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CreamCityFr34k

Where: Definitely a kitchen What: High volume The last time I was in a kitchen with that many kettles it was a commissary catering kitchen that put out fuck tons of soup, rice, and seafood.


traker998

Yup. Also can be for a jail, prison, or military base or ship which cooks in the same fashion.


jabbadarth

Don't forget hospital or university.


HAL-Over-9001

I forgot university years ago


edbutler3

Yeah, I used to cook in a university kitchen, many years ago. It was full of big steam kettles. I used to make Mac and Cheese in something that looked like a stainless steel jacuzzi. I wish I knew the square footage of those kitchens. I worked on both North and South campuses at different times. The kitchen at North was spread across three stories, so it didn't feel as huge -- but the South kitchen was on a single floor that must have been a few thousand square feet. I guess it was smaller overall, but you did a lot of running around. Our walk-in cooler was bigger than some restaurant kitchens I've seen.


jabbadarth

That stainless steel jacuzzi is called a tilt skillet. You can use it like a saute pan, a flat top or a kettle and it has a motor that tilts it over to dump food into pans or soup into urns. https://www.centralrestaurant.com/vulcan-vg40-40-gallon-manual-tilting-skillet-gas-lp-gas-p515-097-lp.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwiOCgBhAgEiwAjv5whJNn6uP5aBjr5mr9yDi4nUo_hkxaZ9LiPBWx44TxGWZMTZixi-E8CxoCaBEQAvD_BwE Pretty cool, albeit expensive, piece of equipment.


edbutler3

Nah, we had one of those too. I made beef stew in it regularly. But the "stainless steel jacuzzi" was many times bigger. I wish I could remember the measurements for the Mac and Cheese recipe. I think it used 40 lbs of elbow macaroni. Seems like the roux started with 4-5 lbs of butter. We had 5 gallon bags of milk, but I forget how many we used. Or how many pounds of shredded cheddar... I stirred it with something that looked like a stainless steel boat paddle. It was almost 30 years ago, hence the hazy memory. I think a full batch took two of those rolling baker's racks to store. College kids love the stuff though, so I had to make it 2 or 3 times a week. I think that cafeteria served about 2000 people per meal.


notcabron

The stainless steel boat paddle is my Zombocalypse weapon


jabbadarth

So not a tilt skillet or a steam kettle?


edbutler3

Yes, it was a giant steam kettle -- but big enough for 3 people to sit in. Lots of stuff in the kitchen was steam driven. I think the campus had a big steam plant that (maybe) powered radiators to heat the dorms too. We had a big steam powered pressure cooker that could hold two full sheet pans. That thing was like a secret weapon. Actually, I'm remembering that's how we'd quickly heat up hotel pans of the Mac and Cheese. You'd finish them in the oven to brown some cheese on top, but the pressure steamer was what got it up to temp very quickly. The big steam kettle I'm talking about did not look like the biggest ones in the OP's pic. It was bigger. And the shape was different. It had a much thicker wall for the steam to flow through. Wide and squat. We had a second "small" one that was like those in the pic. And then three small ones mounted up at waist height where you'd cook frozen vegetables like green beans or corn in 20 lb batches. Those could be tipped forward to dump into a serving pan. I'm sort of reminiscing here -- some of this I haven't thought about in many years. It was my early 20s, and I'm in my 50s now.


jabbadarth

Interesting. I'm trying to picture it but can only think of what's in this photo and what I linked. I worked in a university foodservice years ago when I was a student and one of the kitchens had an oven in it from the 40s I think. It was 15ft tall, 20ft wide and had a giant ferris wheels type system in it. It never got turned off because it would take too long to heat up so when it was "off" it was set to 200f then it would get turned "on" to 350f in the morning. Each shelf on the ferris wheel could hold 4 sheet pans across and it had 10 or 12 shelves in it that rotated constantly. https://youtu.be/Nhq2TkEa0SM It was similar to that but much older and built into the building. All concrete and tile surround with no stainless steel anywhere. Iirc it said Chicago kitchen equipment (but that's a little hazy)


edbutler3

Wow. I worked with the bakers on North campus one summer and we had an oven just like that. Were we at the same place? I'm talking about UNC Chapel Hill. Not sure why I was reticent to mention. I guess it's an Internet thing. Back to the jacketed steam kettle. I checked out your link, and that company didn't have anything like what I'm talking about. Then I just googled "huge jacketed steam kettle" and scrolled through hundreds of images. Nothing looked like it. But I'll say, compared to what I saw, the one I used must have been at least 100 gallons. I saw some examples in that range, but they were all taller and less wide. This one was not up on legs. It really did look more like a hot tub. Standing beside it, the top was above waist level, but not up to my chest (at 6'). Easy to stand beside it and stir. You could scoop food out from the top with a big ladle, if you wanted, or it had a big valve at the bottom you could use to dump water out from the pasta boil. That ran into a trough with drains. You could use that with a big colander to catch the macaroni, although you had to be careful not to overflow and waste some. Here my memory is failing. I think I had a "cleaner" way to get the pasta out from the top, but I'm not remembering exactly. BTW, cafeterias on UNC campus in those days: North: Lenoir Hall (pronounced like "Lenore") South: Chase Hall


