5 ms·

This seems like it would quickly devolve into health hazard without constant maintenance. Idk, at this point, it seems like it would be a headache just to have

This seems like it would quickly devolve into health hazard without constant maintenance. Idk, at this point, it seems like it would be a headache just to have this running smoothly. It's cool and all and yeah maybe robots will make our food in the future, but this machine is not something that I'm especially stoked about. As a person who cooks, 50% of the time is spent cleaning up. I can see gunk, pieces of stuff, residue messing with the machine. A normal person notices and cleans each bit as they go, whereas a machine like this (unless engineered to clean itself) will be cleaned periodically (most likely after business hours). So my point is, I feel like food made by humans is still cleaner and safer. Also what happens when something needs to be cleaned or replaced mid-lunch? You shut down the machine and open it up... the restaurant loses $. In a normal kitchen, you wipe things up, wash a knife, or grab a new one and keep going.

greedo 8y ago
Just imagine how fast this could spread food borne illnesses. Unless the meat grinder is cleaned between each burger, that's a huge potential risk. Just a little e. coli on the outside of the beef, and each blade will be contaminated. And as anyone who's worked fast food knows, the higher tech the food prep device, the more delicate it is. Cooking beef results in grease, which gets everywhere. You can put gaskets, physical barriers etc etc, and grease particles will coat everything. Then things will break down. Add in robotic mandolines for the tomatos/onions, the necessary refrigeration of all the components and you've got something that won't be robust, reliable, or efficient. Then there's tamper resistance. This thing will need to be hermetically sealed to keep people from doing the usual fsckery that happens in kiosks etc. And the economics looks "challenging." From the article, it looks like it stocks 30 buns. 30 burgers at $6 is $180 in revenue before someone needs to restock it. And restock the beef. And make sure the artisanal beef deliveries are handled properly. Sounds like a prep cook... Then you'll need cashiers, and people to clean tables, and restrooms, and all the other accoutrements of restaurants. Yeah, it looks cool, and people do like to see their food cooked. The novelty will attract people at first. Then the lines will deter them. Restaurants are all about volume. And at $6 a burger, you'll need to crank them out fast.
- wycs 8y ago
  Do you not think they may have addressed the obvious issues a layman thinks up.
  - joezydeco 8y ago
    Looking at this apparatus, no.
  - greedo 8y ago
    Worked in food service for 16 years, started my own restaurant. So not a layman... (yes I know this is a logical fallacy; appeal to authority. So what) But to answer your question, no. I don't think they've addressed these obvious issues.
    - briandear 8y ago
      Why the hell wouldn’t they have addressed those issues? It’s so fundamental that they’d be stupid to not have thought of what you’ve described. These people probably know a thing or two about what they are doing — this isn’t some kid’s science project. Other people have worked in restaurants too — I am pretty sure your concerns aren’t novel.
      - greedo 8y ago
        I knew a lot of people whose parents worked in the industry. Their kids would "help" out a bit (the parents hoped to pass on the restaurant) by working the front of the house, or doing some bookkeeping etc. This gave them a sense of the business without learning the hard side of it. The really long hours, the fear of going broke, the hassles of employing people. The endless cleaning, stocking, menu planning, working with vendors. The million details that all have to be done for the business to run smoothly. Then the parents decide to step away from the business. Their children take over the business, and want to put their stamp on it. Modernize it. They update the menu; redo the decor. Aim for a better clientele. Try to remove the difficult parts of the business with technology. And the business fails. Because they didn't understand the myriad small decisions that lead to its initial success. Restaurants are incredibly hard to start and run successfully. That's why franchises are so popular, they take some of the guesswork out, at the expense of giving up control and individuality. At the end of the day, people want tasty food, at a reasonable price, served quickly, and in a decent atmosphere. If this robot can provide that, it'll succeed. I don't see that it can satisfy the second and third criteria. If they get that down, and the cost of the robot isn't higher than a staffed and equipped kitchen they'll succeed.
joezydeco 8y ago
Agreed. Watching the video, I don't see a single surface that looks like it meets the NSF code for handling. There's a reason most kitchens are full of stainless steel with smooth edges and nothing that can capture soil. There's wood in this appliance.
- WiseWeasel 8y ago
  The wood appears largely limited to non-food-contact surfaces. Wood is often used in food prep; cutting boards, butcher blocks, stirrers, rollers and scoops/paddles are often made of wood. Wood surfaces have been shown to have anti-microbial properties that make them well suited for the use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board#Wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board#Wood
solatic 8y ago
Who says a Creator restaurant needs to only have one of these robots per restaurant? If you have two, then you can run them active-passive, with the cold one being cleaned by an employee. Switch the machines as necessary. It ups the square footage of the restaurant, somewhat, but not by that much.

