Help a student

[Kroten]

I am participating in a marketing class group project while studying for my MBA. My group has been asked to come up with a new product or service that will help save time in the kitchen. I have been tasked to ask professional chefs for ideas on how one might save time in the kitchen with concerns to time and convenience. Any ideas would be appreciated. I am not looking for any certain product or service I am just looking for an area that can be improved in the kitchen by a new product or service. I am looking for an opportunity or problem our new product or service can solve.

Thanks for the help.

[Anneke]

Welcome to Cheftalk!

This is a difficult question. Every kitchen has its own issues and problems and "wish list", and we've learned to overcome these problems with bandaid solutions that have become part of the day to day running of the business. ie: we dont always notice them anymore. Nevertheless, I think it might be useful if you set up an appointment with a couple of local chefs in your area, have them give you a tour of their kitchen and an overview of their operations. That way when they explain to you what you need for your project, it'll make much more sense to you.

Please share your results on Cheftalk. We'll be happy to give you our perspective on your findings. Good luck!

[Kroten]

I have further thought about what I am searching for and maybe some answers to the following questions will provide me the information I need.

Where do you feel time in the kitchen is being wasted or non-productive?

What inconveniences cause you to spend more time on things in the kitchen than you feel you should be spending?

What aspect of working in the kitchen annoys you the most with respect to wasting time?

[kuan]

Originally Posted by Kroten

I have further thought about what I am searching for and maybe some answers to the following questions will provide me the information I need.

Where do you feel time in the kitchen is being wasted or non-productive?

What inconveniences cause you to spend more time on things in the kitchen than you feel you should be spending?

What aspect of working in the kitchen annoys you the most with respect to wasting time?

Walking to and from the walkin is about the most time wasting thing in the kitchen, IMO of course. Then you get there and forget what you're going in for, stand there for a minute staring at the stupid shelves.

Kuan

[Pete]

Originally Posted by kuan

stand there for a minute staring at the stupid shelves.

Kuan

And after staring at the shelves, having to walk back to your prep station to help jog your memory and then returning to the cooler!!!!

[KateW]

Well, at least it's not just me.

[Kroten]

Okay Pete and KateW, what about you guys and wasting time in the kitchen? How would you answer the questions I asked above?

Also thanks for the input you guys have provided so far.

[RegularJoe]

1. A machine that will prep any kind of vegetable into any type of cut at the push of a button, then has one-button self-cleaning and sanitizing function.

2. A machine that can hold a large number of dry ingredients (flours, sugars, leaveners, etc. with a control panel to enter the formula or end product, and desired servings. The appropriate quantities would automatically be dispensed along with instructions for the required quantities of fresh/wet ingredients, or you could have an automated add-on module to do this.

3. Any type of pot or pan whose surface changes color based on the temperature.

4. Any type of product storage device that makes it easy, almost fool-proof to maintain a FIFO stock rotation. Should be easily adaptable to both pantry and cold storage.

If you use any of these ideas, you can contact me by email for information on where to forward my royalty checks.

[kuan]

We spend a lot of valuable time rotating stock, checking in the order, putting it away, label/date, doing inventory (whole day job in some cases). I estimate this at 2 hours each day for the average sized kitchen.

One thing you can invent is a dressing jar lid which will shock the servers everytime they open a new one when there's one already open right next to it.

An easy to load hotbox would be nice. One which counts plates for you.

Kuan

[kuan]

Originally Posted by KateW

Well, at least it's not just me.

Deglazing with bad wine will do it, yeah, that's it!

[Frizbee]

Originally Posted by kuan

One thing you can invent is a dressing jar lid which will shock the servers everytime they open a new one when there's one already open right next to it.
Kuan

God Kuan you crack me up. That's a good and necessary thing for sure.

I thought I was the only one with the walk-in issues..LOL
So maybe a permanent palm-pilot of sorts in several areas of the kitchen that you could hit the item and a reciept would print in the walkin, as a reminder why we went in there?
May keep track of inventory too, for everyone to have a numerical code?
I wish I knew an easier FIFO system too.
Just my thoughts.
Frizbee

[chrose]

Originally Posted by Frizbee

I thought I was the only one with the walk-in issues..LOL
So maybe a permanent palm-pilot of sorts in several areas of the kitchen that you could hit the item and a reciept would print in the walkin, as a reminder why we went in there?

Frizbee

I have the invention !
A head set, like the hands free cell phone head sets. It has a little chip in it so on your way to the walk-in you say what you want and it keeps repeating it back to you so no matter what distracts you it is always repeating what you said!
Actually not a bad idea! I'll take 10% also

[Suzanne]

Chrose, that is indeed a great idea!

What I would have liked is revolving or swing-out shelves in the lowboys on my station. Too often, I'd have to take EVERYTHING out to find what I needed to set up the station, because the other shift would just put all their stuff in in front of mine.

And as for the to-and-fro-and-to-and-fro with the walkin, I'd like a chip to implant in the brains of owners and designers to remind them that the walkin should be on the same floor as the kitchen. Doh!

And: some sort of sensory system that prevents anyone from putting things away in the wrong place, kind of like the dressing-lid-shocker. If you put the case of cucumbers on the bottom shelf where the chickens belong, a siren goes off and lights flash.

[KateW]

I want tables, stovetops, ovens, etc. that you can raise and lower like a hospital bed to fit your needs. Height is always an issue for me.