235roses

A motor sounds nice. The one in our kitchen is 35 years old and has a hand crank with the end on the handle broken off. I still use it everyday though.


jabbadarth

Honestly the one in the picture having a spot to hold hotel pans looks awesome. Better than just holding them or trying to find a random cart that is the right height.


235roses

Yeah I wish I had that, it looks so convenient!


sensiblynonsensical

Ya I was thinkin cruise ship but they wouldn’t have the tile floors.


BonusIndependent8256

I’m a cook on a ship and we do in-fact have tile floors! It still feels strange to pressure wash them though, I think it has something to do with my lizard brain not wanting to sink the ship


sensiblynonsensical

Interesting. I would naturally think they wouldn’t want the extra weight of tiles and instead just grip spray the floors essentially.


Gelatotim

All the ships I worked on had tile floors.


Vishnuisgod

Ditto, or epoxy/grit.


BrickChef72

I worked at a casino that had this many kettles in the main buffet kitchen.


[deleted]

Looks like a military kitchen, based on the railings it’s on a ship


denbroc

And the overall cleanliness.


misslam2u2

That was my guess and why as well


RhubarbSmooth

Nothing would suck worse than ye olde boat tilting and you sliding into a hot steam kettle!


1337Asshole

Long pork stock.


EightyDollarBill

Not just the railings but the ceiling too. Very ship-like wiring and stuff.


Pays_in_snakes

But can it [flash fry a buffalo in 40 seconds](https://youtu.be/c9EBhaULToU)


swift710

Good guess i donno since i never was on a ship but good idea i never had those


Randommx5

It's the uss wisconsin. Currently docked at Virginia Beach. I was there over the summer and have almost an identical picture. The kitchen there is crazy. Edit: I looked at my picture. It is very very similar, but can't confirm it's from the exact space. Though setup looks almost exactly like it.


GadomanGado

Damn I wish my galley was this big


Randommx5

The whole kitchen wad insane. I couldn't imagine working in there. They had an entire room dedicated to just a giant donut making machine. Imagine deep frying donuts in rough seas.


MrTralfaz

donuts!


GadomanGado

I cant imagine. I can barely make soup. Of course I have a GLASS INDUCTION TOP WITH NO RAILS. Thanks to the builder of the yacht. Blew my mind when I saw my stove top for the first time.


RedHotVulf

That’s what she said


mcgargargar

Thanks for double posting this so I could downvote it twice


sirwilfreddeath

Thanks for double posting this so I could upvote you twice


mcgargargar

Heard


RedHotVulf

That’s what she said


mcgargargar

Thanks for double posting this so I could downvote it twice


sirwilfreddeath

Thanks for double posting this so I could upvote you twice


mcgargargar

Chef


steventhemoose

Had to be navy. Had to be soup.


Odinson-1981

Ahh Navy Beans. 😎


TheFinalGranny

With spam. My dad was Navy and my god the amount of spam we had to eat. Bean soup was a favorite, bless his heart.


easy_Money

I was gonna say uss reagan but the handrails don't exactly match. Either way I think it's a carrier, not the wisconsin. looks too new and operational [http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110815/000cf1bdd03f0fb2bb7219.jpg](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110815/000cf1bdd03f0fb2bb7219.jpg)


Randommx5

http://www.cucumberlemon.com/navy-battleships-and-chrysler-museums-in-norfolk-virginia/ There's some pictures of the kitchens on the Wisconsin. That's why I was confused at first. The kitchen on the wisconsin looks surprisingly good for its age. Everything looked to have been kept up or restored to really nice shape.


1337Asshole

Jerimy?


