Many people have obsolete appliances in a dusty drawer. One handy use I found for an old tablet is as a dedicated kitchen hub. This simple thing really improved my cooking experience.
There are many handy things you can do with old tablets, computers and phones. Focusing on a single-use target is a great way to get functionality out of an outdated device that is probably less powerful.
Why a kitchen tablet?
The internet is a great source for recipes, making your phone the best cookbook in the world. However, a phone is not as handy as a physical cookbook. You constantly scroll through the ingredients and instructions, and the screen goes out while you are chopping onions.
There are, of course, many ways to enhance this experience, but the one I found most life-changing is using an old tablet as a cookbook with internet. The screen is fun to read recipes, and a lower case makes it even better.
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Start with a clean slate
The wonderful thing about this is that it is very open. You can use almost any type of tablet you have lying around: an old iPad, a cheap Kindle Fire tablet – even an old Microsoft Surface RT.
I use an Asus Transformer Book T100TA, which was released almost a decade ago during the Windows 8 2-in-1 renaissance. The tablet cost about $ 400 new, which means it is very poor by today’s standards. This is a perfect candidate for a project like this.
Once you have an old tablet in hand, I would recommend that you do the factory setting or delete all the non-essential applications and files. The idea is to make it a streamlined device for single use. I basically removed everything except Microsoft Edge.
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Scatter recipe apps and websites
The next thing to do is to adjust the appliance for cooking. Maybe you just need a web browser to search for recipes, or you have a favorite meal planning program.
Using an old iPad or Android tablet is pretty simple. Go to the app stores and download the apps you use. After you have the programs, it is nice to remove the home screen from everything so that the cooking programs are easy to find.
I use a Windows tablet, so the idea of ’apps’ and ‘home screen’ is a bit different. I put Windows 10 in tablet mode so I have a more touch-friendly interface. After that, I pinned web brands for the recipe organizer and service for meals we use.
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The key here is to strip everything away and place the kitchen utensils in front and in the middle. Really think of the tablet as a glorified cookbook.
Extra credit
Applying for recipes is already a great thing to have in the kitchen, but there are a few things you can do to further enhance the experience.
To me, the thing that took it from a cool concept to a really useful tool was a sub-cabinet. Getting the tablet off the counter and making it in an easier-to-read position makes all the difference.
There are tons of tablet brackets available online. This is the one I bought, and it can also be used as a stand on the counter. It has a lot of adjustability and can fold away if you do not use it.
Another tip is to turn off the lock screen or login screen. Ideally, there is nothing private on the tablet to worry about, so you can make it just as easy to access. This is especially nice when several people are cooking in your home.
In the same vein, you need to prevent the screen from turning off, or set the screen time-out to longer. There’s nothing more annoying than turning the screen back on when you have cluttered hands while cooking. You can do this on Windows, iPads and Android tablets.
Start cooking
You are ready to cook! I really like having this tablet in my kitchen. It’s so much easier to have a dedicated device for all my recipes. I do not have to navigate through a complete app list on my phone, and when mounted, the counter is kept clear.
If you have an old tablet lying around, I highly recommend trying it out!