#commercialkitchen — Public Fediverse posts

Which kitchen would you rather work in?

Slide 1: Messy stacked cups everywhere
Slide 2: Clean, vertical Rameking setup

Same cups. 80% less space.

Made in Ohio 🇺🇸 Ships next day.

#kitchenorganization #madeinusa #restauranthacks #cheflife #commercialkitchen #restaurantowner #foodservice #beforeandafter #organizationhacks #restaurantmanagement

Your prep cook spends 45 minutes every morning unstacking and restacking portion cups.

That's 3.5 hours per week.
182 hours per year.
At $15/hour = $2,730 wasted.

The Rameking pays for itself in 2 weeks. This is only one way it pays for itself there are multiple ways.

#restaurantefficiency #kitchenmanagement #cheflife #restaurantowner #commercialkitchen #foodservice #restauranthacks #kitchenhacks #madeinusa #savemoney
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Health inspector walks in. Your sauce cups are stacked 3 feet high taking up half your prep table.

You're cramming them into drawers. They're falling everywhere.

There's a better way.

#restaurantproblems #kitchenhacks #foodsafety #cheflife #restaurantmanagement #commercialkitchen #kitchenorganization #foodservice #restaurantowner #madeinusa

I'm singing: Diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. (Jokingly).

#Sugar #QuincePaste #FoodProcessing #CommercialKitchen #WorkLife

I'm singing: Diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. (Jokingly).

#Sugar #QuincePaste #FoodProcessing #CommercialKitchen #WorkLife

I'm singing: Diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. (Jokingly).

#Sugar #QuincePaste #FoodProcessing #CommercialKitchen #WorkLife

I'm singing: Diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. (Jokingly).

#Sugar #QuincePaste #FoodProcessing #CommercialKitchen #WorkLife

I'm singing: Diabetes, diabetes, diabetes. (Jokingly).

#Sugar #QuincePaste #FoodProcessing #CommercialKitchen #WorkLife

Filippo Berio unveils premium packaging redesign to engage new consumers https://www.diningandcooking.com/2346013/filippo-berio-unveils-premium-packaging-redesign-to-engage-new-consumers/ #20To24Years #Bavaria #bowl #Catering #chef #CommercialKitchen #creativity #day #drizzling #food #Food(Industry) #fresh #germany #HealthyEating #indoors #LensFlare #LookingDown #male #man #Mediterranean #MediterraneanOliveOil #munich #Olive #OliveOil #OnePerson #OnlyOneYoungMan #preparation #SideView #sunlight #WaistUp #YoungMan

Filippo Berio unveils premium packaging redesign to engage new consumers https://www.diningandcooking.com/2346013/filippo-berio-unveils-premium-packaging-redesign-to-engage-new-consumers/ #20To24Years #Bavaria #bowl #Catering #chef #CommercialKitchen #creativity #day #drizzling #food #Food(Industry) #fresh #germany #HealthyEating #indoors #LensFlare #LookingDown #male #man #Mediterranean #MediterraneanOliveOil #munich #Olive #OliveOil #OnePerson #OnlyOneYoungMan #preparation #SideView #sunlight #WaistUp #YoungMan

Filippo Berio unveils premium packaging redesign to engage new consumers https://www.diningandcooking.com/2346013/filippo-berio-unveils-premium-packaging-redesign-to-engage-new-consumers/ #20To24Years #Bavaria #bowl #Catering #chef #CommercialKitchen #creativity #day #drizzling #food #Food(Industry) #fresh #germany #HealthyEating #indoors #LensFlare #LookingDown #male #man #Mediterranean #MediterraneanOliveOil #munich #Olive #OliveOil #OnePerson #OnlyOneYoungMan #preparation #SideView #sunlight #WaistUp #YoungMan

#NotNews24 | #UnbreaklingMovieNightNotNews; #IT's #DefinitelyNotNews with #SomeWeather and a #CommunalBathBubbles #Update...