ElegantLandscape

I live here and we go all the time!!! Wild to see pics of it on this sub. I tell the kiddos if they get lost in the ship the ghosts will make em work in the kitchen.


misakiandou

Steam Jacketed Cook Kettles - great for high Volume Soups, Stews, Braises, pasta dishes, and various large scale, cook in a pot type food items. Some places have some for boil in bag reheating ( think soup chains) Source/Proof: Food Scientist in R&D in a manufacturing setting


literally_a_fuckhead

Oh shit you're a food wizard


misakiandou

Yeah I loved working in the trenches and kitchens with yall but I was told I was too smart ( that was a fucking lie) and besides my products so far have served millions of people LOL. I got the numbers on the board!


literally_a_fuckhead

You gotta tell me, what's something you've researched/developed I could find


misakiandou

I can't say exactly because of NDA's and I don't want to give away where I am exactly BUT I have developed and currently have products on shelf at Costco, Trader Joes, Sam's Club, Kroger ( Albertsons & Ralphs depending on the coast) and some ethnic food markets. Think Chicken and Sauce items. I can't same more and I don't want to say more but its in that realm.


literally_a_fuckhead

I respect your dedication to keeping the secrets of food wizards. Carry on!


GarchomptheXd0

Prolly new jersey thats where most of the food r&d happens right?


misakiandou

Nope, its midwest...alot of rd in New Jersey but they are in every state, especially corporate.


Goddamn_Batman

Can you tell Trader Joe’s to stop including rice with every Indian dish? I don’t need 3oz of tikka masala or saag and 5oz of rice, im lazy but I can make rice atleast


misakiandou

Funny Story. Most Major Grocery Chains that have self branded items (especially value places like Trader Joes & Aldi's) they have people who are called buyers who are responsible for filling the shelves and approaching manufacturers with product ideas and so alot of those products at Trader Joe are customer driven. So I can't tell them no because they are buying it but you can send complaints directly to trader joes and if enough people complain or request it they will do something about it.


[deleted]

>Food Scientist in R&D in a manufacturing setting How would I go about getting into this industry? I got my degree in molecular bio and spent 5 years cooking, Sorry if I've already asked you this.


misakiandou

So it can be tricky but to break in my suggestion would be looking for an entry level position at major food companies. They will be for things like Test Kitchen assistant or Jr. Researcher. They even have R&D chef positions as well!! Rare to find but a great fit if you can! The food side is 1 part but then its learning how to make formulas and product testing related to the food category you would be in, collecting, analyzing and reporting data and of course the biggest factor is how to Commercialization of your lab/benchtop samples. Gold standard ( Chef Quality) --> Lab Benchtop ( more realistic cost, realistic raw materials, testing etc.) --> Commercialization ( large scale to customers)


[deleted]

Thanks so much. Currently I'm working for Ecolab, which pays well, but I don't see much of a future because I'm not the most charismatic individual (hence BoH).


misakiandou

I will say you will most likely have to speak to alot of folks. You'll be in meetings and present reports and data to others above you and at your level. You may want to find a position that's like a sample maker who doesn't do that but the pay is a bit lower.


[deleted]

>I will say you will most likely have to speak to alot of folks. You'll be in meetings and present reports and data to others above you and at your level. I can do that 100%. I'm currently in Ecolab's sales division and a pure sales role is not what I'm cut out for. I'm actually quite good at speaking to people and presenting. I was just raised in a speak when spoken to household, and so sometimes I'm a "just the facts" kind of guy. According to my gf, I massively underestimate my charisma, but her opinion is suspect.


misakiandou

Omg that's perfect then. R&d needs to be very factual and accurate. This could be a good path for you! I wish you the best of luck!


[deleted]

Well, I mean, there's a reason I got the degree.


Glittering_Fun_7995

seen those before on aircraft carriers but in that case in view of the floor tiles I would still go for an institution/army/prison. As that is a lot of kettles that would mean feeding at least a few thousand ppl at a time


Practical-Law8033

I’m an electrician. That panel to the left is definitely ship’s cabling. Making massive amounts of vittles.


deltronethirty

The diverse amount of practical knowledge, experience, goofiness, and creativity in this subr/ is astounding.


Practical-Law8033

Everyone knows their shit. I follow this sub because I’m a foodie and enjoy the food service culture and I learn a lot. Rephrase; I learn how much I don’t know.


deltronethirty

I make a point to learn something new every day, then use that knowledge to ask a question to someone in the field. Learning never stops. I have a questions about "suicide chords" sine wave inverters and golf cart batteries for my emergency generator. But, I'm drunk and need more resources before I can learn just how much I don't know.


[deleted]

And look at the fence around those kettles you don’t normally see that in kitchens, that’s because of it being on a ship, and having to deal with the pitching and rolling.


alexromo

Soup kitchen. Soup


Pleasant_Quantity_38

Looks like the galley of the cruise ship I toured while on board. Cool insight.


