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All the time! I have a breakfast bar thing where one side is higher than the other, so I set the laptop up on the top level at eye level and then my prep goes on the lower level. Usually I reduce the size too so I don't have to scroll. I would love some day to have a designated 'kitchen' computer, maybe a mounted flat screen monitor that I could pull out if need be, but right now thats just a dream...

I also try not to have the laptop near me if I'm using a mixer, that's just calling for a disaster!

When my wife upgraded her laptop last year I took her old one and set it up in the kitchen as a recipe/music machine. That way I can have my online recipes right there where I need them an also listen to music while cooking. Since it is an older laptop that was going to be closet fodder there is less worry of having it destroyed in the kitchen.

Pro Tip: Use something like OneNote or EverNote on your main computer and your kitchen laptop that way you can find recipes and such from any computer you are on and then have them auto-synced to the kitchen where you need them.

Yes, we have a "kitchen laptop" but I find i can't effectively cook from a recipe on the screen. We mostly use the kitchen laptop for ordering delivery or take out!

I do the same as kimmyt - laptop on the raised counter.

I also copy/paste all the recipes I find online into my Google Documents so I have them all in the same place and they're searchable.

I just got a laptop and don't have a wireless internet connection yet, so I can't take it into the kitchen. But even when I do, I want to get a Netbook (one of the little mini-laptops) just for this purpose! Small, portable - perfect for using as a portable cookbook!

I take the laptop in the kitchen all the time, because I'm too lazy to hook up printer to laptop and print out recipe.

My fridge happens to be fairly short as refrigerators go (probably about 5' 4" since I can see the dust collect on top) so when I'm cooking from an online recipe, the laptop sits up there, WAY out of the way.

If the recipe is worth keeping, I'll print it out and make notes on the hard copy.

I use my husband's iPod Touch in the kitchen.

It's small, and I can set it on the microwave while I measure ingredients or stir things. I feel like it helps save me from printing every recipe I come across.

I've worried briefly about spillage, but figure the iPod is more immune/wipeable/sturdier than a laptop keyboard.

As someone who has broken two (yes, 2!) computers by spilling water on them, I think that having laptop anywhere near the kitchen, even if covered with plastic wrap is playing with fire. As much as I love perusing the internet for recipes, I say it’s best to just print them out. For me stained paper is the best reminder of a great recipe, and you can’t get that (or want that!) with recipes saved on the computer.

http://culinarystudio.blogspot.com

We have both a breakfast bar, and a really short fridge. I'm about 5'9 and my partner is 6'4. We can have the laptop on the top of the fridge and no harm will come of it. Honestly, I will only print out a recipe if it's worth keeping.

I have a 3-ring binder where I stick recipes I like from magazines or friends. I also have a file of recipes on my computer. I print them out when I need to, but I stick the printout in the binder and re-use it until it's unreadable.

I'm with EddieH--I get a sense of accomplishment from the stains on the recipes! You can tell my favorite recipes in cookbooks because most of my books open automatically to those pages.

I put my laptop on the toaster. I can see my recipe, but more importantly, I can Skype with my sister while I cook.

I like to be able to see the full recipe on one page, so it works better for me to print recipes and put them in my clear acrylic cookbook stand.

I just know that I would miss something if I had to scroll down through the ingredients list and directions.

Like others, I often have notes or adjustments, and it works better for me to just write them directly on the recipe.

Sometimes, but I would never have it near the food prep and I always wipe my hands before I touch it.

Yes, I do. And yesterday I took my Dyson attachment to my keyboard because I started to have a lot of crunching going on when I type! I am guilty of both cooking/baking with my laptop close by, as well as eating while sitting at my computer. Apparently, I need a cleaner option ;-)

ditto Melissa. Usually only if I am trying a new recipe, to see if it is a keeper, otherwise I print it out, and put it in a binder.

Yes, on a table away from where the cooking action actually occurs. Very close, but across the "aisle" in the galley kitchen.

I'm always dragging my laptop into the kitchen with me. I know there's going to be a disaster one of these days! I have cookbooks but almost no recipe printouts, because I hate the clutter of them. Maybe I'll do a binder...someday.

Great suggestion on the plastic wrap!

I won an XO in a contest last year and I had no idea what to do with it, because my daughter is not nearly old enough to use it. A friend told me she uses hers for checking e-mail and feeds around the house, which gave me the idea to start bringing my XO into the kitchen! The thing is basically indestructible, so it's a perfect fit and I don't have to waste any more paper printing out recipes.

PS I also have a binder and I use plastic sleeves in it to protect the printed recipes or magazine cutouts. My dream is to have the Dry Erase fridge, so I can write notes down right on the fridge while I'm cooking!

Absolutely!! I love using my laptop in the kitchen. I use a program for macs called Recipe Manager. Inputting recipes are a little tedious but I was always losing my recipes. This way its saved with a backup. I also use my iPhone to look up recipes and display them while I cook when I'm short on counter space.

I, too, use my PowerBook in the kitchen. My husband has speakers throughout the floor connected to our iTunes and all of my recipes (1,700 and counting) are in MacGourmet (http://www.macgourmet.com/). This program is fantastic since my laptop is never near the counter I'm working on. Recipes are searchable by contents, author, tag, etc. and can be expanded to "Chef View" that I can see across the kitchen. It's unbelievably easy to add and modify recipes and there are tons of other great features from scaling to note making to wine pairing. I can't recommend it enough. And it means I don't have to use paper with makes my inner environmentalist happy...

