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What equipment would you want in a cooking makerspace?

Dan_Mills_28553

Hi there! I am starting a business called Tinker Kitchen, which will be a cooking makerspace in the Mission in San Francisco. Think of it as a place where you can join as a member and get access to a large shared kitchen that will have all the kitchen equipment you wish you could have but can't fit into your house.

I've been mulling over the right list of equipment to get. Here's a sampling of my list. What do you think? What equipment would you like to have in a cooking makerspace?

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Comments

pd3ski_278514

That Rationale is awesome! My buddy has one in his home ... I'm not jealous

He also has a cvac from this company.. I don't know much about them.... http://www.henkelman.com/us

You mention centrifuge.. have you seen spinzall? A crowdfunder that hopefully makes it... https://blog.modernistpantry.com/spinzall/

matthewmicahhall

Deep fryer, pressure cookers, high quality blenders, and a smoker come to mind.

whenric

Dave Arnold talks up the rotorstator. https://homogenizers.net/collections/rotor-stator-homogenizers

Also ultrasonic homogenizor for making the insane French fries from modernist cuisine.

Probably already doing this, but obviously a bevy of vitamix blenders.

It would be cool to have a collection of high end knives to work with. Plus an apex pro sharpeners so members could bring their own in to sharpen.

whenric

A big commercial kitchen aid mixer...

You should call into the cooking issues podcast and ask Dave! I'm sure he'd give you an earful. And since Chris and Grant worked in the MC test kitchen I bet they'd have some good input too.

hairyotter_273859

Anti-griddle

pd3ski_278514

Tandoori also a steam jacket so you could do large scale broth reductions like glacé de viade so that all members could share in it

Dan_Mills_28553

The Spinzall looks great! We just got a used refrigerated centrifuge, but we'll definitely have a Spinzall or two as well. It's so small, and the continuous feed feature sounds very cool.

Dan_Mills_28553

Thanks! I want all of those too. Still working out whether we can get a smoker under the hood... it might need to be electric, not sure.

Do you think we need a large (standalone) commercial deep fryer? I was thinking of getting a countertop unit like this one. That way we can set it up under the hood when in use, otherwise leave space for something else.

For pressure cookers, Kuhn Rikon.

As for blenders, I was thinking of a vitamix or three. But I've never actually tried them. We had a bit Waring at a restaurant I worked at that was a total monster... maybe we'll get that instead. Thoughts?

pd3ski_278514

Thought you would like that! Good luck in your adventure sounds fun! Perfect centrifuge handled👍

Dan_Mills_28553

Somehow I thought that the rotorstators that were really game changers were the ginormous (and hugely expensive) units, not the handheld ones. If the small ones are useful, we'll definitely put one on the list...

My buddy has an ultrasound bath, I think I can get him to part with it. We used it once with great success:

https://www.instagram.com/p/-FjvDHCdP3/

https://www.instagram.com/p/-GIX0DidId/

As for knives, don't know what to do there. Good knives are... personal :-) We'll definitely have some house knives, of course. I'd love to have regular sharpening workshops—haven't used the Apex pro system, but using a regular whetstone is a bit of an art.

Dan_Mills_28553

That's a great idea!

Dan_Mills_28553

How big of a mixer would you want to use? We may get a floor model... but space is precious, so I was thinking of starting with a bunch of countertop models instead. Seems more scalable too, if we have multiple groups cooking at the same time.

Dan_Mills_28553

Man, I'd love to have one of those to play with. They're a little big though. Is there a way to use some liquid nitrogen (which we'll have for sure) to chill a sheet pan? I guess the pan might warp (and potentially splash LN... that'd be bad). Hm.

Dan_Mills_28553

Yes! I have that on my list too. We didn't list it when we originally designed the hood, so still working out if we can work it into the plan... but it'd be amazing.

In a similar vein—we won't have a full blown commercial pizza oven, but maybe we can get a roccbox to play with.

Dan_Mills_28553

Oh and also in the crazy-hot department: wok stove. Also didn't have that in the hood plan... so we'll see if we can get that in there.

Dan_Mills_28553

Wow, steam jacket looks awesome. Dunno if we have space for it though, looks enormous.

Dan_Mills_28553

Thanks! Do stop by if you pass by SF (that goes for everyone)

pd3ski_278514

Nice!! Man I wanna come play in this sandbox 👍

pd3ski_278514

There's big ...250 gal... down to about 10 or 12 gal

Dan_Mills_28553

Where are you? If you come to SF, do stop by!

tobyvanderbeek

Freeze dryer

pd3ski_278514

Here.. http://www.bakingsteel.com/

Dan_Mills_28553

We'll likely get a Harvest Right!

If you know of any other brand that's reasonably priced and not humongous, I'd love to know about it.

I wonder how we'll let people use it... most freeze drying instructions I've seen call for >24h runs, so I guess it'll be in use most of the time. And, I'm not sure I want to leave the unit running overnight, but don't see an alternative.

Dan_Mills_28553

Oh yesss I bet a baking steel wouldn't warp.

The other problem is evaporation if you just lay it directly on LN it'll be bubbling underneath. I wonder if we could mix LN with something else to make a super cold slush and improve conductivity to the steel. Not sure what, though.

pd3ski_278514

Thanks for the link!

pd3ski_278514

And this..http://www.webstaurantstore.com/vollrath-59500p-mirage-pro-countertop-induction-cooker-120v-1800w/92259500.html

Oh and get proofing box below the 61!

