Ones and zeroes in the kitchen?

November 27, 2010 8:16 AM

Do you use digital media as a reference while cooking?

I've been curious about this for a while, when I see things like Epicurious's iPad app. Does anyone actually use these devices in an actual working kitchen, as a reference on a routine basis?*

We're a pretty nerdy household, but I have a hard time imagining chucking out the Art of French Cooking or ten years' worth of cooking magazines in favor of a more modern solution, regardless of what awesome library of recipes I could have in digital storage.

So I'm curious -- does anyone actually use any sort of computer in the kitchen to do live cooking with--i.e. iPad out on the butcher block as you make a pie crust, laptop open as you make bolognese sauce, etc? Am I missing out on something by clinging to the old paper versions? Is this an early sign of old crank-dom?

*Printed recipes from the web don't count.

posted by A Terrible Llama to Food & Drink (68 answers total)

I'm totally with you on NOT having an iPad in the kitchen. While the iPad is great for looking at recipes, I can't imagine using it in the kitchen until they are waterproofed and I'm able to put them through the dishwasher to get my greasy fingerprints off the screen.
posted by Brent Parker at 8:18 AM on November 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

I used my iPad and iPhone all the time while cooking. We used it almost entirely to cook our TG meal, in fact. It really is great. I don't even have a stand for it yet, either. We still have awesome cookbooks that we like, but for random recipes, it's perfect.
posted by two lights above the sea at 8:20 AM on November 27, 2010

Laptop open on the dinner table, away from the actual prep space, but there for quick reference along the way. But I still have my selection of books, which have the advantage of coping well with spills and smears.
posted by holgate at 8:21 AM on November 27, 2010 [7 favorites]

I am an occasional cook, and frequently find recipes on the internet, and then send them to my iPhone. I don't want my laptop in the kitchen (although I know I've done that once or twice), but my phone is small enough to be put safely aside. I also still cook family recipes from paper, but for new things, I generally keep it digital.
posted by kimdog at 8:22 AM on November 27, 2010

I use a laptop to access recipes online while I cook. But I'm not giving up my cookbook collection. I tend to see online recipes as everyday food, whereas recipes from a book are more for special occasions and/or event cooking.
posted by emkelley at 8:23 AM on November 27, 2010

I bring up recipes on the internet and view on my iPhone all the time. I have an OtterBox, and while not waterproof, it saves any splashes/bumps, scrapes. I've used a laptop in the past but obviously the size of the iPhone makes it far easier.
posted by fire&wings at 8:24 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my laptop the kitchen all the time - I put it on a high counter (the one that's too high to comfortably use for prep work, and somewhat out of the way of splashes) and just leave the recipe up. I don't touch it other than with cleaned and dried hands.

I don't know if you're really missing anything - my computer is my #1 cooking resource - I rarely if ever use cookbooks. If you have a hard copy system that works for you, that's probably even better.
posted by fermezporte at 8:24 AM on November 27, 2010

I use the iPad in the kitchen sometimes -- as long as you don't actively spill liquids onto it, it's pretty safe. Smeary fingers and funk isn't much of a problem, since the front is a big plate of glass and the back is aluminum: you'd need to get gunk in the connectors to really harm it, and a lightweight case would help prevent that.
posted by verb at 8:24 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: I use my laptop and sometimes IPhone as reference for recipes while cooking, often in the kitchen, but sometimes i run back and forth to the living room. An IPad mounted on the wall is one of my imagined uses for the device. Fingerprints and tomato sauce wipe off of my phone pretty easily, so i'm not too worried about the IPad glass. I'd want to mount it high enough that splashing water wouldn't be a concern.

I tend to mostly use the Epicurious and Cook's Illustrated sites, but would be happy to watch NYTimes videos while standing over the turkey trying to remember how to carve it. I still use my cookbooks as well, so its not an either/or for me.
posted by jindc at 8:25 AM on November 27, 2010

I sometimes use a netbook or laptop for recipes, but it's often for just checking on a couple of specific measurements for something I've baked a number of times. Like holgate, it's generally not sitting directly in the kitchen. I also have a sizable collection of cookbooks that I don't plan on getting rid of.
posted by bizzyb at 8:26 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: Yes. I have a computer setup in the kitchen and read recipes off it for virtually all our cooking that requires a recipe. (I have a profound aversion to printing things.) Mess factor: tiny, since I scroll using the keyboard. With a fork, if needed.