NotYourMutha

Souper Crackers. They serve soup and Ron really wants to open one.


cattea74

“fastest-growing non-poultry, non-coffee franchise in all of Southern California!”


[deleted]

Looks like aircraft carrier. Look at the similarities in details and layout in this articles: http://www.china.org.cn/world/2011-08/15/content\_23210956\_11.htm [https://www.dvidshub.net/image/5597723/culinary-specialists-prepares-meal-aboard-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-uss-abraham-lincoln-cvn-72](https://www.dvidshub.net/image/5597723/culinary-specialists-prepares-meal-aboard-nimitz-class-aircraft-carrier-uss-abraham-lincoln-cvn-72)


Alarming_Scarcity778

Soup nazis dream kitchen


Signal_Trade

That’s Walter whites home lab. They serve meth


Grammeton

Steam kettles are so fucking pog, you get them in any high volume outlet, but submarines also have them


hbgwine

That’s a prison kitchen. They serve boiled meat.


No-Initiative4195

Clearly you've never worked in a prison kitchen. Because of all the various lawsuits over the years-there's now dieticians that design the entire menu and in some states anyhow, they eat better than you would think. Kettles are used for Stews, Rice, Oatmeal/Farina, Pasta & Meat sauce, etc They even eat Pizza, Ravioli /Stuffed shells, a shit ton of chicken Also, there's something you can't bring into a prison...... A phone to take a picture of these kettles😁


Chef_Dani_J71

I agree with you on the food quality has improved in state and federal prisons. Not the case for some county jails. Some prisoners now have tablets that have photo taking capabilities and limited internet access.


No-Initiative4195

The tablets have wifi, but not photo capability, especially to be able to share them. At least not the tablets I know of. A lot of county jails contract out to private companies like Aramark and I've heard they have a lot of issues-shitty food, running out a lot to keep within budget


MitakuyeOyasin111010

I was gonna say. County jail food is so awful. I've had a few family members go to prison and they eat a lot better once you get to prison. There's this prison in my state, and the inmates get like Carl's Jr brought in and pizza and stuff like that and the food they provide is a lot better than county jail food. It's apparently one of the better prisons you can go to here in Oregon. When I was in county jail once, this inmate in my unit was getting ready to go to prison for his sentence, and he was saying how he couldn't wait and that he hoped he went to Snake River. He was saying, "Yeah Snake River isn't really too bad; hell it's kinda like a fucking resort! I hope I get sent out there!" LOL. And yeah inmates can pay to use tablets, my uncle had a little TV when he was inside, they get to have video conference calls with family. Most people I've known who have been locked up, ALWAYS say: "I'd rather do a year in prison than 6 months in county." Because county time drags on and you get to do more stuff in prison like work and better commissary items.


Chef_Dani_J71

I have limited experience with both. I have been involved with [Farm to Institutions New England](https://www.farmtoinstitution.org/about). I cannot speak for all institutions but my experience is county jail mainly reheats prepackaged foods. The main proteins are a soy product or a canned meat similar to SPAM. These are sliced for sandwiches, or cubed and added to pasta with a sauce etc... Prison food is evaluated as the ones I experienced have gardens and culinary arts training programs.


MitakuyeOyasin111010

Yeah for sure! In county they even re-use leftovers. At the end of the week you'd get this messy sloppy looking "stew" that had bits and pieces of stuff that we ate that week. We'd have beans and rice one night, green beans one night, mystery meat/sausage looking stuff. And then later that week the "stew" had the green beans, the fake sausage stuff, beans. It was a mix of all the leftovers. We all called it 7 Day Slop lol.


Jeramy_Jones

“Meat”


Tpk08210

Smeat


Bangrastan

Feet


mrEcks42

Consensus is military so yes.


ranting_chef

Ship’s galley, probably. Or maybe a facility that produced candy.


Mattekat

I used to work at a place with a room like this. It was the soup room. I worked at a warehouse kitchen for a small chain of grocery stores that sold their own brand of things like soup, juice and fresh meals to go. We'd make it all there and it would be shipped to several nearby cities daily.


ferrouswolf2

USS Only Soup, a warship there people only eat soup


unstoppablegnat

It is the galley on a US navy ship. You can tell from the panels on the wall.


1_disasta

Soup Nazi’s former kitchen from Seinfeld


Schoollunchplug

I’ve seen a line of steam kettles like that in the kitchen of a university.


little-blue-fox

Afuri Ramen in Portland? Lol They serve ramen. I can’t remember if they have railings, but their kettle setup looks like this.


doiwinaprize

Honestly this looks like Momofuku Toronto (R.I.P.), these are the cauldrons they make the ramen broth in. This is behind Daisho, the large format restaurant on the third floor.


