Many baked goods are much better when they still have their cooking
warmth. Some foods, like pizza, are nearly always served this way, but
others are only done this way occasionally. Several companies have
used this to offer a much tastier product than you’d normally get:
Midwest Airlines chocolate
chip cookies, which they would bake fresh on-board. Good for a
cookie, let alone an airline cookie.
Bertucci’s
rolls, a somewhat typical roll that is famously delicious because
it’s served just out of the oven.
Krispy Kreme doughnuts, with a “hot
now” light so people know when they can get them right out of the
fryer.
Some of this is that in cases where it’s not that hard to serve it
fresh it’s unexceptional to serve it that way. You wouldn’t normally
eat waffles, pancakes, crepes, popovers, or pasta except completely
fresh. Thinking about why we do these this way, I think it’s that
they’re operationally simple: short cooking times and small minimum
batch sizes. Bertucci’s and Midwest handle this by serving the same
product to everyone, which really only works if you make it a central
aspect of your identity.
If we could sort out the operational aspects of timing and
preparation, it seems like we could be generally eating a lot tastier
food. Burgers on fresh-baked buns, etc. Improvements here could be
well-received!
Really Fresh Baking
Link post
Many baked goods are much better when they still have their cooking warmth. Some foods, like pizza, are nearly always served this way, but others are only done this way occasionally. Several companies have used this to offer a much tastier product than you’d normally get:
Midwest Airlines chocolate chip cookies, which they would bake fresh on-board. Good for a cookie, let alone an airline cookie.
Bertucci’s rolls, a somewhat typical roll that is famously delicious because it’s served just out of the oven.
Krispy Kreme doughnuts, with a “hot now” light so people know when they can get them right out of the fryer.
Some of this is that in cases where it’s not that hard to serve it fresh it’s unexceptional to serve it that way. You wouldn’t normally eat waffles, pancakes, crepes, popovers, or pasta except completely fresh. Thinking about why we do these this way, I think it’s that they’re operationally simple: short cooking times and small minimum batch sizes. Bertucci’s and Midwest handle this by serving the same product to everyone, which really only works if you make it a central aspect of your identity.
If we could sort out the operational aspects of timing and preparation, it seems like we could be generally eating a lot tastier food. Burgers on fresh-baked buns, etc. Improvements here could be well-received!