I would wall mount and condom-cover an iPad for kitchen use in a heartbeat if I had the money for one, no questions. Since all I want for that is onboard wifi and touch-screen web browsing, I often ponder the possibility of using another, cheaper tablet to do the same thing. Such a system is high on my "do want" list.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:26 AM on November 27, 2010

Several years ago my mother requested that I put some of her recipes on a DVD so she could see them on her under-cabinet tv. She uses this every year around Christmas. This year I was thinking about buying her a kindle for the same purpose.
posted by thylacine at 8:27 AM on November 27, 2010

All the time. Almost exclusively, actually. I feel a bit guilty buying cookbooks now, because there's such a wealth of information online (but of course will make exceptions for really great tomes).

I use my netbook (and sometimes my laptop) set on a nearby counter or table where no prep is going on. Usually I already have the recipe open, so no typing is required.
posted by miss_kitty_fantastico at 8:28 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: I use my Droid at the store to get the things I need to make a particular recipe, and then when I'm at home I'll prop it up in the kitchen, or use a laptop or whatever to read the recipe and get to work. Haven't solved the getting-the-mouse-dirty problem.
posted by fake at 8:30 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my laptop all the time. I pretty much exclusively use online recipes as opposed to books.

I keep it on a dining table right next to the kitchen. I've got an iPad but don't have a great way to stand it up for viewing like the laptop screen.
posted by bitdamaged at 8:32 AM on November 27, 2010

Like a few others have said, I put my laptop on my dining room table (where "my dining room" = tiny little nook next to my kitchen). I play iTunes or Pandora on my laptop while cooking or baking. I trot the short distance to the table to look at the recipe and come back to the counter muttering "stir together 1 3/4 cups flour, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon salt...". This method is inefficient and error prone ("wait, was it 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon salt?"), and I imagine that someday, when I move up in the world and am a Real Adult, I will not only own an honest-to-goodness cookbook but will also have a little stand to set it on.
posted by ootandaboot at 8:35 AM on November 27, 2010 [2 favorites]

I use my iPhone for some recipes. I have a good case on it and the glass is pretty easy to wipe clean.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:39 AM on November 27, 2010

I frequently use my iphone, making a point of wiping my hands before I pull it out of my pocket. I also often have a laptop out of splash/flour-dust range in the kitchen, or else I scurry back and forth between the kitchen and my desktop computer which is in the next room over.
posted by rmd1023 at 8:40 AM on November 27, 2010

I also use regular recipe books and magazine cutouts, so I just use whatever's convenient and at hand. But my iPhone's screen is rugged enough that I can use it in the kitchen without worrying about cleaning it.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:41 AM on November 27, 2010

I definitely use the ipad in the kitchen. Since my kitchen is small, it's easy to keep it out of harm's way and just walk back and forth to check measurements, etc.
posted by sugarfish at 8:42 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my laptop fairly frequently to try recipes I find on cooking blogs. I set it up near, but not right next to, my prep area. I've never worried much about spills, but I'm a little cavalier about my laptop in general. I do scroll using kitchen implements on the arrow keys if necessary. Wooden spoon handles work really well.
posted by donnagirl at 8:43 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: We use our iPad in the kitchen all the time. My wife is a former professional chef with an extensive cookbook and recipe collection, and she prefers using the iPad.
posted by fixedgear at 8:48 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my Droid while cooking all the time. Generally I use it to make shopping lists (using the OurGroceries app on the Droid). Then I shop using my Droid. When it's time to cook I often search for a good recipe using my laptop and then bring it up on my Droid and use it in the kitchen while cooking. I do have many cookbooks but I find it hard to use them since I tend to buy whatever meats and produce look good and figure out what to cook with them later.
posted by peacheater at 8:52 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my smartphone and my laptop in the kitchen all the time. I can stick my phone in a snack sized ziplock bag to protect it from spills and grime and the touchscreen still works just fine.
posted by metarkest at 8:53 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: bitdamaged: I keep it on a dining table right next to the kitchen. I've got an iPad but don't have a great way to stand it up for viewing like the laptop screen

$.69 solution!
posted by DarlingBri at 8:54 AM on November 27, 2010

I usually put my iPad on the toaster, and use it as a reference.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 8:55 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: No. I just print plain text or draft quality copies, splatter them as much as I like, then throw em out when I'm done.