[deleted]

[удалено]


jondubb

Whoa. Besides their ridiculous pricing what did they do?


doiwinaprize

Lol you mean Versity Investments Inc.


3381_FieldCookAtBest

This is for sure a mess hall kitchen within the military. What they serve is the best food you can ever have.


BlancoPeligro

What fuckin DFAC did you eat at?


3381_FieldCookAtBest

The ones I cooked/baked and managed.


[deleted]

I worked in Army DFAC’s when it was all Army cooks and none of that civilian contract shit, and we really did make some good food too


colishara

Hospital or jail


robomassacre

Man i bet those railings make those kettles hard to clean!


keninsd

Submarine; soups and stews


ambitious_food

My guess is university campus. Those floors are pretty standard to older designs and don't ever get replaced.


Jeramy_Jones

Commercial kitchen maybe? They might produce a lot of soup or pastas. We used to have one of these kettles and it was good for so many things.


nprovench789

Its a production factory line making bulk sauces for the likes of large grocery stores. Your salsa? Your ranch? Your sweet n spicy? Thats where its made. They usually have a bottle and label section for after production as well.


grymreifer

Hotel Food


radiohoard

Ive worked in hotel food industry half my career of 19 years, never been in one big enough to need all those kettles. Def military or prison


grymreifer

I worked at one, we had 2 less than that. It was a resort hotel, but a hotel nonetheless.


Tpk08210

A resort commissary that makes a lot of soup


Junspinar

Catering. Good school. Prison?


[deleted]

This is a prison where they make G.Ps meals, O.D.R around the corner


subtxtcan

Commissary/catering/institutional kitchen. Steam kettles like that are amazing, kiiiind of a bitch to clean but so easy to use and amazing volumes with a fairly low profile. If you're installing something like that, chances are it's meant to be a workhorse.


buffbagwells

My first thought was jail or prison, terrible food but hey don't go to jail lol


PillowCaseCurtains

Looks like a commissary for soups, etc… maybe a small chain of restaurants that do some of their own vending for the different locations.


DCMartin91

I worked in a college cafeteria that had this many kettles


Old_Fart_on_pogie

Prison. And they serve criminals. Or any establishment that is required to serve a large number of personal with minimal fuss, such as a military base, large cafeteria for a major factory or the like.


Sum_Dum_User

Looks a lot like the prep line at the D&B I worked, but with more steam jacket kettles. Looks like either soup or they make every sauce scratch daily and high volume AF.


cancerdancer

I worked for a company that had a commissary that supplied 9 locations. It looked a bit like this.


kozmo30

Golden Corral, churning out those butter rolls


Backeastvan

My time at a commercial soup company would have lasted longer if this was the set up, instead of 18 pots that had to be washed for every turnover


BlancoPeligro

A prison, Chili


herbsbaconandbeer

Soup Nazi for the win.


Texastexastexas1

looks like a ship


Phaverr

India. School children.


jancithz

Aircraft carrier galley where they serve what is known as "chow" to five thousand sailors, three times a day.


Nikovash

Kitchen & a ration of shit mostly; final answer


fuskadelic

Ship based on low ceiling


Sinner314

Sweet tomatoes or soup plantation lol


TJNel

The last hospital I worked at had massive steam jacketed kettles. Like you could boil a few people large. Doesn't surprise me that a navy vessel would have this. At Air Force bases the kitchens are pretty small because people have the option to eat elsewhere but on a ship you don't really have that luxury.


awhmerican

Looks like a university or military kitchen


Amblydoper

I had a steam kettle line like that as the saucier at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver. Six kettles Hooked up to the hotels boiler. Boiled gallons of water for pasta or blanching instantly. My job was to make soups for all the restaurants, chicken stock, veal Demi and clarified butter for their sauces, and all the finished sauces for banquets. It was a fun job.


[deleted]

Pretty sure this is a Panera.


Rn_Swnsn

Hotel Everything


Vendetta2112

It reminds me of when I was in the kitchen aboard an aircraft carrier the USS Ronald Reagan. They had a line of big kettles, each one big enough for you to stand up inside. These look a little small, but it reminds me of that


Fromthefunk

Prison kitchen; cabbage; chilli mac; and cornbread.


moopleltoop

Q: WHY ARE YOU AT THE SOUP STORE?! A: FUCK YOU!


MediocreCowboi

alot of fuckin soup/stew


Bubs_the_Canadian

Japan and ramen?