baked potato machine

robin · **Posted:** Sat Nov 11, 2006 3:26 pm

let's buy or lease a baked potato machine!

selling baked potatoes would open up all sorts of new high-margin and easy-to-make but yummy non-wheat meals.

i had a look in one of the catalogues in our "wholesalers" drawer and they have a non-fancy one with two compartments (one for baking, one for keeping warm - holding 15 potatoes each) for £9.62/week for a 3-year lease. works out very roughly as £520/year. if we're selling the tatties at a mark-up of £2 (ingredients cost £1.00 to £1.80, sell at £3.80), we'd only have to sell 260 potato meals a year (or 1 meal every day and a half) to make that money back (i know, i know, that's discounting electricity..)

the kitchen would need minor building adjustments (christmas?) of course...

what do people think? it'd be nice to have a baked potato with chilli when i pop in this time next year!

robin

thehemulen · **Posted:** Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:31 pm

good suggestion Schlochtermeier! baked potato is my absolute fave eat. i asked if we could serve them way back in west port.
cheap, easy, veggie, healthy. possible toppings: beans/cheese/chilli etc.

its hard to get them here so put me down for one a day over new year...

swithun · **Joined:** Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:24 am **Posts:** 2449

I like it. We are only just starting to tap the coeliac pound.

I know heat rises, but if we put it where the glass washer is just now, then it might dry out the floor round there too.

Shannon · **Posted:** Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:41 am

Did Sean come in and tell you about this? Jane, Dai, Sean and I were just talking about this on Friday night. I reckon it'd be a great fit for where the glasswasher currently lives? And even more genius than plain old baked potatoes: baked sweet potatoes!! My mouth is watering already.

We've been chatting a lot about a winter menu (more hot stuff, more seasonal) and simplifying the menu too - I think a baked potato machine would really help. And it would be great for the wheat allergies too...

Perhaps we should call a kitchen meeting to discuss menu and ideas??

chris · **Posted:** Sun Nov 12, 2006 6:29 pm

would be great, but does it not require ventilation etc. cos its an oven?

laura · **Posted:** Sun Nov 12, 2006 7:37 pm

it might also be an idea to keep an eye on ebay for one to buy outright - there's a few on offer at the moment including the following one in Ayr.

short link (edited by swithun the horizontal scrolling fascist)

Dandolo · **Posted:** Sun Nov 12, 2006 8:11 pm

I like baked potatoes. Especially with fried carrot and mustard seeds. But they do take well over an hour unless you use a microwave, in which case a dedicated oven's a bit of a sad thing... like a once cherished soup spoon forgotten behind the dishwasher. :cry:

The places that sell baked potatos tend to do very little else for this reason. It's a scale thing really.

Although what do I know. I've never had a reheated baked potato before, maybe they taste fine. It's a lot of electricity but if it's just for winter, the warmth won't be missed. Maybe it'll work.

Shannon · **Posted:** Sun Nov 12, 2006 10:28 pm

Hmmm...ventilation - good point.

matthew · **Joined:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:20 pm **Posts:** 107

renting doesnt sound like a great deal to me

you should be able to buy one second hand for a couple of hundred quid

you might get away with it ventilation wise

matthew · **Joined:** Thu Apr 14, 2005 5:20 pm **Posts:** 107

mind you getting ventilation fitted and getting a proper cooker would be the way forward

this would open up a world of possibilities, right?

the old menu was totally designed around the licencing restrictions we had at the time... restrictions which no longer exist

chris · **Posted:** Mon Nov 13, 2006 2:21 pm

we prob would get away with it, but the restrictions are the same (i think). and it will need to be wired directly to the mains in some hard core way i imagine.

robin · **Posted:** Mon Nov 13, 2006 4:44 pm

the thing is electric and they pay for a man to wire it into the mains.

shannon spoke to the company rep today- they have one for 680 outright second hand.

go for it? we need to be quick.

r

Shannon · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 10:15 am

The details:

height - 380
width - 410
depth - 450

phone Cath - 0191 514 7575

chris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:50 pm

i think thats far too much money.

chris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 2:59 pm

a regular oven, we could probably get for free (or less than £100), and would also have a compartment for keeping warm (the grill bit). and also could be used for caseroles, cakes etc. etc etc.

there is nothing special about a baked potatoe oven particularyly is there?

robin · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 5:42 pm

yes there is. a baked potato oven is way smaller, has two parts that are small but big enough for a number of potatoes. plus it comes with two bain maries on top for toppings.

chris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:02 pm

i see.

is the one you are thinking of like this:

http://www.kingdomcateringequipment.biz ... 8c24546357

these units should just plug into the mains and require no special wiring.

but basically a small oven and some banmaries would do the same thing? (in principle...)

chris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 14, 2006 6:11 pm

all i object to is the price. i think having potatoes (and seet potatoes!) would be super ace! i reckon second hand you should easily be able to get what you want for <£200, and untill that option is expored properly it is a bad idea to buy one new.

chris · **Posted:** Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:59 am

this one?:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Jacket-p ... dZViewItem

Jimmy Bastard · **Posted:** Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:57 pm

I note we would need to pick it up from Peterborough.
Maybe a jollie in dan's van.

robin · **Posted:** Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:16 pm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Electric-Jacket-p ... dZViewItem

ooh yes! this one would do fine!