greedo 8y ago

Just imagine how fast this could spread food borne illnesses. Unless the meat grinder is cleaned between each burger, that's a huge potential risk. Just a little e. coli on the outside of the beef, and each blade will be contaminated. And as anyone who's worked fast food knows, the higher tech the food prep device, the more delicate it is. Cooking beef results in grease, which gets everywhere. You can put gaskets, physical barriers etc etc, and grease particles will coat everything. Then things will break down. Add in robotic mandolines for the tomatos/onions, the necessary refrigeration of all the components and you've got something that won't be robust, reliable, or efficient. Then there's tamper resistance. This thing will need to be hermetically sealed to keep people from doing the usual fsckery that happens in kiosks etc. And the economics looks "challenging." From the article, it looks like it stocks 30 buns. 30 burgers at $6 is $180 in revenue before someone needs to restock it. And restock the beef. And make sure the artisanal beef deliveries are handled properly. Sounds like a prep cook... Then you'll need cashiers, and people to clean tables, and restrooms, and all the other accoutrements of restaurants. Yeah, it looks cool, and people do like to see their food cooked. The novelty will attract people at first. Then the lines will deter them. Restaurants are all about volume. And at $6 a burger, you'll need to crank them out fast.

wycs 8y ago
Do you not think they may have addressed the obvious issues a layman thinks up.
- joezydeco 8y ago
  Looking at this apparatus, no.
- greedo 8y ago
  Worked in food service for 16 years, started my own restaurant. So not a layman... (yes I know this is a logical fallacy; appeal to authority. So what) But to answer your question, no. I don't think they've addressed these obvious issues.
  - briandear 8y ago
    Why the hell wouldn’t they have addressed those issues? It’s so fundamental that they’d be stupid to not have thought of what you’ve described. These people probably know a thing or two about what they are doing — this isn’t some kid’s science project. Other people have worked in restaurants too — I am pretty sure your concerns aren’t novel.
    - greedo 8y ago
      I knew a lot of people whose parents worked in the industry. Their kids would "help" out a bit (the parents hoped to pass on the restaurant) by working the front of the house, or doing some bookkeeping etc. This gave them a sense of the business without learning the hard side of it. The really long hours, the fear of going broke, the hassles of employing people. The endless cleaning, stocking, menu planning, working with vendors. The million details that all have to be done for the business to run smoothly. Then the parents decide to step away from the business. Their children take over the business, and want to put their stamp on it. Modernize it. They update the menu; redo the decor. Aim for a better clientele. Try to remove the difficult parts of the business with technology. And the business fails. Because they didn't understand the myriad small decisions that lead to its initial success. Restaurants are incredibly hard to start and run successfully. That's why franchises are so popular, they take some of the guesswork out, at the expense of giving up control and individuality. At the end of the day, people want tasty food, at a reasonable price, served quickly, and in a decent atmosphere. If this robot can provide that, it'll succeed. I don't see that it can satisfy the second and third criteria. If they get that down, and the cost of the robot isn't higher than a staffed and equipped kitchen they'll succeed.

joezydeco 8y ago

Agreed. Watching the video, I don't see a single surface that looks like it meets the NSF code for handling. There's a reason most kitchens are full of stainless steel with smooth edges and nothing that can capture soil. There's wood in this appliance.

WiseWeasel 8y ago
The wood appears largely limited to non-food-contact surfaces. Wood is often used in food prep; cutting boards, butcher blocks, stirrers, rollers and scoops/paddles are often made of wood. Wood surfaces have been shown to have anti-microbial properties that make them well suited for the use: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board#Wood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutting_board#Wood

solatic 8y ago

Who says a Creator restaurant needs to only have one of these robots per restaurant? If you have two, then you can run them active-passive, with the cold one being cleaned by an employee. Switch the machines as necessary. It ups the square footage of the restaurant, somewhat, but not by that much.