I do something similar with my favorite cookbooks. I don't mind wrecking a photocopy, but I'd be really annoyed if I got prahok on my Thai recipe porn.
posted by Ahab at 8:55 AM on November 27, 2010

There is a laptop on the kitchen counter all the time (my favorite place to surf)... I use it as a reference on a regular basis when cooking..

The droid is great for pulling up recipes while at the store on the way home.
posted by HuronBob at 8:56 AM on November 27, 2010

I use the ipad in the kitchen almost every day. I just use a cookbook stand. It gets covered in flour, but just wipes clean easily enough. No moving parts means it's not nearly as bad as a laptop or other computer in the kitchen. If I get too messy then I use my knuckle to scroll.
posted by monkeymadness at 8:57 AM on November 27, 2010

I use a netbook frequently when cooking. It's not an iPad, but it's cheaper and the keyboard is (theoretically) replaceable, so if I ruin it I won't cry a lot.
posted by fiercekitten at 8:58 AM on November 27, 2010

Response by poster: OK. I'll be settling into old crankdom. Get those vampires off my lawn and turn down the damn music. I'll be over here etching recipes onto my cave wall.


I'm kidding--I have a Blackberry, not an iPhone, but when my corporate overlords change contracts, I'll give it a try. It's actually nice to hear that so many people aren't overcome with nerves about having their Extra Special Device in the kitchen and have found solutions to being overcome with shiny object anxiety.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 8:58 AM on November 27, 2010

All the time. We use this inexpensive cover/stand, and position it about a foot back from the work area.
posted by jbickers at 9:00 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my iPod Touch in the kitchen all the time. I've got a whole set of recipes and cooking related stuff in its own set of bookmarks. Having the iPod handy has been a huge help for my learning to cook and bake.
posted by azpenguin at 9:12 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: No way. I print 'em out. Mainly to avoid putting anything else in the kitchen that doesn't NEED to be there. That and not having to worry about anything mucking it up. Smudges on paper won't cost $600 to replace.

And when recipe really works I either reprint or write it up onto an index card. I've got a box that's now got three generations of cooks recipes in it, spanning about 80 years. It's a great treasure of both good recipes and very fond memories of the cooks and the meals from the past. Especially being able to SEE my mother and grandmother's handwriting, or clippings from the newspapers. Hopefully my boy will get to enjoy the same sentimentality some day.

I have enough to do in the kitchen to not want added distractions like the web there anyway.
posted by wkearney99 at 9:16 AM on November 27, 2010

I frequently use my netbook while cooking, especially when I'm trying out a new recipe and I'm not sure about the measurements. In fact, I have never used a traditional cookbook.
posted by Memo at 9:17 AM on November 27, 2010

My partner uses her laptop in the kitchen (a plastic bag goes over the keyboard). I use my iPod Touch sometimes, and just make sure to keep it out of range of drips/spills/sprinklings of flour. My pocket works well for this.
posted by rtha at 9:21 AM on November 27, 2010

I don't use either an iPad or an iPhone in the kitchen, but I do use my laptop a lot for recipes and reference. I love paper cookbooks, but I just don't use them as much anymore as I use epicurious, Serious Eats, recipes I've starred in Google Reader, and the like.

I am considering a cover for the keyboard, but right now my M.O. is usually to keep the computer out of the direct line of fire and wipe my hands off a lot.

When I replaced my laptop earlier this year, my old one was still working. Until a friend was in dire need of a computer, I had it set up as basically a digital cookbook and kitchen jukebox.
posted by Sara C. at 9:36 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: I've only bought a handful of cookbooks in my life, much more a function of my finances than any sort of hatred for shiny pages and gorgeous food porn and chef banter.

The Epicurious app on my iPad is the first thing I check when I'm looking for a recipe, and I was a huge fan of the Epicurious site before that; I tend to trust the test kitchens and editors of Gourmet/Bon Appetit a bit more than Food Network's test kitchens (late-night bacon, anyone?), I only trust food bloggers I'm familiar with, and I don't trust user-driven sites like All Recipes at all.