chris · **Posted:** Sat Nov 18, 2006 2:50 pm

i think this ebay one is likely to go for £600 or £700, but that seems to be a fair price. i think this particular model the 'classic compact, from king edwards' is probably the perfect one for us, it goes for around £850 new. is this the same one we've been offered for £680?

i am changing my mind on the price, this little oven could be a top idea! it just plugs into the wall also..

i think we should bid on the peterborough one.. and get it delivered if we win - delivery is likely to be less than £100.

ravanwin · **Posted:** Sun Nov 19, 2006 6:12 pm

looks like i am bidding on this up to £450 tomorrow. is that info current?
r

robin · **Posted:** Sun Nov 19, 2006 7:29 pm

yes. up to £450. go get em.

r

ravanwin · **Posted:** Mon Nov 20, 2006 6:06 pm

our bid lost.
it went for 461

r

chris · **Posted:** Fri Nov 24, 2006 2:49 pm

http://www.ceonline.co.uk/product.php?id=450

new £795 + vat, 1 year warranty..

new price

Shannon · **Posted:** Fri Nov 24, 2006 6:54 pm

Me likes.

But one question: where are we planning of putting this bad boy?

chris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:53 am

im gonna bid on this:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Baked-Potato-Oven ... dZViewItem

no one else bid please!

ravanwin · **Posted:** Tue Nov 28, 2006 3:59 pm

if you win, can i pay for it with my card?
i need to build my credit rating!

chris · **Posted:** Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:35 pm

i won this by the way. £311, should be able to get it to e-town in the next coupla weeks. will try and get my friend to pay cash when he picks it up, so that he can quickly check it works ok..

Jane · **Joined:** Thu Sep 16, 2004 2:10 pm **Posts:** 1557

yay!

we should start to think what we want to put in them/prices to sell for etc

Shannon · **Posted:** Tue Nov 28, 2006 9:40 pm

Nice!! I am so excited.

Can we move this thread to the kitchen group?

As for figuring out what to put in the potatoes,etc: I'd like to suggest another kitchen meeting before Xmas - check the meeting thread in the kitchen forum.

Shannon · **Posted:** Wed Jan 10, 2007 8:51 pm

The potato machine is in. Fancy pants. Bring filling ideas along to the kitchen meeting on Monday. Also, pricing...

Right now it is sat where the soup urn used to be; also directly above where the wheeled cupboard used to be. This is rather inconvenient since it means we can no longer fit the hob on the counter over there - reducing our ever precious counter space. It would be really, really great (and might even stop Ryan from complaining about the whole thing and telling us 'I told you so') if it could live underneath one of the counters. Maybe where the sanitizer used to be, or move the chaos fridge where it used to be, and put the tattie machine there?

The problem: heat escaping from the steam-chimney-thing and the sides. But, I reckon if the chimney was extended and a small hole cut for it in the back of the counter it would work. It would also be right beside the microwaves (can you say convenienc??). From my non-technical, non-building inclined perspective, it seems doable? Graeme's more technical, more building inclined perspective seemed to agree.

What say ye?

graeme · **Joined:** Sat Oct 21, 2006 5:52 pm **Posts:** 312

We need to see how hot the oven gets and how much steam is produced as that will determine where it can be positioned. There may be health and safety guidelines we need to follow.
This may be a good time to have a think about re-arranging where the various fridges and freestanding cupboards are located, or even if some of them are needed at all. Does anyone else think re-arranging things is a good idea? Could we discuss at the next kitchen working group meeting?

chris · **Posted:** Thu Jan 11, 2007 12:27 pm

how will the ban-marie be used, if its under a counter?

also i think extending the chimney is not a sensible thing to be considering.

Shannon · **Posted:** Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:40 pm

When we discussed buying the machine, we talked about keeping it where the wheeley cupboard or sanitizer lives. It's going to be very difficult to arrange things with it on the counter.

Why is extending the chimney not sensible?

Not sure about the ban maries - probably enough room to use them if it sits closer to the ground... Right now the question is 'how do we make soup,' and that's more important.

lucky · **Posted:** Mon Jan 15, 2007 11:50 am

I've found the machine a bit inconvenient where it is at the moment, it's a bit overbearing and bulky.

However, it is really pretty. I can't wait to start using it!

Are we able to find space where the useless wheelie thing is to the urns/rice maker in?

Maybe we could build a specific Baket Potato stall in the gold room. I'm sure it wouldn't take too long to knock one up. We could have uniforms and lovely hats, and slogans like, "You have come to the right place, for hot potato in your face." Maybe not.

Hmmmmm.......

Alex*

swithun · **Joined:** Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:24 am **Posts:** 2449

Some prices from the baked potato shop near me:

Chilli + cheese 3.20
Cheese + X 2.95, where X is a simple filling
Cheese 2.80
Sour cream 2.80
Coleslaw 2.50

These are takeaway prices, so we don't need to feel bad about charging more. Instead of coleslaw we could use the moister of the 2 nice salads. I don't know if our cream would heat well, but cheese and jalepenos is making me salivate just typing it.

If you want a pomme de terre that is out of the ordinaire, then check out heritage-potatoes.co.uk. They are at the farmers market the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month.

Forest BB

baked potato machine

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