanilla Steel plate when provided with 5 iron plates in a single tick (or if it is disabled by circuit network and provided with plates one by one, and then enabled by circuit network when it has 5 or more iron plates).
Preferably, this same algorithm change should also be made to fluid ingredient and combined item-fluid ingredient recipes as well.
I understand that this change may have a significant performance overhead, so a field can be added to FurnacePrototype that is false by default, but when set to true, allows the furnace to do this continued search, so that the performance cost only occurs if a mod explicitly sets that field to true, avoiding any impact on vanilla or Space Age.
