nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Everyone and their brother is making a SV rig

Brendan_Lee_56950

http://www.codlo.com/

Design is decent, sans the wacky colors.

Find more posts tagged with

Equipment

Comments

DiggingDogFarm_65362

To be perfectly honest, I don't like the fact that it plugs directly into the outlet.

In this old kitchen, it would require a special outlet.

In a more modern kitchen with a suitable outlet, it appears that it would block access to the neighboring outlet. That's bad news.

I also don't see what makes this stand apart from similar controllers.

I wish them luck, but I think they need to do better.

Introduce something that really sets them apart, like a controller with the sophistication of the SousVide Dash app and the like.

Something much more exciting!

Just my 2 cents.

~Martin

Brendan_Lee_56950

The aim, i'm guessing, is to replace the plug for the slow cooker that is already all too ubiquitous in the kitchen these days. Flashy colors help sell product though!

Tim_Sutherland_52834

It does seem odd that the unit has a stand and plugs directly into an outlet, otherwise the more people that produce controllers/circulators the better it is for those of us that cook. I hope one of these companies makes a fortune and then branches out and makes inexpensive and accurate combi ovens, vacuum chamber sealers, freeze dryer and a magic-black-box-of-cooking-goodness that no one has thought of yet.

Brendan_Lee_56950

Oh what I wouldn't give for an affordable combi oven. I was just discussing a few food ventures with my friend over the weekend and the kitchen space is what is holding us back right now.

@tim or @chris, in your respective cities are there a lot of kitchens designed for shared use for catering/food trucks/ small scale production? I've been looking around in my area and there doesn't seem to be much. I think opening up a well equipped kitchen for contract use but with good equipment could really take off here.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

In DFW there are a few (a quick search finds 2 within 25 miles and a few more further out) commercial kitchens/commissaries that can be rented by the hour, ~$15 - $25 depending on the number of hours and time of day (most are 168/52). The equipment in all of them is basic - gas range, convection ovens, prep table, walk in, and if you are lucky stand mixers, meat grinders etc. To use one you need, at minimum, a food handlers certificate and liability insurance.

I've investigated opening a resource/demo/training/commissary space that has modernist equipment/ingredients/library that interested home and professional cooks could be exposed to modernist cooking and then have the ability to be set free in a kitchen with all the toys (for a fee of course). I've costed out a Basic Reality set up (immersion circulators, vacuum chamber, pressure cookers) through to A What Tim Needs set up (rotavap, chilled water baths, centrifuge, etc). Calculating a realisitic event/lesson/rent income at price points the DFW market will support, gives me a break even, at best, projection over a 12 month period, from a basic set up. The reality is the DFW palate is not ready for modernist food. Even as the largest land-locked metropolitan area in the United States (popn 6.5M) and the most restaurants per capita of any metropolitan area in the US (most are chains, Brinker International is HQ in Dallas), for a restaurant to survive here it must have steak and burgers, all in Texas size portions. Whilst these meals can be prepared using modernist techniques and equipment, it is easier to cook a well done burger on a grill rather than in a water bath.

In the correct location the above concept who easily make someone rich, DFW is not the place (yet) though. I have talked to home cooks, frequent restaurant diners, culinary students, line cooks, sous chefs, executive chefs, and culinary instructors amongst others over the last 4+ years and while the trend line is becoming more accepting of modernist cuisine, some need to be dragged into the 20th Century before they get to the 21st.

seijoed

@Tim I think that goes for a majority of the US (And Europe).

Brendan_Lee_56950

I think the area I will be moving to in the next year or so is ready for something like that. They have a very open minded and outgoing community and the restaurant scene and food truck scene is starting to grow steadily. I think I we were to do it, it would be done over a period of time, basically building out our own kitchen for our own uses and then once it's flushed out and working properly we can open it up to the public.

Jack_Mayer_85396

@Tim- sadly what you say about my hometown is accurate. Things have changed over the 30+ years I've lived here, but except for a few chef friends of mine doing private work there really isn't much of a market for MC.

Tim_Sutherland_52834

Unless you own the property or have very deep pockets it is difficult to go that way. The cheap part of a kitchen fit out is the equipment. What kills you is the time, electrical, gas, plumbing, structure and permits before you can move the equipment in. Soon as you sign the lease the landlord expects to get paid each month.

I am aware of people adding to their home or converting a garage to a commercial kitchen, but they are still required to meet all health code requirements and have the space inspected on a regular basis. The biggest hurdle for those going down this path is the electrical and gas needs - can't get 3 phase or enough amperage or gas pressure kills the project.

I know of many people that ignore all this, and operate a food business in their home for many years. People forget that the food industry is one where, a mistake in the kitchen can kill someone, but they wont know of it until a few days after the meal.

Before you go down the path of opening a space for others to learn to cook, fully explore the legal structure and ownership of the entity that operates the business. The correct structure and agreements in place at the beginning of the adventure will save you much drama later on.

If you have never owned your own business, think of the worst day you have ever had working for someone else - that is now an average day for you during the first year. Your good days will be the best you every had though, and assuming you are still afloat after the first year, you will get more good days. Don't ever calculate what your hourly wage is because you will cry and remember there is no such thing as a part time business owner.

For a number of years I was a financial planner working within an accounting practice in developing personal and business plans for small business owners. Even with the best advice and plans, things still go wrong.

Brendan_Lee_56950

The plan is still probably a 5-10 year plan but we plan to own the property. My partner in crime has an entire family and lifetime of restaurant experience, opening all kinds of different places over the past 25-30 years. I fully expect things to struggle and break down, such is life.

Jack_Mayer_85396

@B I'd be happy to help. I have spent almost 30 years as an attorney. I have advanced degrees in both law and finance; and an undergraduate degree in accounting.

I have to agree with the comments that @Tim provided upthread. I've provided advice to some really talented young chefs here and they have taught me far, far more ...

Brendan_Lee_56950

I think the plan my friend and I discussed was that we will take the next year to plan a thorough business model and then move forward from there. He works as a nurse in the ER of a big hospital and there are really no food options around other than the cafeteria and soggy hot dogs so we are thinking about starting small with a basic food truck exclusively for the hospital staff, really play on our connections, and then branch from there.