#IT's #JollySunny in #TheOutside and our #WestWingMarathon is #Finally into #SeasonSeven...

#SeasonSeven opens into a #WholeNewWorld of #FictionalAmericanPolitics and there's a #LotMore of the #VeryDisorientating #StrollingShots where #People #WalkAndTalk #VeryQuickly while #Exploring a #CommercialKitchen, #ForExample... #IT's a #Feature

#Meanwhile... #PartTimeWerewolf, #Remember...

#TheFuture is #Bright; #IT's #Autumn and there are #BaconBagels... We're also going to have #FriedEggs... #IT's a #SwervingSuggestion

#MyLittleBigBuddy are going to have more #CommunalBathBubbles #Later... #Something for him to get #SuperExciticated about...

🧙⚔️🤖:wolfparty:🤖⚔️🧙 | 🥯🥓🥚🦄🥚🥓🥯

https://www.europesays.com/uk/119811/ Culinary entrepreneurs graduate from new Redding food business program #Business #CommercialKitchen #CulinaryEntrepreneurship #Entrepreneurship #FoodBusiness #GraduationCeremony #grants #Networking #Redding #Sizzle’sKitchen #UK #UnitedKingdom

The Kitchen We Retreated To

Some of these posts will be more for me than for you; honestly, they all are. This one more than most.

The end of March marked the end of the uBu kitchen as our own, solitary space. We’ve decided to share it with a second business. These days, Linda’s typically there three days a week and I’m not there at all. That means with a little organization, we have surplus capacity… so, we welcome Ellen to the kitchen! Which is great, but the transition is making me feel sentimental for the simple reason that when Covid shut down the world, the uBu kitchen is where we found sanctuary. It was our bridge to the world and it meant that we had meaningful work to do. For the first few months of the Pandemic, we operated uBu as a curbside pick up retail location. Not only did we offer our own products, but we worked with some of our food producer friends to offer theirs as well. At the peak of our curbside operation, we had more than 50 products available. We had local artisanal cheeses, fresh produce from local farms, and more. We even sourced some delicacies and repackaged them, our favorite Sicilian salted capers for example.

It was a fun chapter for us and we thought seriously about opening up a retail store. But the curbside delivery model quickly died when restaurants opened back up and the public stopped being interested in novel food experiences. This became kind of a laboratory for products, some of which we’re still making.

(Click on the first image for an improved experience).

uBu Products List

More for more my own amusement, than for anything else, here’s as complete a list as I can make of every product we’ve produced there since March 2020:

Hiker’s Hummus Flavors:
Chipotle†
Cilantro Lime†
Everything Bagel†
Jalapeño and Roasted Corn†
Roasted Garlic†
Thai Basil†

Hummus Flavors:
Black Bean Sriracha†
Black Olive
Bloody Mary
Chili Lime Adobo
Chana Masala
Chipotle†
Cilantro Lime†
Curry and Cranberry
Everything Bagel†
Garlic Scape
Gochujang
Harissa†
Jalapeño†
Jalapeño and Roasted Corn
Jamaican Jerk†
Lemongrass
Peppadew
Roasted Beet
Roasted Red Pepper
Roasted Garlic†
Salsa Verde
Snap Pea
Sumac 
Sun-dried Tomato
Thai Basil†

Miscellaneous
Catnip
Pickled Onions
Silken Tofu Kit
Vegan ‘Nduja

Meals
Chicken Enchiladas Rojas
Vegetarian Enchiladas Rojas
Cold Peanut Noodles

Pantry
These were items we bought from vendors and repackaged, often with recipes to be used in conjunction with other products were making. The sushi rice was part of our “Poke Bowl Kit,” for example.
Chinese Dry Noodles
Jasmine Rice, New Crop
Sicilian Salted Capers
Sel de Guerande
Sushi Rice
Yeast

