Somewhere in many family homes there is a box of discs or an old hard drive holding a grandparent making biscuits, a holiday ham, or a pie crust nobody else has quite mastered. Those recordings are worth protecting. Here is a practical approach to keeping them watchable, and to passing on the recipes in a way that fits how we cook safely today.
Start with backups
A single copy is not an archive. A simple rule of thumb many people follow is to keep at least three copies on at least two different kinds of storage, with one copy kept somewhere other than your house.
- One copy on your computer.
- One on an external drive kept in a drawer.
- One with a relative across town, or in an online storage account.
Check your backups once or twice a year by opening a few files. Storage can fail quietly.
Label everything
File names like VID_0042 mean nothing in twenty years. Rename files with the dish, the cook and the year if you know it, for example grandma-cornbread-holiday.mov. Keep a simple text document alongside the videos listing who appears, what is being made, and any written recipe that goes with it.
Old discs and formats
Home-burned DVDs and CDs can become unreadable over time, and many newer computers no longer have a disc drive. If you have discs, copy them onto a hard drive while they still play. When you do, keep the files in a common, widely supported format such as MP4 so they open on future devices. Keep the original disc files too, unchanged, in case you ever want to start again. Our page on getting video off old DVDs explains what you will find on a disc.
Passing recipes down safely
Family recipes carry love, and sometimes habits that have since changed. As you transcribe or re-film them, it is worth gently updating a few steps:
- Thawing on the counter. Thaw frozen food in the refrigerator, in cold water or in the microwave, not on the counter.
- Judging meat by color. Use a thermometer: 165°F for poultry, 160°F for ground meats, and 145°F for whole cuts of beef, veal, lamb and pork, followed by a 3-minute rest.
- Leaving food out. Perishable food should not sit out more than 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F.
You can keep the original recording exactly as it was and add a short note or caption with the updated step. That way the memory stays intact and the next cook gets current guidance.
Filming the new version
If you film a family member cooking the recipe today, show handwashing and separate boards on camera. It quietly sets a good example for the grandchildren watching later.
More on thawing in Thawing Food Safely.