How do you store your physical (printed) recipes?


 
Grant Cunningham

Grant Cunningham

TVWBB Pro
I’m getting quite a collection of recipes, and am at the point that I really need to settle on a storage method that works.

Right now, I’m printing the recipes on standard 8-1/2x11 sheets (usually 2-4 recipes per side) and sliding those into full-sheet plastic page protectors, which I then put into a 3-ring binder. However, I’m running into issues with the size of the page protectors.

They just barely fit inside a standard binder; when closed, the edges of the pages are flush with the edges of the binder. That’s not so much of a problem, but standard tabbed dividers won’t work with the page protectors, because the dividers aren’t wide enough to go past the edge of the pages — making them impossible to use to quickly get to a specific section. Even if they were, they’d stick out beyond the binder covers and get damaged.

Surely someone has already figured this out; are there oversized binders and dividers made for using with page protectors? If they exist, what are they called? I didn't find anything at our local stores that carry office supplies, but perhaps I need to go into "the big city" to find a better selection.
 
X2, I have a stack of recipes that need a permanent place that I can leaf through.
 
I like a printed sheet of paper. I can make notes on it, fine tune things etc.

I don't want to have to look at my phone or a tablet or a computer when I'm cooking.

That said, my recipe collection is somewhat of a mess...
 
DanHoo said:
I like a printed sheet of paper. I can make notes on it, fine tune things etc.

I don't want to have to look at my phone or a tablet or a computer when I'm cooking.

That said, my recipe collection is somewhat of a mess...
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I feel the same; my phone nor tablet does not follow me to the kitchen. I print my desired recipe from Paprika and use it in the kitchen. The app is a nice storage pool and is quite robust at automatically downloading and formatting recipes found on the web and also offers a nice grocery shopping tool.
 
i have a substantial bookmarks collection. and only very few printed recipes. i use my ipad when i need to "see" my recipe, but for the most part, i know my recipes in my head. just baking requires very specific measurements.

sorry i wasn't of much help in organizing the stack.
 
Printed as you and collected in a binder BUT no plastic protector. All are saved on PC so if one becomes damaged/unreadable, just print a new one.

Plastic takes up way too much space (as you've found out).
 
My mom got me a wooden notecard (3x5) bin I guess you would call it, years ago after high school. It’s since been misplaced throughout about 5 moves, but it’s what I prefer. Has tabs that separate beef, pork, poultry, seafood, dessert.

Need to find it. It’s got some good recipes from online that I cannot find
 
I could be mistaken, but I thought @Joan had a few like this:



6starter.jpg
 
I have a stack of 8 1/2" x 11" printed paper on top of the fridge. I do have some archived electronically (primarily family recipes.) One of my oldest sisters has Mom's 3"x5" index box full. I should see if I can bribe one of my nieces to photograph or scan all of those.

I do have a mild concern about web bookmarks: how sure are you that those pages will remain available? Or the whole site, for that matter? Yeah, I know, the Great Internet Archive..... unfortunately, that's also under attack, and may become an untenable backup. In short.... I have relatively little confidence in the permanence of the Internet.
 
Sorry, having the hardest time posting pictures.

YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST, LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!

Don't do what I have done. I now have over 200 binders full of recipes. I used to make copies of the recipe for most of the ingredients and put them in their own binder. For example, if I wanted to make something using Chili powder, I would go to the Chili powder binder (3" and full) and search there. The recipes were in sections like chicken, beef, pork, seafood and etc. Also if a recipe was Mexican, there would be a copy in the Mexican binder. Yes, I had a lot of time to kill. lol

I would tape the recipe on paper, depending on the size of the recipe determined how many to tape on the same paper.
I used to use bought labels to attach to colored paper to use as dividers, but they don't hold up very well over the years, so now I make my own. I also use top loading plastic sheets to hold recipes until I get around to them.
 
When it is time to use a recipe, we take it out of it's binder and tape it to a sheet of paper. The date it is made goes up at the top and also below the recipe after it is made. We also mention who made it, and who also ate it. Then we comment on how it tasted , any changes to be made if made again and give it a rating. We use, Excellent, Very Good, Good, OK, No. We then put them in a binder for that year. We now have a record of every recipe we have made since 1988. We are working on Binder 6.

Oh, forgot to mention. I also make a notation on the paper the date if I posted the recipe here.
 
Joan said:
When it is time to use a recipe, we take it out of it's binder and tape it to a sheet of paper. The date it is made goes up at the top and also below the recipe after it is made. We also mention who made it, and who also ate it. Then we comment on how it tasted , any changes to be made if made again and give it a rating. We use, Excellent, Very Good, Good, OK, No. We then put them in a binder for that year. We now have a record of every recipe we have made since 1988. We are working on Binder 6.

Oh, forgot to mention. I also make a notation on the paper the date if I posted the recipe here.
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You're my hero.
 
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