Sauces, Marinades, Dressings, and Condiments
Achiote Wet Rub
Black Olive and Balsamic Vinaigrette*†
Enchilada Roja Sauce
Enchilada Roja Sauce, Vegetarian
Macha Chili Oil, Medium*†
Macha Chili Oil, Spicy*†
Perfect Peanut Sauce
Sesame Lime Wet Rub
Thai Satay Sauce*†
Unagi Sauce

Seasonings and Spice Blends
Chili Salt Bang! Limy, Spicy
Chili Salt Bang! Spicy, Smoky
Furikake Rice Seasoning†
Ground Pasilla Chili Powder
Ground Morita Chili Powder

Soups
Black Bean and Chipotle Chili
Brazilian Fish Stew
Crawfish Etouffe

We’ve sold most of these products through farmers markets, partnerships with Wisconsin-based CSAs and home food delivery services. Products with an asterisk have FDA-approved scheduled process for low-acid, jarred foods. This means that they are foods that need to meet acidity and temperature requirements for preservation. They have a longer shelf life and can be sold in stores, including across state lines. We were never happy with the Black Olive and Balsamic Vinaigrette and Thai Satay Sauce that resulted from the FDA approved process, and didn’t make much use of them. Selling through more local outlets meant that we could rely on a refrigerated cold chain that didn’t require pasteurizing the hell out of food that really shouldn’t be ‘cooked.’ Products with a ‘dagger’ have been FDA approved, but don’t require a scheduled process, these have been packaged and sold in grocery stores, as well through our other sales channels.

The Kitchen Itself

The kitchen itself is an unusual place. It’s in a turn of the last century retail space, facing the alley, with a vitamin and a supplement shop in the front half. It’s essentially an orphaned restaurant kitchen that used to belong to El Toro, which was a so-so Mexican restaurant in De Pere, Wisconsin. The dining areas of the restaurant have long since been converted to other uses, and as much as I’ve tried, I’ve not been successful in reconstructing how the restaurant was laid out. I think I only went there one time when it was open. And it’s not clear to me how the spaces—which are spread across multiple buildings—were interconnected. Since the demise of El Toro, which sounds like an Antonio Banderas film, the kitchen has been rented out to several catering and food education operations. The back door opens out onto an incredibly inviting patio with a grape arbor above. The outdoor area features Penelope the Pelican, which is a sculpture by local artist, Kent Hutchison. Here’s a stereo pair of Penelope, intrigued? Go here and follow the instructions for parallel view.

We’re luck to have found the space in many ways, such kitchens are rare.

The kitchen has also come with some nice neighbors. The vitamin shop is owned by Sheila, who has been a joy to have in our lives. There have been the tenants in the apartments above the kitchen—mostly nice. And most recently, our neighbors at The Porch, which is a bar and music venue next door.

So what does it look like? Like most commercial kitchens, it’s not much to look at… lots of sinks and stainless steel. In fact, going through my files, I found that I haven’t much felt like taking photos of it. Most of the pictures I’ve taken at the kitchen relate to equipment; pictures I took as a reference for fixing something, or ordering a part. We’ve configured and reconfigured it multiple times over the past five years. Most recently it had two 10 gallon steam kettles, a very large food processor, a convection oven, two multi door freezers, a walk-in refrigerator, a three hole sink, vegetable sink, dish sanitizer, volumetric piston filler, four commercial freeze dryers, pouch sealers, powder dispensers, lots of storage racks, and a coffee maker. But that configuration has now changed with Ellen moving in. She has her own needs. So we’ve moved out a steam kettle and two of the freeze dryers, to make space.

Since I took a job with the City of Green Bay, I’ve only gone to the Kitchen about once every other month. It’s become more purely Linda’s domain. I hadn’t thought much about it. It wasn’t until we set up the sub-lease and shared it, that I found myself feeling something. I was surprised by how nostalgic it made me feel. The pandemic made it more than just a workspace for me. And while I would never want to go back to March through June of 2020, there were aspects of that experience that were and are worth celebrating.

#commercialKitchen #covid #covid19 #dePere #pandemic #ubuFoods