So i have been looking out on here for how people keep track of all the turnings and wiping and all the other things cheese making demands. And because I'm useless at keeping up with note books and other systems like that . . . so i have been looking for some sort of software, one that does need me to keep updating it. And i think i have found something useful and thought i would share it with all you guys
It is a web based programme called Todoist.
http://todoist.com/ (http://todoist.com/)
Is great. This is how i use it. I set up "project" with the name of the cheese i am making. Then under that project i add all the tasks that that cheese requires. You can set it up to say "turn cheese every Monday starting 6/11 for 4 months" and then every Monday it will automatically remind you that you need to turn your cheese.
You can sync it to your gmail and smart phone as well.
I have only just started using it, but I'm really liking it and have 6 cheese types on the go and have plans to add several more.//
gmail has a Google Tasks feature that lets you have different task lists (ie cheeses), you can assign due dates and times, it will also show up on your Google Calendar.
Its funny you mention it,
I was not going to post about this until I had a release candidate but I am actually working on writing a piece of software right now specifically designed for both brewing and cheese. I am writing it in Java (I work as a Java developer for a living) so it will work in any OS which supports the jre. I will likely put together a web based component as well which interfaces with my server and allows you to back up your data or access it elsewhere (as well as a couple of other web based gems.... ah, the power of SOAP. I have considered just converting the entire thing to a web-based server application that you log into- any thoughts anyone?
Anyway, like I said it is a little ways out (to be honest, I have a couple of projects ahead of it in line so it is kind of on the back burner right now but progress is happening) but its going to be pretty sweet. It will support all of the features you mention here plus a lot more.
I'll mention more down the road.
If you have any feature requests, I am all ears!
Quote from: Wonder Becky on October 25, 2012, 08:20:20 PM
gmail has a Google Tasks feature that lets you have different task lists (ie cheeses), you can assign due dates and times, it will also show up on your Google Calendar.
Yeah, I love google tasks! If you have an android phone too, you are totally golden!
Yeah, but when do you have time to actually make cheese? Ohh, my head is spinning.... :-\
-Boofer-
Quote from: Boofer on October 26, 2012, 01:57:03 PM
Yeah, but when do you have time to actually make cheese? Ohh, my head is spinning.... :-\
-Boofer-
How much time is spent during the cheese making process is spent sitting around waiting for pH and temp targets? Hours sometimes? That is golden coding time! When I made that brie last week, I hammered out 2 sections in a book on logic.
(Now, how much time is spent standing in front of the stove stirring curds or ladling whey...)
Would be great if the program could save recipes templates so you could save the timings for each cheese you make so next time you can just load up the cheddar or what ever profile you made last time and it updates all the timings for you in one go
P.S. AWESOME that you are working on this. Cant wait to hear about updates and stuff and if you need a tester count me in
Mmm, I'm afraid you're two steps ahead of me. I'm busy with a Delphi version of something similar ^-^,,,
Quote from: hoeklijn on October 27, 2012, 09:26:49 AM
Mmm, I'm afraid you're two steps ahead of me. I'm busy with a Delphi version of something similar ^-^,,,
Great minds think alike ;)
Sooooo... with regard to your makes and recipes, what format do you record them in? For instance:
<Insert title here...>
<Ingredients title here>
blah
blah
blah
<Steps title here>
<step 1>
<step 2>
<step 3>
.....
?
yes, something like that in plain xml-files. Didn't find time to work on it for quite a while....
I try to include a target section as well...for pH targets at various stages.
Ingredients:
1
2
3 etc
Targets;
pH at rennet:
pH at drain etc etc
Quote from: hoeklijn on December 09, 2012, 10:24:09 AM
yes, something like that in plain xml-files. Didn't find time to work on it for quite a while....
Do you mean you keep your recipes in XML format now or that is the design strategy of your dephi program?
[Edit]
Oh, ok, I see how my post was kind of in xmlish format. My question was meant to be more general. I had assumed most people were recording their makes in plain text or something.
Quote from: bbracken677 on December 09, 2012, 02:53:58 PM
I try to include a target section as well...for pH targets at various stages.
Ingredients:
1
2
3 etc
Targets;
pH at rennet:
pH at drain etc etc
Would it be better for those to be in a separate section on included in the steps? For instance
Step 154: laddle curds into the forming mould.
pH: _________________ (Target: 2.67)
....
I list a targets section, but then include them in the steps...when I am researching a new recipe it is easier (for me) to first list the targets and target points, and then to include them in the process. If I am using a recipe that already includes the pH targets then it becomes just a redundancy.
When I first started making cheese, most recipes I found were time dependent as opposed to pH dependent....I use Word to record my recipes as well as make notes.
I may wind up with 3 or 4 different recipes, and only one will have pH targets. It is easy to copy/paste a short section of pH targets from one recipe to the other if I decide to use a slightly different recipe for a make.
Since I tend to be process oriented from my career, I am seeking a standardized way of recording recipes etc...to date my favorite is to have 4 sections to a recipe: 1. Ingredients 2. Targets 3. Process and 4. Affinage (aging).