And we're going to have to talk about moving those tables to the side walls like little Japanese hotel room/pods... cause we need more cooking space dammit! 😜

gabor.szeder

If the electric power supply allows, try to get a more powerful (3+kW) induction unit or two, too.

FrankM_3301

Generally speaking, how does one fund such a cool idea? ...and, how will it sustain? Will individuals or groups rent space?

FrankM_3301

Sorry...just saw the link in your post. Still, any additional insight that you would be willing to share would be interesting. Seems like a huge upfront investment, with very reasonable usage fees.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Have flexibility under the hood. Have gas quick connects for a range of floor and countertop appliances - deep fryer, charbroiler, flat top, tandoor, wok burner, etc. Swap in and out depending on needs.

Have at least two ovens, a double stacked convection oven works well for cooking, holding, plate warming etc.

Ice machine, 250lb bin is the smallest I would go.

Your standard selection of small appliances, blenders, stand mixers, food processors, deli slicers. Have multiple bowls/jugs for each base.

Some different kit, herb grower, dry ager,

hairyotter_273859

I don't see a lavatory. Do you have to walk thru the kitchen?

whenric

I suppose I was saying it more as an idea than something I actually want. I'm personally OK with the one I have at home

whenric

Agree with knives being personal. I don't have the apex system, but other folks have mentioned that it takes the 'artwork' out of getting really good edges.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Get a gas fryer not electric.

Rational have the VarioSmoker that works with the combi.

pd3ski_278514

Gotta hit you here because the limit has been reached where you asked...

Right across the Cowlitz river by the hospital 😃 small world!

Dan_Mills_28553

It's hard to see in the angle above, but here's a picture of the site. We're building a new ADA bathroom (back left), and the half-wall on the left side (which will have a sneezeguard) creates a walkway so you can walk from the front of the space to it without crossing the kitchen.

Dan_Mills_28553

Great tips, thanks!

Dan_Mills_28553

We're privately funded through friends and family at the moment, and in the process of getting some additional funding to complete the buildout + ops in the first year. It's a nontrivial sum, but we've been very scrappy in putting it together. I've been working on it for ~2 years, looking for the right space at the right price, getting permits together, etc.

I expect memberships to be the primary revenue driver. If we can get ~100 members we'll be in fairly good shape. The space is really flexible, we'll even have a health permit—so in addition to memberships, classes, events, etc., we can do a bunch of other things like operate as a pop-up restaurant every now and then, etc.

Dan_Mills_28553

We're in the middle of a power upgrade, only have 100A right now. It's one of the risk factors for opening on time... getting power/gas is a surprisingly awful experience.

We're thinking of having overhead (hanging) power for the center tables, that way we can move them around without having raised jacks on the floor—which would be a tripping hazard (they can't be flush on the floor for washing, etc).

Anyway, induction units ftw. We'll get something yeah.

Dan_Mills_28553

Good to know! Thanks

Dan_Mills_28553

Really, gas? For efficiency, better recovery time, or something else?

I guess I rarely deep fry, so I just want to get something small and unobtrusive. Space under the hood is precious. But maybe I'll look at something larger.

VarioSmoker looks great, thanks for the tip.

pd3ski_278514

Seems I can't post below...Dang I've been losing a lot of posts...

Those hi-soft boards are the Cadillac of that style .. I recently got one of these to check out...http://www.webstaurantstore.com/12-x-18-x-1-2-synthetic-rubber-cutting-board/407CBR1218.html ... very reasonably priced!

Also look these ... http://www.theboardsmith.com/

Dan_Mills_28553

nice! thanks for the links

hairyotter_273859

Dan, that sure looks like an awesome space. I wish we had something like Tinker Kitchen in my home town. What you're doing is absolutely wonderful! Thanks for sharing the picture.

Dan_Mills_28553

Thank you for the kind words! If you pass by SF let me know, happy to give a tour of the space, pre- or post-construction

Maybe someday we can open one in your home town, too. Whereabouts do you live?

hairyotter_273859

Budget? We don't have a stinking budget. Lets order 7 of these babies. One for me and 6 for Dan's place.

Breville / PolyScience Control Freak.

pd3ski_278514

Yeah every time I open the new Cured magazine I have to see that!

Dan_Mills_28553

That looks really cool!

Brandon_Byrd_40557

And I *just* got my Hi-Soft board from Korin. If that's the same thing, it's an excellent price. Hard to tell, since the material is described as "rubber" rather than the polyvinyl acetate hi-soft boards are made from. At any rate, I really like the one I got.

pd3ski_278514

Yeah the hi-soft boards are the Cadillac these aren't the same (they say synthetic rubber? Guess I could call for a msds) but figured I'd try them out, for the price why not!? A lot easier on the knife edge 👍

pd3ski_278514

Hey Dan, soon this post will slowly crawl down and become buried... please post new posts and pics to keep us the cs community updated! Such a cool thing you're doing....Thanks for sharing with us!

Dan_Mills_28553

Thanks!! I will definitely post updates.

I also post regular updates to our mailing list. Check out our latest post that went out this morning. You can subscribe there or via our homepage.

andy.redley

I would enjoy tinkering with all the modernist tools I'll never be able to afford i.e. centrifuge, vacuum chamber, anti-griddle, etc.

Dan_Mills_28553

We'll definitely have those! :-)