Posts Tagged
cooking
Are there any areas of your life which are not being changed due to technology? For me, the most mundane areas of my life have suddenly become easier to manage. For example, getting up to turn on a lamp used to be annoying, but now I can just use the Wemo app and turn the lamp on.
With technology moving away from the office and into all parts of our homes, areas previously unaltered with technology are becoming increasingly exciting as technology can aid in mundane task. Checking the temperature of meat can become mundane when cooking for an extended period of time. A good grill or smoker can and should be able to maintain its temperature without much fuss from the cooker, but I am not comfortable yet to leave my grill temperature unchecked for hours. In recent years there has been an improvement and innovation with wireless thermometers but these require the griller to carry around an extra item to check the temperature.
To aid in improving grilling enjoyment the iGrill wants to make grilling or smoking meat easier. By using the iGrill device you can connect your iOS device through Bluetooth and remotely monitor the temperature of your meat or grill. While time is a helpful gauge on whether a piece of meat is ready, I am never as confident with that first cut unless I have stuck a temperature probe into the meat. The iGrill is a unique idea but what about the execution? Is it reliable enough to forgo all visual temperature checks during those long cooks? Let’s dive in and see if this device really makes grilling an easier experience.
Do you want to learn to cook but don’t know where to start? Mark Bittman’s Cooking Basics app takes the practical cooking style of his How To Cook Everything recipe app and applies it to the basic building blocks of understanding ingredients and mastering techniques. The most visual of all Bittman’s apps, Cooking Basics is rich in step-by-step photos and mouth-watering food photography. Preparing a meal is broken down into the smallest tasks, like how to toast spices or sear meat, so there can be no barriers to those who want to learn how to cook. If you’ve ever wanted to get in the kitchen but have been too intimidated to try, now is the time and this is the app you need.
Keep reading to learn more about this engaging cooking tool.
In truth, the iPad was really made with one thing in mind, wasn’t it? That’s right – recipes.
I suspect that wasn’t the first thing that sprang into your mind, but it would be fair to say that, as a device, the iPad is perfect for culinary education. You can access as many recipes as you like, get information on ingredients, and browse suggestions for recipes to try.
Or, at least, that should be the case. Unfortunately, many food apps feel like cash-ins, simply providing a vaguely more interactive version of the over-priced hardback books already available.
It would seem that legendary restaurateur Alain Ducasse and his team have set out to do something different with their app, My Culinary Encyclopedia. But does this particular entrant to the food App Store charts cut the mustard?
When I set out to review Mastering the Art of French Cooking, I took it for granted that this would be just another foodie app review. Several hours later I was still wading through the story of Julia’s life, immersed in her world and fascinated by the stories told by her long-time editor, Judith Jones. This is the second app I’ve reviewed from Random House, Inc. (the first was Giada) and they seem to have a knack for using the mobile environment to truly capture the essence of their chosen author. Mastering the Art of French Cooking tells the story of Julia’s life through a multi-media experience including audio anecdotes, rare photographs of Julia Child, original typed and handwritten letters plus vintage instructional videos by the cook herself.
This app is for Francophiles, die-hard fans of the legendary Julia Child, serious foodies and even (especially) freshman cooks. Random House, Inc. has masterfully packaged Julia’s wisdom in an app that’s everything to everyone – fresh and modern food photography paired with timeless techniques and the most popular of Julia’s recipes.
Keep reading to lose yourself in the mouth-watering world of Mastering the Art of French Cooking.
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How often do you wish you had more than one timer in the kitchen? How many nights do you cook dinner with at least two pots on the fire and something roasting in the oven too? One-pot meals are fine, but most of the time cooking involves multi-tasking. It’s so frustrating to realize both the microwave and oven timers are occupied and scramble around the house for your phone or another clock while the rice burns and who knows how long the chicken has been roasting? If you’ve ever felt scrambled and unorganized while preparing a meal, KitchenPad Timer is here to help.
Being a good cook begins with keeping a clean, organized workspace. Professional chefs call this “mis en place”, meaning “everything in its place.” KitchenPad Timer isn’t just a remedial alarm clock – it’s a sleek, thoughtfully designed app that provides a bird’s-eye-view of all your timers at once. Never burn the cookies again and always get everything on the table piping hot and perfectly cooked with this handy kitchen utility app.
Keep reading to learn more about how KitchenPad Timer can help you be a better cook.
Pat Lafrieda’s Big App For Meat is an App Store Best of 2012, and for good reason. Pat is a legend amongst foodies and chefs in the United States. The third-generation owner of LaFrieda Meat Purveyors supplies meat to 1,000 restaurants as well as consumers. Famous chefs go to him for menu consulting and to create custom burger blends. The man has a passion for meat and he wants to share it with the world.
Add Zero Point Zero Production, Inc., the folks behind the Emmy award winning TV show Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, and you’ve got the ingredients for a killer food app. If you love meat and want to learn more about meat from the grocery store to the kitchen to the restaurant menu, you need to keep reading. (more…)
Avid amateur chefs (read: yuppies with a spatula and foodie lexicon, myself included) have long been awaiting the culinary app that combines real chefs, killer recipes and the ability to make said recipes in their home kitchens. The Kickstarter-funded (hey, Kickstarter actually worked!) app Panna is basically an epicurean’s dream iPad app. Seriously.
Read on after the jump for the lip smackin’ low-down. (more…)
If you don’t live in New York, chances are you might not be familiar with Sara Jenkins, renowned chef and cookbook author. Her Italian restaurants Porchetta and Porsena are filled with loyal followers, and though you won’t see her on TV, you will find her in the restaurant kitchen.
Sara Jenkins’ New Italian Pantry is a must-have app for food lovers. Sara shares her favorite ingredients that make up an Italian pantry, along with 80 mouth-watering recipes. If your weeknight suppers are getting a bit boring or you’re looking for something special to cook this weekend, keep reading to find out more. (more…)
Rich, sensual, mouth-watering — I’m talking about the latest mobile app from Nigella Lawson. The domestic goddess who taught us to take pleasure in cooking has released a free taster app to get us hot and bothered for her cookbook, Nigellissima, and it’s working. The app and cookbook (to be released in the U.S. February 12, 2013) share Nigella’s lifetime love affair with Italy. Named the No. 1 Food and Drink Free App for iPhone and iPad, Nigellissima is the Sophia Lauren of Food and Drink apps. Stunning photography, sumptuous recipes, innovative design features and behind-the-scenes video interviews with Nigella make for a rich app experience that’s fresh and new. If you’re a Nigella fan, a foodie or an Italophile, read on to learn more about this must-have app. (more…)
Some people hoard animals, others hoard junk. Me? I hoard recipes. Seriously, they’re everywhere — in the obscenely large number of cookery books that adorn my bookcase, quickly jotted down on my phone, hidden in various text files on my computer and scribbled on scrap pieces of paper all over the house.
Of course, as soon as I go to make a recipe, it’s practically guaranteed that I can’t find the exact one I’m looking for, and after a few minutes of searching, my home roughly resembles the aftermath of a tornado.
Enter My Recipe Jar, an app developed by Zapp Factory Pty Ltd that will help organize even the most hardcore of recipe hoarders. Find out more after the jump. (more…)
