Feedback Request: BBQ Log

[jroller]

I have created an initial draft for a simple BBQ journal which I'd like to share. I'm sure many of you are beyond the need for detailed cook notes, but I'm sure others are either getting started or have been maintaining a log all along.

I looked at all I could find on the market, read the reviews, and looked for the complaints and compliments for each book. Then I crafted a draft of the basic log pages based on that research.

I found that most/all of them are 6x9, and originally, I did my first draft in that size. When I printed it out, however, I found that there's really not a lot of room to take notes, so I switched to a letter-size format which I think will address the common complaint of not enough space to write.

Anyway, if you would, download the draft (only two pages) and give it a look over. Ideally, print it out, and give it a try on your future cooks. I'd appreciate any feedback. I'm sure there's room for improvement.

Edited to tag in professed BBQ log users:

bbqLuv, RichieB, TripleB, Finster, Clark, RichardK, smokenoob
DaveD, BKYDBBQ, MarkN

[captainlee]

Wow, I think you thought of everything, excellent job. Thanks for sharing. Makes my old composition book look worse than it is. Wish I was that organized from the beginning.

[jroller]

Thanks. It was obviously modeled after some previously created, but modified to address "shortcomings" in others.

[LA Pork Butt]

Nice work!

[jroller]

Thanks!

[jfmorris]

Looks great! I printed a couple of double sided copies. Now I just gotta remember to use them!

[jroller]

That's the real challenge of this sort of thing, isn't it? Let me know if/when you do. Nothing more valuable than feedback like that. It's hard to make a "one-size-fits-all" template for such a thing.

[Draznnl]

Just wondering, what did you find lacking in the log available on the free side here?

[jroller]

Just wondering, what did you find lacking in the log available on the free side here?

Good question, and one that could imply two different intents:

1) Why didn't you just use the one here? You didn't need to make another one.

From this angle, I didn't use the one here because I am making a product to sell to my audience. Didn't want to steal anyone else's. As I originally mentioned in this post, I recently published a cookbook, currently sitting on a boat in the Pacific, and I thought this would make a nice companion product. It is an amalgam of many existing logs coupled with Aaron Franklin's "game plan" concept.

2) What about the one here do you (or others) find needing improvement?

If this was your intent, if I'm honest, I really don't remember. I first did my research and initial design back in mid-late-Oct. Then I got sidetracked making BBQ-themed T-shirt designs to fill out the empty Etsy shop where I took pre-orders for the cookbook. Recently, I came back to the log book and revised what I had done to add in the Franklin concepts. Since then, all the research sort of blurs together and I don't recall details about any one specific log. Apologies.

[TripleB]

Jim -

I provided input to your BBQ journal format. And also included pics of my journal so that you can see my meaning on your form. I'm a program manager and have multiple excel spreadsheets that I developed to assist me in my job. So I appreciate your effort and focus to detail on your form.

1. My journal is roughly 6x9 and I like the compact size. 8.5x11 is too large for me. I also like to hand write my cooking/BBQ endeavors. Makes it more personal.
2. My journal kind of acts as a personal diary too. I write down what is going on around me, family issues/celebrations, personal experiences, etc. My thought is that someday when I am gone, my kids will look through my BBQ journal and will read the recipes and what was going on with the family at that time. You can see an example of it in the margin of my journal. So it is fun to look back at a Cook and also get a sense of what was going on with the family or current affairs at that time.
3. I recommend a diagram section where you can draw the cooking configuration. I gave you an example of a Weber kettle with a Vortex, roasting chicken thighs. In my journal, you'll see that I smoked 5 turkeys and the diagram of the position of the turkeys in my Jambo smoker. The configuration corresponds to which birds have the probes.

Hope this helps.

[jroller]

Jim -

I provided input to your BBQ journal format. And also included pics of my journal so that you can see my meaning on your form. I'm a program manager and have multiple excel spreadsheets that I developed to assist me in my job. So I appreciate your effort and focus to detail on your form.

1. My journal is roughly 6x9 and I like the compact size. 8.5x11 is too large for me. I also like to hand write my cooking/BBQ endeavors. Makes it more personal.
2. My journal kind of acts as a personal diary too. I write down what is going on around me, family issues/celebrations, personal experiences, etc. My thought is that someday when I am gone, my kids will look through my BBQ journal and will read the recipes and what was going on with the family at that time. You can see an example of it in the margin of my journal. So it is fun to look back at a Cook and also get a sense of what was going on with the family or current affairs at that time.
3. I recommend a diagram section where you can draw the cooking configuration. I gave you an example of a Weber kettle with a Vortex, roasting chicken thighs. In my journal, you'll see that I smoked 5 turkeys and the diagram of the position of the turkeys in my Jambo smoker. The configuration corresponds to which birds have the probes.

Hope this helps.

TripleB thanks so much for the kind words and detailed response. I think at the heart of the matter is a fundamental problem with trying to make a generic form that not only works for a wide range of cooks, but also a wide range of individual preference. In short, I don't think I can create something that works for everyone.

For instance, your diary aspect works for you (and is something I really like and never thought of), but someone else may see it as extraneous and unnecessary for the task at hand. And while the size format you're using also works for you, you're not constrained into a pre-drawn box within which to add that given content; whereas a larger format may provide more space for a given box. As for the "Cooking State," that was something I actually added at someone else's suggestion. You know, these are the sorts of design choices that make it work for one person, but not another, I guess.

Love the idea of the diagram. Really good idea. More importantly, I really love that you are looking at the larger picture, including what it might mean to those who you leave behind.

Thanks again.

[TripleB]

I'm sorry, my reading retention is not what it used to be. I missed that this would be used by a wide range of cooks and thought it was just for your personal use. I would not have put in my personal/diary comments if I had caught that. Doh......

[Mosca]

Moving the target temp to the other section is a good idea, though.