Almost always - for a recipe and/or for iTunes.

My laptop is usually kept on my kitchen island rather than my office these days. With our open floor plan, it's a great central spot to keep one eye on my toddler as she plays. I only really use it while I am cooking if it is a new recipe though; if a recipe is a keeper, I prefer to have a hard copy. I have found that when I cook or bake with a recipe off my computer screen, I am more likely to miss steps or make mistakes.

It's funny, whenever that drip or splat lands on one of my favorite recipes, I momentarily cringe and think, I really have to print a new copy of this. After reading some previous posts, I am going to look at these in a new light. The most stained recipes are often our most favorite.

I've been using my laptop in the kitchen for 3 years now (2 different ones, as I upgraded a year ago). Just keep a slightly damp sponge handy to wipe spills quickly, be ready to move it if you are working with something that could splatter (transferring liquids for example), and about once a week, turn the machine completely off for a good cleaning.

Does everyone have enough counter space for a laptop? wow.
I barely have enough for my iPhone.

I sometimes put the computer on the breakfast bar, and hope to one day have a touch screen computer that can get a little gross.... but mostly I will print the recipe and put it in a clear plastic sleeve and then in a 3 ring binder. I also save the recipes as .pdf on the computer....for later(or quick searching). I find that I can then write recipe notes on there and wipe it clean if it gets messy.

When my parents re-modeled their kitchen I wish that they would have asked me for help. I would have had them drop a ethernet jack in the kitchen and had them get a mac mini and a tiny screen. A mac mini would fit perfectly under a cabinet or wherever. But a laptop is just as good.

I'm totally guilty of bringing my unprotected laptop into the kitchen. Because I have such a tiny kitchen it usually gets a little dirty (though fortunately nothing horrible has spilled on it yet), usually a bit of flour, which I can only imagine what it is doing to the insides.

In terms of highlighting and making notes on recipes, there is always this site:
http://www.awesomehighlighter.com/

Which allows you to highlight and make notes on websites. Pretty nifty (as long as you save the urls)

Yes! and as a step up, we have a recipe wiki on our home server. Always wired :)

I bring my laptop in the kitchen almost every night. I always am a little afraid that something is going to get on it, but it has yet to happen yet.
In my old apartment, I had a raised counter top where I could put my laptop while prepping down below. But in the house that I just bought, I don't have that, so I tend to keep my laptop on a part of the counter away from my main prep and cook areas.
My thoughts are, why print out the recipe if I can look at it and take notes on my computer ? (I keep all of my recipes in multiple Google Docs, that way I can take notes and make changes).

My wife has a desk in the kitchen with a laptop on it. Generally I leave the laptop on the desk and go back and forth to read directions, or if it's complex, I just print off the recipe (I keep the paper copy in a drawer if it's a keeper).

Lately I've found myself bringing the laptop onto the counter so that I can watch shows on hulu while I cook though...

http://www.lifeofaninvestor.com

DANGEROUS! This is how my laptop screen got completely shattered!! My old laptop was the tiny 11 inch Averatec laptop. I bought it because it has a design so similar to old Macs but was much cheaper (I've since upgraded to the real thing) The nice thing about it was that you could have it closed and still listen to music, so I brought it in closed to protect it from spills and instead my brother dropped a stainless steel travel mug on the closed top!!

*That being said...my macbook still gets dangerously close to the action, I can't live without it.

I cook with my MacBook so frequently, I refer to it as my "CookBook". I look up recipes online, and I keep my own favorite recipes in my blog so I won't lose them. I also use a kitchen timer software (Minuteur).

I usually keep the CookBook on the table in the kitchen nook, or on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, to avoid spilling foodstuffs.

I put mine on top of the fridge with the screen angled down slightly (though I'm also tall). it's out of the way, out of splatter range and I don't have to run across the room to check the next step. usually I write down the recipes I like along with changes I've made to them for future reference.

I have a HP Touchsmart in my kitchen, its stationary and blends in nicely. With greasy fingers its fine to touch the screen and use it with ease. Really easy to clean off.

Why waste paper and ink? I take my laptop into the kitchen all the time. Luckily my dining nook is built in with the kitchen, so I just leave the laptop at the edge of the dining table within easy reach just taking two steps, but far enough away it's nowhere near the food-covered counters.

I actually put it IN the microwave so that I can close the door when I'm doing something messy. I keep the wireless mouse outside the microwave so that I can scroll from anywhere in the room.

I save all interesting online recipes using delicious. It's great because you can make multiple tags (I tag as 'recipe' as well as by season, ingredients, meal course, even "tried'n'tested" - and there's space on each delicious tag to make notes.

I almost always take my laptop (Macbook Pro) into the kitchen. It's nice to be able to see the step-by-step photos from some of the awesome food blogs I read. If I need to do some serious scrolling, I just put saran wrap over the keyboard. Even the scroll pad works through the saran wrap.

Laptops in kitchens are ever more frequent as one of the most positive trends generated by the economic downturn is home cooking. A laptop in the kitchen gives access to an infinite number of online educational, entertainment and social interaction opportunities.

The recently launched www.chef2video.com enables anyone to broadcast live from their kitchen, create online interactive cooking classes or upload videos and recipes for this very purpose.