record keeping app

[pc farmer]

I need a way to keep records and would like to have a app. That way I can use my phone and tablet.

I got evernote but dont really like or understand it.

 

[jarjarchef]

What type of records are you looking to keep? I am game to find one as well....

 

[pc farmer]

Recipes, cook times, smoke times. With getting into sausage making I am afraid I cant remember everything.

 

[noboundaries]

Hey C, I'll give you my two cents.

I downloaded a free app recently called "My Cookbook" because I wanted something for putting recipes together that popped into my head when I was away from home.  I haven't used it yet because my head hasn't been popping, but it has all the features I was looking for.  Hey, it was free.  If it doesn't work, dump it.

For my home computer I use a $35 program called "The Living Cookbook."  I have literally hundreds of recipes and records in it.  It is downloadable from the maker's website.  There is a 30 day free trial.  It doesn't work on smartphones.   

What I like about it is I can standardize the looks of my recipes, change them at will, copy them even easier, print them to use in the kitchen, share them with folks with the same program, or paste them in e-mails to share.  Creating a new cookbook file takes about a second. I have seven different cookbooks in it now with my recipes, one of which is "Ray's BBQ Cookbook."  I've put several of the recipes from SMF in it too, like Chef JJ's Finishing Sauce.  You can easily create chapters, move them around, etc.  It is a very intuitive software.   You can put pictures in the recipes too.   If you can create files on your home computer hard drive, you can work this program.  It is that simple.

If you find a recipe here at SMF or online you like you copy it, paste it into the capture feature, and format it in less than a minute.  You can make notes, comments, etc.  I just upgraded my 2011 program to the 2015 version this past weekend and just now I saw they added a "Technique" section.  I'll move all my notes from my cookbooks to that section, creating chapters for Smokers, Grilling, Roasting, Baking, etc.

I'm in that software almost as much as I hang out here.  Hmmm, maybe I need to get out a little more. 

Have a great weekend!       

 

[jraiona]

You can use Microsoft OneNote. You can create different notebooks with different sections for recipes etc.. You can also create templates for cooking/smoking logs.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Adam I use Paprika, iit costs $4.99. Works great. You can type in your own recipes, or grab recipes of the net from supported sites. It creates shopping lists converts servings, has timers and a bunch of other features I can't remember. It also has an included cloud service so you can access your recipes from more than one device or computer.

 

[pc farmer]

Adam I use Paprika, iit costs $4.99. Works great. You can type in your own recipes, or grab recipes of the net from supported sites. It creates shopping lists converts servings, has timers and a bunch of other features I can't remember. It also has an included cloud service so you can access your recipes from more than one device or computer.

That looks like a good one.

 

[gary s]

Never tried any of these, I just use word type mine or cut and paste and save in a folder

Gary

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi C Farmer, I use an App called iAuditor, for my business and my smoker logs.

You build the logs to your own designs.

I have built a quite extensive audit.

That includes the following,

Date, Start time, all weather conditions (temp, wind shade etc)

Product, weight and cost per pound.

Rub mixture

Baste mixture

Cooker, type of fuel, amount ofuel used. cooker temperature, ideal cook temperature

It goes on and on.

You can also use it for recepies etc, but I use Recepie Manager for all mine.

If you go with IAuditor, I have not made it public, but I will.

Smokin Monkey [emoji]133660013031[/emoji]

 

[foamheart]

I still like hard copies. You can't accidently delete them, use the wrong formatt, need a keyboard, loss the phones, or have it stolen or wiped.

 http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/attachments/3

I use on my computer "Cook'n", its Betty Crocker and I have put my entire recipe box in it (I still have hard copies), and it prints the recipes also. I really like it.

 

[gunkle]

I use Evernote. That way I can keep everything organized by "Notebooks" Everything Smoking related goes into the "Smoking" notebook, Crock pot recipes go in there notebook. You can have "sub-Notebooks" like I have one called Smoke notes for my notes. I can access it all from my android phone app, any web browser, the windows program and even my Samsung gear live smart-watch. I got a free year of the Pro version with my last phone but I think it is a couple bucks a month for it subscription based.

There is a browser plug in that lets you clip recipes and things from the web to a notebook. I have a large "to try" notebook. If i like a recipe 2 clicks to change it to the proper notebook for made recipes. I keep it pretty organized like a clean tree folder structure. If I change a recipe or want to add notes to one its as easy as a word processor.

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi c Farmer

Just did a quick log to show you how it looks, you can also add photos as well

image.jpg

• smokin monkey
• Jan 10, 2015

image.jpg

• smokin monkey
• Jan 10, 2015

image.jpg

• smokin monkey
• Jan 10, 2015

Smokin Monkey [emoji]133660013031[/emoji]

 

[pc farmer]

Hi c Farmer

Just did a quick log to show you how it looks, you can also add photos as well

image.jpg

• smokin monkey
• Jan 10, 2015

image.jpg

• smokin monkey
• Jan 10, 2015

image.jpg

• smokin monkey
• Jan 10, 2015

Smokin Monkey [emoji]133660013031[/emoji]

That looks good but I went with Case's idea last night.

I really like the paprika one.

Easy to use with all the options and it save's to a cloud somewhere.

I can add from my phone, sync and get it on my tablet.

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[tucson bbq fan]

I use the Pit Pal on my phone.  It has some limitations, but let's you define as many different foods as you like for a single cook, define pit target temp, and capture and track meat temps as you go (you can manually enter the meat temps and pit temp as often as you like.  You click a button when you start the fire, and when you start each meat, and when the cook is finished - it keeps track of the times, etc.  You can then add notes on the cook.  Up front, you can record the rub, marinade, wood used, location, weather conditions, etc.

My only complaints:

1.  It has a limited selection of meats - but has a place for a more detailed name.  For example, the only beef is brisket, so i use "other" for most beef and then put the real name in the detailed name field.

2.  It assumes all meats in a cook finish at the same time.  If you are going to pull things out - either annotate that in the notes, or run multiple cooks at the same time.

3.  No way to download your files and print them or save them somewhere.

If you have a BBQ Guru or Stoker smoker controller, it can link to their temp probes via wifi.

I use it - and keep looking for something better - but haven't found one yet.

I used to keep[ a manual notebook - but always got busy when I pulled the food from the smoker, and forgot to record final times or something.  This keeps track of the times and temps for me - I can go back and see stall times/temps, etc.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Adam glad you like the Paprika app. I wish SMF was one of the sites that. It could download recipes from, but that's easy enough to get around if you want to. I do use the cloud for back up, but jot so much for multiple devices. I also don't use the meal planner as we do fine without. Info use the grocery list and the portion calculator. Let us know how you like it.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Great thread Adam, I was just thinkin the other day bout this exact thing... Great minds think alike huh ? :biggrin:

 

[pc farmer]

Great thread Adam, I was just thinkin the other day bout this exact thing... Great minds think alike huh ? :biggrin:

Thumbs Up

 

[jarjarchef]

For recipes I have been playing around with Chef Tap. I am able to link multiple devices and even my pc. Only draw back I have found is the price for the pro service. It is $16 a year. You can sync with other online recipe books like AllRecipe and others like it. You are able to create your own as well.

Case I have not tried yet, but it says you can manually capture recipes, so maybe some of the more structured ones on SMF might be able too.

At work we will do yield tests on new products, but not a huge focus for us overall in my line of business. In the restaurant line of business they do them a lot. So work we dont keep the type of records you are talking about.
At home I make mental notes of things and adjust accordingly. For me I have never felt a need. However if I was to open my own place I would keep a very detailed account of yield and other product related details. Part of the reason I started to play with Chef Tap for my recipes.