I have not yet converted all my recipes to that format tho...or occasionally I will try to emulate a recipe posted here in the forum and the first time or 2 I will simply use their format until I have converted to what is currently my own format.
Cool thanks.
Since your gathering "customer needs". :D
I'd be thrilled to be able to enter a recipe and have it plot my pH targets vs. time. Then, I'd want to "start" the recipe and enter my pH readings as I make the cheese. The program would plot my points on the same chart as the recipe's plot and I'd be able to see how I was doing relative to the recipe. Like what I'm manually doing now--I've attached a blank cheddar chart with pH targets from Mastering Artisan Cheeesemaking and American Farmstead Cheese. Below that, I've attached the same chart with my own pH values plotted from yesterday's make. It helped me see, as I was working, how the acidity was developing and what changes I needed to make.
Quote from: Mike Richards on December 09, 2012, 10:49:08 PM
Since your gathering "customer needs". :D
I'd be thrilled to be able to enter a recipe and have it plot my pH targets vs. time. Then, I'd want to "start" the recipe and enter my pH readings as I make the cheese. The program would plot my points on the same chart as the recipe's plot and I'd be able to see how I was doing relative to the recipe. Like what I'm manually doing now--I've attached a blank cheddar chart with pH targets from Mastering Artisan Cheeesemaking and American Farmstead Cheese. Below that, I've attached the same chart with my own pH values plotted from yesterday's make. It helped me see, as I was working, how the acidity was developing and what changes I needed to make.
Hmmm... had not thought of a graph! I did code in pH value recording. I'll look around and see if I can find a good library for that.
Greetings again ladies and gents,
Quick question(s):
Assuming you had the ideal program for organizing your recipes and cheesemakes, how would you prefer to organize your recipes/makes? This is what I have coded up right now. In the recipe window is a tree style selector:
Source (IE book, Website, self, etc...)
-> Cheese Type (IE: washed curd, washed rind, mold ripened, etc...)
->Cheese General Name (IE: brie, blue cheese, cheddar, etc...)->
-> Recipe- or Cheese specific name (IE: Caraway Gouda, Regular Gouda, Double Cream Gouda, etc.. variants of one of these: Gouda #1 Gouda #2, etc...)
->Specific makes (self explanatory)
Am I missing anything?
I do intend to code in support for organizing recipes and makes by source, cheese type, specific cheese (IE gouda), as well a couple more that you will have to wait and see ;)
Thoughts?
BTW, do you guys prefer a web-based application (IE logging into a website and storing your data on a remote server you can access) or a desktop application (where you launch a program on your computer and data is stored locally)? I can do either one and likely will have both eventually when I can get around to it but for right now which would you like more?
So far so good, the program is coming along nicely. Hopefully I will have a beta in the not so far future.
Also, any recommendations on the name?
P.S. Mike, I have not finished coding it in yet but graphing will be in there :)
bbraken, pH will be in there too and part of the graphing stuff- I just need to figure out where to put the data structure.
Thanks, this has been a very fun project to work on :D
If you could add speech recognition so you simply said "PH now 5.8" and it would plot that point, would be handy. A)
What about converting from one measurement system to another? Would be nice for both sides of the world to just enter a recipe you found somewhere and convert it to the appropriate units...
So I am extremely grateful that there are smart people like you guys out there to program things like this for us techno-challenged people. My favorite tech question is "is there an app for that?" because syncing is as techie as I get ??? Which is one reason I like making cheese so much, all you need is a lactating critter (you can milk anything with nipples Fauker) and a container.
I am looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!!!
Mighty,
I would prefer a desktop program personaly. Where we are Internet is unreliable and expensive. So having Desktop app means I can use and play with it any time not just when I am on line.
I know I am probably old fashioned on this but...
It also means that if my cheese shop is ever not in the house with the internet I can still with tablets etc access it in my workshop, rather then paying fees for the net.
Quote from: Schnecken Slayer on December 14, 2012, 08:32:30 AM
If you could add speech recognition so you simply said "PH now 5.8" and it would plot that point, would be handy. A)
I agree, that WOULD be really cool :D
What I did code in yesterday before work was the step editing feature- or at least the first step of it. What I have right now is you have a button to edit a step. When you press it- a small form appears below the step, you then have a button to record the current time, pH, temperature and a field for writing in other notes. The GUI is still very very crude so uploading a screen shot right now would probably be misleading. When I have something that looks a little more presentable, I will post a screen shot.
Quote from: hoeklijn on December 14, 2012, 11:21:45 AM
What about converting from one measurement system to another? Would be nice for both sides of the world to just enter a recipe you found somewhere and convert it to the appropriate units...
That's in there- at least the basic set up is. All measurables have their own associated data structures with methods that make that conversion (Not including pH of course). I have been trying to figure out whether to do a straight conversion (the easy way), or do a "smarter" conversion (try to approximate the final recipe by rounding in some way).
Quote from: Tobiasrer on December 14, 2012, 07:19:04 PM
Mighty,
I would prefer a desktop program personaly. Where we are Internet is unreliable and expensive. So having Desktop app means I can use and play with it any time not just when I am on line.
I know I am probably old fashioned on this but...
I can relate.
