5 culinary apps all chefs should have
Chefs and restaurant owners haven’t always embraced technology. But in today’s world, using the right kinds of technology can mean the difference between keeping your doors open or closing them forever.
There are many useful culinary apps that can streamline one’s work in the kitchen — planning, collaborating, even running a small business.
You’ve been sent into a new kitchen and you’re staring at the pantry and cooler, looking the ingredients while you go through the mental diary of recipes you have in your head. Enter SuperCook. This app, available at the App Store and Google Play, will help you match the ingredients you have at your disposal with some recipe ideas to get you rolling.
Have you been given a suggestion for which direction to go with the meal, maybe a seasonal theme or a culinary tradition? You can search based on the dish or ingredients you already have in mind.
It is particularly helpful if you’re trying to work around food allergies or diet trends — keto, vegan, gluten-free — to help you create recipes that fulfill specific diet needs while still resulting in an enjoyable dining experience.
Are you collaborating with other chefs or working on multiple menus? This culinary app, available on Apple and Google Play, is handy for the home cooks, but also for chefs working with a team.
The list synchronizes in real-time, allowing all the users to update ingredients based on changes in the menu, availability or cost. One can easily avoid doubling up — or overlooking last-minute ingredients — with this useful app.
This is a fun, user-friendly culinary app designed more for those who just started cooking, but it can be useful for breaking down quantities in a recipe when you’re just getting started in your culinary training and these details don’t come off the top of your head just yet.
For example, if a recipe calls for two cups of chopped apples, this app will tell you how many apples to purchase, or how to replace milk with the proper volume of dairy-free alternatives. If you’re adapting some family recipes for use in a commercial kitchen, this app will be useful.
Everyone now is trying to go paperless, so don’t pack around paper…use this nifty chefs app to scan, save and catalogue your recipes. If one is collaborating with other cooks then he or she can share their recipes, too. It’s a wonderful way to build a knowledge base and keep track of the inspirations that hit you in the kitchen.
If one is running his or her own small restaurant or catering company, you can take the labor out of scheduling your kitchen crew with this versatile scheduling app. It’s a platform that allows the owner and his or her team to communicate smoothly and efficiently — shift changes, substitutions, holidays. It can track your staffing costs and gives the team control over their calendar.
If you’re a big enough enterprise to have staff, but not a human resources manager, this is an excellent, affordable tool.
There’s no shortage of powerful culinary apps to download. They can enhance your ability to catalogue recipes, plan meals and menus, share shopping lists, and manage your staff. Whether cooking is your hobby or your profession, these apps will help you.