My boyfriend bought me a cookbook stand from Target so I could read novels while I'm eating (a childhood habit Miss Manners will never drive out of me) but it totally sucks for that; it shockingly does a bang-up job of holding my Ipad up on the kitchen counter. If the recipe's up and I've set the screen to stay awake, I don't have to touch it with dirty hands, and propped up it's in less danger of being spilled on that right now when I'm typing this comment and drinking coffee.
posted by Juliet Banana at 9:39 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Wow, I always feel slightly guilty about hauling my laptop into the kitchen to read recipes while I cook (as opposed to just investing in some cookbooks). I had no idea it was so common! The truth is I'm much more likely to come across an interesting recipe on the web than I am to page through a cookbook or two. Plus, the wealth of easily accessible internet recipes (and the really helpful comments attached) have made me more adventurous in the kitchen. I often find a recipe and then take my laptop to the kitchen shortly thereafter to try it out.
posted by swingbraid at 9:40 AM on November 27, 2010

$.69 solution!

This is the $3 solution that I use but really most of the time I'm just rummaging in my email tagged with "recipe"
posted by jessamyn at 9:45 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

My mom puts the laptop on a thick cutting board in the kitchen, and uses MacGourmet, which has a neat "Chef-view" button that puts the program in a fullscreen mode, and blows the recipe up to a very large size so that you can read it from across the room.

It's to the side of her prep area, and she's never spilled anything on it, even after using this arrangement for ~3ish years. You could get some sort of laptop stand if you're really worried about spills.

The effort of getting all of your recipes into the PC is a pain, but ultimately well worth it in the end. The recipe box is long-gone, but we do still have all of our cookbooks. I don't think we'd ever get rid of those -- frequently-used recipes do make it into the computer though.
posted by schmod at 9:50 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my laptop in the kitchen to find recipes. I find it much more helpful than the dozen cookbooks I do have.

For example, I'm having a craving for pumpkin bread. I want to make some so I start to look up some recipes. The first couple recipes have pumpkin bread, but they call for milk. I go to the fridge and realize that the milk is sour so I click around and find an alternate recipe that calls for yogurt instead of milk. Now I can still make pumpkin bread.

I notice that the timing of the pumpkin bread calls for 45 minutes. I read the comments and notice that a number of people had their bread get done at 30 minutes and a couple sad stories of people not checking on their bread until the 45 minute cut-off and having burnt the whole thing. So I've put the bread in the oven, I set the timer for 30 minutes so I can check to see if it is done or if it needs more time.

I love books, but for things like cooking the internet is the bomb.
posted by aetg at 9:53 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

Using both laptop and smartphone in the kitchen as required. Laptop sits on top of microwave out of danger and phone quite happily sits on a little shelf out of harm's way. Slightly dirty fingers won't kill either - they are no more dirty when I'm cooking than when I end up eating lunch or some chocolate whilst using either device and fingermarks can be wiped off both. But I also use cookbooks and write down random recipes I've found online and tried and liked because chances are I'll never find them again in six months time....
posted by koahiatamadl at 10:07 AM on November 27, 2010

I frequently use my netbook for recipes; I keep it on the kitchen table and out of the prep space. I also use my cookbooks often though.
posted by pemberkins at 10:30 AM on November 27, 2010

We actually have a desktop computer set up in the dining room (well, the dining area of our great room: kitchen, living, dining all in one big room). Use it for recipes all the time. Hubby likes to print them out, but I just leave it up on the screen and walk back and forth to read the next instruction if I need to.
posted by CathyG at 10:36 AM on November 27, 2010

Like a bunch of other folks here, I often have my laptop in the kitchen, placed slightly away from where the action is to avoid spills. Keeping a couple of recipes open in separate tabs in my browser helps me juggle multiple projects, and I look up conversions alllllll the time. It's also super useful if I'm trying to double or triple a recipe (or cut it in half or thirds) and don't want to rely on mental math to multiply/divide every ingredient up - especially if fractions are involved.
posted by illenion at 10:47 AM on November 27, 2010 [1 favorite]

I used to be a big cookbook user, but a few months ago I moved into a new house with no storage space for cookbooks in the kitchen. Since there was nowhere to put them, I kept them boxed. I had always read several food blogs and cooked from them occasionally, but now they are my exclusive recipe source. I bring my laptop into the kitchen and set it on an out-of-the-way counter to consult as needed.