Quote from: Tobiasrer on December 14, 2012, 07:19:04 PM
It also means that if my cheese shop is ever not in the house with the internet I can still with tablets etc access it in my workshop, rather then paying fees for the net.
Oh yeah, I should make sure to take into account iPads and such.... not sure how that will go though, I do not currently have an iOS dev license.... Android might be feasible (down the road of course...).
Outstanding project MM!
Wish I had the know how to program something like that...best I could do would be an excel file with macros.
Quote from: Lewench on December 14, 2012, 02:33:53 PM
So I am extremely grateful that there are smart people like you guys out there to program things like this for us techno-challenged people. My favorite tech question is "is there an app for that?" because syncing is as techie as I get ??? Which is one reason I like making cheese so much, all you need is a lactating critter (you can milk anything with nipples Fauker) and a container.
I am looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with!!!
Quote from: bbracken677 on December 16, 2012, 01:35:11 AM
Outstanding project MM!
Wish I had the know how to program something like that...best I could do would be an excel file with macros.
Thanks. I have been meaning to sit down and write this program for a couple of years now, it has been a while since I have built a graphical user interface so its been kind of nice.
Well, I'm excited to see it when it's "done"...or at least, ready to be tried out.
Quote from: Mike Richards on December 16, 2012, 11:30:09 PM
Well, I'm excited to see it when it's "done"...or at least, ready to be tried out.
Yeah, me too :P I'll be honest, it's still a ways out but coming along.
Alright, this is a repost after posting an image that was way too small to see anything. Attached is a screen shot of the main recipe index page. As you can see its still pretty crude (I was working on this last night and kind of broke the geometry manager code- that is why half of the recipe is behind the tree). At least you guys can start to see what I am thinking here (plus this is proof that I am actually writing this program and not just making random stuff up)
[Edit] Lol! Wow, I just looked at that recipe there. Either I can't type worth anything or I did a number on the recipe step object last night! Please excuse the weird typos (I warned you it was crude)
i simply write keynotes on evernote from cheesemaking and do pics for date time retrieval ( in case i missed out on that)...because i use smartphone , tablet and other 3 pc's i find evernote excellent for crossplatforms...of course they have a evernote food too, but i just use the regular evernote and whatever i write on one device synchronizes on all other devices in the same network ...here the link http://evernote.com/ (http://evernote.com/)
mbox
Oh wow..
MM, fun to see your progress. :)
I am working on a web based program currently with an emphasis on being simple and easy to use.
I'll start a new thread on that.
Quote from: sigurdur on December 27, 2012, 05:44:01 PM
Oh wow..
MM, fun to see your progress. :)
I am working on a web based program currently with an emphasis on being simple and easy to use.
I'll start a new thread on that.
Nice, what language(s)? What kind of web-based program?
Quote from: mightyMouse.tar.gz on December 28, 2012, 04:27:02 AM
Nice, what language(s)? What kind of web-based program?
PHP is the language of choice, using the Yii framework in order to save on development time.
The program will be a user based web client initially.
I've been writing all of the cheese recipes I have into Excel, so I can track the process and requirements before I embark on some of them.
For example, I don't want to buy a bunch of molds for brie if I have a bunch of cheddars aging in the fridge.
Also, I'm interested in what makes one cheese different than another; once I know that, I can tweak certain parts to see what happens. I'm very much a numbers guy (and former programmer) so this is how I think...
As long as you are asking, maybe some way to share a recipe with others? I'm thinking generate a PDF w/pics, text dump of the recipe suitable for posting and maybe an XML export of the recipe to let others import it into their library (keeping appropriate accolades of course).
How about some code/config to use the webnets for storage (besides local)? Could be on your server or sqlite hosting elsewhere - so that the client could be used on any platform and they all see the same db. My desktop is too far away from the cheese room but our new ipad would be handy there. I could read the recipes, rough in the make and add photos and maybe do final editing later on the PC. For something that feature rich I wouldn't mind forking over some cheese... err coin.
Quote from: cowboycheese on February 08, 2013, 08:54:45 PM
As long as you are asking, maybe some way to share a recipe with others? I'm thinking generate a PDF w/pics, text dump of the recipe suitable for posting and maybe an XML export of the recipe to let others import it into their library (keeping appropriate accolades of course).
How about some code/config to use the webnets for storage (besides local)? Could be on your server or sqlite hosting elsewhere - so that the client could be used on any platform and they all see the same db. My desktop is too far away from the cheese room but our new ipad would be handy there. I could read the recipes, rough in the make and add photos and maybe do final editing later on the PC. For something that feature rich I wouldn't mind forking over some cheese... err coin.
These are planned features in the Cheese Forge (I'm working on getting it ready) - online software made for desktops and handhelds. :)
Quote from: leboy001 on October 27, 2012, 02:36:00 AM
Would be great if the program could save recipes templates so you could save the timings for each cheese you make so next time you can just load up the cheddar or what ever profile you made last time and it updates all the timings for you in one go
I have a soap program that does exactly that. Is also set up so that you can add a supplier list, Ingredients, Ability to add folders, recipes, shopping list, and stuff like that so you can keep track of your expenses. It is called soap maker.