Kitchen Master

The person in this role is responsible for coordinating the camp’s meals and maintaining the kitchen infrastructure. This role requires work before and during the event.

This role requires early arrival on years that we have EA passes. If the Kitchen Master can’t make early arrival, it’s up to them to make sure somebody else in the EA crew buys the food and gets the kitchen set up.

Responsibilities

Pre-Playa

1. Coordinate meals for the week via a spreadsheet ahead of the event.
2. Check meal plan and work with chefs if something seems too high, too low, or unnecessarily hard to cook on Playa
3. Schedule chef, helper, and ice shifts.
4. Combine ingredients, then organize the shopping lists into two separate lists: Costco and general grocery store.
5. Buy all the food for camp meals before the event, traditionally at Costco in Reno.
6. Encourage chefs to check the allergies lists and adjust their meals or provide alternatives
   1. notable allergies: peanuts, pork, dairy, pineapple/dairy, eggs, etc.
   2. chefs don't have to cut their meals completely, but it's preferred that they provide an alternative
7. Remind chefs to fully plan and list their meals, providing exact/near exact quantities and ingredients listed in raw (or convert to raw when you do step #4)
   1. during this, it'd be good to encourage chefs to consider cooked meats already (spam, sausages, frozen meatballs, etc.), bagged/frozen vegetable substitutions, etc. It's easier on us to shop for items when we have exact quantities, and don't have to handle as much fresh/raw foods. We want as little extra food leftover from meals.
8. Outline what is expected of chefs, helpers, and ice
   1. See appendix for chef, helper, and ice responsibilities

On-Playa

1. Set up the kitchen and make sure all camp food is appropriately stored/refrigerated on playa.
   1. This usually happens during EA, and if not EA this should be done by EOD Sunday.
2. Periodically check the fridge and freezer to make sure they’re the right temperature, and that we’re not storing spoiled food.
3. Keep tabs on kitchen as a whole throughout the week.
   1. make sure that ice is taken care of in a timely manner every day (see ice section in appendix)
      1. if not, track down ice shift
   2. check that items are in the right place
      1. if not, organize
   3. check that general area is tidy and clean
      1. if not, clean
   4. check that tables, pots/pans, utensils, other kitchen equipment are clean
      1. if not clean
4. Ensure people are aware of their shifts and what is expected of their meals
   1. See appendix for chef, helper, and ice responsibilities
5. Work with Coffee Coordinator / Hookah Master / Offering Lead about keeping things tidy and clean

Instructions

We try to budget ~$2-2.5 per person per meal, and expect to feed all of camp with each meal. Make sure to check with the Treasurer to find exact food budgeting for the year.

It’s up to each chef to take everyone’s dietary preferences and restrictions into account while planning their meal, but in general we don’t make any guarantees about every meal. We ask to be considerate and provide alternatives if possible.

Links

• TODO: cost planning spreadsheet template
• TODO: cookbook
• TODO: kitchen inventory

Appendix

• Meal roles and expectations
  • As always, be on-time for your shifts. For meals, this means chefs should consider and plan how long it will take to make their meal. Prep is usually an hour long, but can take longer depending on the meal. Chefs are responsible for letting their helpers know when to show up, and should touch base with them before their meal.
  • Generally, we don't want to be storing extra prepared food. It causes our freezer and minifridge to be opened more frequently, potentially causing cold leakage. Non-perishable foods can be saved for later, and placed on the "free-for-all" shelf. Cooked food should be handed out to neighbors or passerbys.
  • Chefs: Chefs are in charge of their meal shift, and need to give relevant direction to helpers. If you have more helpers than needed, set them to another kitchen or camp task until they are needed. Alternatively, you can split your helpers to pre/post work (helping cook versus cleaning, etc.)
    • Chefs should NEVER leave before everything is cleaned up and put away.
    • Chefs should be using all the ingredients that they asked for. Leftover foods can spoil and cause issues in our freezer. We don't have a great way for chefs to know exactly where their ingredients are in the freezer, and that's something where we could use brainstorming for.
    • All items used should be thoroughly cleaned and properly put away. This includes tables, pots/pans, cutting boards, utensils, etc. If there is a meal using a known allergy item or meat, common equipment should be cleaned and disinfected, if possible.
  • Helpers: Helpers are there to make sure the meal happens in a timely fashion! They should check in with their chef about when to help, and be there on time.
    • Helpers shouldn’t leave for extended periods during the meal shift, even if they don’t have an active job to immediately work on. Please be prepared to stay through clean-up until everything is properly put away.
  • Ice: Ice schleppers should take the hand cart to Arctica before 10 AM, and buy 5 - 6 bags of ice for our coffee shifts. This amount could change depending on demand. Ice should go in the coolers. We want to avoid ice the freezer if possible (since it melts and creates a lake at the bottom).
    • Ice is $3 per bag, and we typically buy 6 bags ($18 total) per day. Arctica opens at 9 AM Monday-Sunday.