I also have a special gmail folder for interesting recipes found while browsing, so I'll "flip through" that in the way I used to flip through cookbooks for inspiration.
posted by Bebo at 10:54 AM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: I use my iPad with Bittman's How to Cook Everything and Ruhlman's Ratio iPhone apps scaled up to iPad-size. They're on my iPhone too, so I have them with me in the market while I'm gathering ingredients. Since I really don't cook from formal recipes much, having these two reference books is pretty much all I need...

From a technical standpoint, I'm not at all concerned with the screen on the iPad - I've been nothing short of brutal to mine, and it's got nary a scratch on it. A little marinara smeared on it isn't going to hurt anything. That said, I do keep it propped up on a small island away from the "center ring" in my kitchen. One of the benefits of using iPhone apps on an iPad for this purpose is that they are so easy to read, even from a distance.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 10:57 AM on November 27, 2010

Another happy Ipad-toting cook here. I bought this app that indexes all the major recipes from vahrehvah.com with the corresponding Youtube tutorials next to the somewhat poor written instructions. It's nice to have videos to review quickly before you start in with techniques that are not second nature; you can see what stuff looks and sounds like as it cooks.

But that doesn't mean my dead-tree version of How To Cook Everything gets less use. It just depends what I'm cooking.
posted by slow graffiti at 11:01 AM on November 27, 2010

We find the best solution is one person sitting at the kitchen table reading the recipe, calling out the instructions, able to touch the laptop without getting flour or whatever all over it, etc; and another person cooking.
posted by jamesonandwater at 11:21 AM on November 27, 2010

We often stick our iPad in a Ziploc bag specifically for this purpose (and reading in the bath). I still pull out my reference cookbooks from time to time, but the Internet is such a fantastic resource for alternatives and substitutions, especially when cooking for people with assorted dietary restrictions.
posted by linettasky at 11:44 AM on November 27, 2010

I use my iPhone more than my iPad or my laptop in the kitchen, but I've used all three.

One trick I've learned: Extend your auto-off setting on the iPhone so it'll stay on for 5 minutes instead of 2. Otherwise, you're always having to reach over and turn it on with every step in the recipe.
posted by dw at 12:31 PM on November 27, 2010

I use my N810 for this whenever I need a recipe, which isn't often since I rarely cook things I don't already know how to cook. I probably wouldn't use an iPad for that, but only because it's worth something on ebay. :p
posted by wierdo at 12:51 PM on November 27, 2010

I use epicurious on my iPad in the kitchen right next to the chopping block. It makes me feel giddy not nervous.
posted by little miss s at 1:52 PM on November 27, 2010

FWIW, The Kindle screen is much better for this than an iPhone/Pad or laptop screen. The problem with an LCD screen is that you have to be right in front of it to read it — which means that the Expensive Doodad has to be right in front of you, balancing precariously on top of the rice cooker or some shit like that, no setting it off to one side where it's safe and glancing over from time to time. The e-reader fake-ink stuff is glanceable-at, from pretty much any angle, and that's way more useful.

I've thought about rigging up a gadget that'll let me hang my Kindle on the wall behind the counter where I do prep stuff, so it's completely up off the counter and away from possible spills. The absolute dream version of this gadget also has foot pedal controls for page turning when your hands are messy (and in the little infomercial in my head there's another scene where I'm standing there cheerfully reading some Kipling and caramelizing onions...) but maybe that's too hypothetical to be much use.
posted by nebulawindphone at 2:01 PM on November 27, 2010

FWIW, The Kindle screen is much better for this than an iPhone/Pad or laptop screen. The problem with an LCD screen is that you have to be right in front of it to read it.

There's a lot to be said for the Kindle, but this statement is incorrect. The In-Plane Switching display used by the iPad gives it a 178 degree viewing angle with no loss of contrast. There are reasons not to use the iPad for a kitchen device, but viewing angle isn't one of them.
posted by verb at 2:37 PM on November 27, 2010

Best answer: Printouts in clear page-protector binder inserts are what I use. I have a 'Favourites' binder with the recipes most often used sorted by category. This way the recipe, my annotations on what did and didn't work, and tips and tricks are all on the one smudge-proof page.

