Pros and cons of several recipe organizing systems

Shannon Seek Author, Organic Organizing

Pros and cons of several recipe organizing systems
Shannon Seek Quoted in the Press on Organizing Recipes
by Jodie Chase,CONTRIBUTOR
ANG Newspapers, Food Editor, Danielle Centoni
Featured in the Oakland Tribune (Wed., July 24, 2002) and the Marin Independent Journal (August, 2002)

The trick to keeping your recipes organized is finding a system that works best for you. Each of these popular methods has its own set of pros and cons. Don't be afraid to mix and match. Maybe you'll want a recipe card file for your tried-and-true favorites, a binder for special occasion recipes, and an accordion file for everything else.

Accordion file

Pros: This is one of the fastest, easiest and cheapest ways to keep your recipes sorted out and in one place. The pockets fit recipes of all shapes and sizes, so you won't have to spend time transcribing them or pasting them onto recipe cards. And you won't have to spend money on plastic sheet protectors.

Cons: Every time you need a recipe you'll have to sort through all the recipes in a category to find the one you're looking for. As with any filing system, creating categories and deciding which recipes go in which category can be hard.

Binder

Pros: Placing recipes in plastic sheets in a binder is like creating your own cookbook. You can browse through it just like you would with a favorite cookbook. When recipes come with a photo, you can include them to remind yourself why you clipped the recipe in the first place, and encourage yourself to cook the dish. The flexibility of the binder allows you to reorganize the categories and move recipes around at will. You can take a recipe out whenever you need it, and storing them in plastic sleeves keeps them clean and durable. If you want to make changes and notes on a recipe, Alton Brown recommends writing them on masking tape and sticking it on the page.

Variations on the binder idea include photo albums with self-adhesive pages and scrapbooks. Cutting and pasting into a scrapbook allows you to make notes about a recipe more readily than most other methods.

Cons: You have to make sure you always have enough plastic sleeves on hand. Placing a recipe in a sleeve takes a little more time than stuffing it into an accordion file.

If you go the photo album route, be sure to find one that is expandable. Keep in mind that finding refill pages may be harder than finding plastic sleeves.

Cutting and pasting into a scrapbook can be time consuming. You will need to have time and space to sit down with your scissors and glue stick. Also, they are not as easy to keep clean as plastic covered pages.

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Card file

Pros: Recipe card files are compact, and often attractive. If you transcribe your recipes, you'll likely be more selective about what goes in the file, although cutting and pasting or stapling the recipes onto the cards is less time consuming. Flipping through a card file is easier than sifting through an accordion file.

Cons: Transcribing recipes can take a long time, and keeping up with such a time consuming task may be difficult. Though cutting and pasting, or stapling recipes onto the cards is faster, it also takes more time than other methods, as most recipes from magazines, newspapers and the internet may not readily fit onto a 3-by-5 card.

Software programs

Pros: These programs already have a recipe format, so all you do is fill in the blanks, and you can make notes. You can organize your recipes into cookbooks, allowing you to make a collection of recipes for any person or occasion. They make printing out recipes to share with friends a snap, and you don't have to worry too much about filing and categories because you can search recipes using the name or just an ingredient. They calculate nutrition information, shopping lists, and allow you to create menus. Most programs come with an extensive database of recipes.

Although there are dozens of these programs on the market, Mastercook is one of the most popular. You can find it at most stores where software is sold, such as CompUSA.

Cons: Although these programs are fairly easy to use, the technologically challenged will likely find them intimidating. Entering all your recipes can be very time consuming, and committing yourself to keep entering recipes as you clip them can be a challenge, unless you're used to spending time with programs like Quicken.

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