I used to bring the laptop into the kitchen for testing out new recipes, thinking that closing the lid when not in use would protect it from spills and splatters. Then a spill got into the side cooling grills and made for a tedious disassembly and cleaning, so that's "off the table" if you'll pardon the pun. Like others have said, it's too expensive to fix problems with digital recipe sources.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 3:02 PM on November 27, 2010

I cook and bake all the time, and I have a 13" Macbook that lives on the island in my kitchen right next to a stack of cookbooks. I use the Macbook all the time it for recipes and guidance while cooking - far more than I use any of my cookbooks or cooking magazines. I'm fairly careful about not touching it with dough covered hands, but for the most part I'm not too nervous about it.

FWIW I have a cell phone but it's not a smart phone, so I don't think this is a cranky curmudgeon anti-technology thing. It's about whatever works best for you.
posted by geeky at 3:19 PM on November 27, 2010

Thanks for the correction, verb. I find my iPhone hard as hell to read at the wrong angle, but I shouldn't have assumed the iPad screen would be the same way.
posted by nebulawindphone at 7:02 PM on November 27, 2010

When I find a recipe on the web (or in a magazine with a website), I clip it to Evernote. At the grocery I pull up the recipe in the Evernote app on my iPhone, and in the kitchen I use the app on my iPad. If you're worried about getting the screen dirty, you can put the iPad in a ziploc bag as someone said upstream. (But I don't think I'm brave enough to use this method for reading on my iPad in the tub!)
posted by Joleta at 10:23 PM on November 27, 2010

I put my laptop on the kitchen table and use it while cooking. I don't cook a ton, but there are so many recipes available online, whenever I find a good one I'll email it to myself (much like Jessamyn, it sounds), and then I can easily search my gmail and bring up the recipe. So I'll open the recipe in my email, and then run back and forth between the kitchen table and my cooking prep, using a knuckle or other clean body part or utensil to wake up the laptop when the screen goes black.
posted by JenMarie at 12:59 AM on November 28, 2010

Thanks for the correction, verb. I find my iPhone hard as hell to read at the wrong angle, but I shouldn't have assumed the iPad screen would be the same way.

Not to detail, but there ARE some funny things that happen sometimes, especially if you're using glasses with "polarized" glare filter applied. I have one pair of polarized sunglasses that blacks out most LCD screens if I tilt my head at an angle, and my iPhone in particular becomes completely unreadable (like, black) if I turn it on its side. Might not be the issue, but with/without glasses and with/without screen covers is an interesting test. ;-)
posted by verb at 8:17 AM on November 28, 2010

Yes. Which is why I frequently have to wipe the butter off of my trackpad and my laptop's keyboard is full of flour.
posted by phunniemee at 10:51 AM on November 28, 2010

Best answer: I am part of the team that built Gourmet Live, the iPad reincarnation of Gourmet magazine, and my wife is general manager of Serious Eats, and we've both got lots of research and personal testimony that plenty of people use their iPads/iPhones in the kitchen to cook. I do it myself (love Ruhlman's Ratio app in addition to our own projects), and as it turns out, the iPad screen wipes off a lot easier than any printed page.
posted by anildash at 3:10 PM on November 28, 2010

If you have a slightly older laptop, use this as an occasion to get a new laptop/netbook/ipad etc. Then "retire" the old laptop to a spot in your kitchen that is semi-safe. That's what we did, and we use it for recipes and reference searching, and also for checking weather and playing music files.
I have a give-one-get-one OLPC that I thought would make the perfect rugged kitchen machine, but it seems a bit too clunky to use efficiently--anyone have a different experience?
posted by Mngo at 8:56 AM on November 29, 2010

I've got friends who do it the holgate way, with a laptop or something off to the side they keep hopping over to. Me, in my cramped little kitchen? No. Can't stand it. I always print out stuff or am relieved when the recipe I want happens to be in one of my books, not online.

I've got friends who use their smartphones for grocery shopping and I can't do that either, I still print out my list every week. It feels wasteful but I am way too clumsy to toy with an expensive gadget with weighing tomatoes and bagging things; I drop my paper list all over the store as it is.
posted by ifjuly at 9:31 AM on December 2, 2010

I don't use any apps, but I've started storing my most-used online recipes as memos on my Blackberry. I use the format "recipe: [name of dish]" for the titles so that they're all grouped together.

This is only for online recipes, though. I haven't digitized any of my cookbooks or cooking magazines, but maybe someday.
posted by spinto at 7:57 AM on December 3, 2010

Rouxbe.com is perfect for an iPad in the kitchen.
posted by dobbs at 9:07 PM on December 9, 2010