blog review

http://www.chow.com/blog/

I have here a blog that i do like to follow, not all the time but i do occasionally look at it more than any other blog.

Overall i like the blog, i mean i already knew how to blog so it wasn't really new to me. I think it is good to see what other people think about things especially in our field since it is always changing but i don't like blogs about things that don't really matter such as personal things i would go as far as saying things like people twittering about themselves which i think is pointless. Blogging for class and for foodservice is important beacause it is new way to communicate with what people are finding out in the world and bringing attention to things that many don't know about, it gives you different points of view on issues, but for class i thought it was interesting because we only blogged on our teams blog and we really didn't get to see other bloggers ideas and issue and at times it seemed limited because we only blogged about issues based on our team project, yes it did focus our attention to one thing but if you didn't really like the topic of your blog it made it hard for you to either find articles or sites about the topic or hard to give a good review of the article on the topic.

So after all is said i liked the idea of blogging for the class it is a new way of teaching rather than the traditional lecture which i think is important in todays world because many are used to blogging as a way of getting information and their are many who don't know how and sooner or later we all will have to learn how use blogging sites whether in foodservice or hospitality so it definitely helps as a learning tool, plus it isn't boring like a traditional lecture and discussion are. Overall i liked the idea of blogging for an assignment.

Blog review

I enjoyed blogging, I think it made me read some interesting articles that I otherwise wouldn't have read. I am familiar with the set up of blogger and other blogging sites so I didn't really learn much about the ways of blogging. I find blogger to be the least annoying site to blog on, it's easy and straight forward to use, plus it links to Google and other accounts making it easy for people to read. this isn't my only blogger page. I feel in a professional setting blogging may not be the most useful way to accomplish anything, unless you become immensely famous and have a large following. I have no interest in reading someones blog about there personal, and lame, experiences in what ever it is they do all day. It's hard to find a legitimate blog of useful information.

This blog seems fun to read, other than that it's of no real use
Food Blog

new kiosk and pos systems

New technology makes fast food faster; FGCU graduates hired

This is a new system that subway is beginnig to use, it is kiosk that is located at the front of the store that allows customers to type in the order they want before they get to the line and also with this program subway is also using a new pos system that allows the owner to see what exactly is going on with the restaurant from any location that he is at because it is an entirely web based, so the owner can check how much the restaurant has done in revenue for that day from the comfort of his home.

I don't know if i like the kiosk so much because i know it does save time which is good but then there will be a line at the kiosk now instead of the deli counter, and really how long does it take to tell the worker what and how you want your sandwich. The pos system i like and dislike, i like it because it allows the owner to check up on the business at any time no matter where he or she is but i think it will make the owner lazy and keep him at home or vacation longer since he doesn't have to be there to check revenue, also less time the employer is there then the chance of theft is greater, also if the pos system goes down how to you check what you have made for revenue ?

new kiosk and pos systems

New technology makes fast food faster; FGCU graduates hired

Improving shelf life

Better Shelf life

Improving shelf life is important, because sometimes your product will have to sit for a while when it is being shipped. This article talks about altering food recipes to increase shelf life but leave.

They suggest a few things, such as oxygen free packing, adjusting pH and using fungal amylase.
I dont know why we haven't invested more in this. I feel that one of the biggest problems is having things go bad before they are even sold, this can cost a huge amount of money because, one shelf space costs, keeping a product on the shelf that wont self doesn't help business. Two wasted product costs, you pay for the product then pay to put it on the shelf then have to throw it away.

I feel that this should be researched more, waste is one of the most costly mistakes.

Meat dish

Meat in a dish

No, I don't mean steak and mashed potatoes. I mean cloning a great piece of steak and growing it in a lab.

Nasa funded this in hopes of a way for astronauts to grow meat while in space. I think this could be a huge money saver if this is developed. Owning a cattle farm isn't cheap, you have to raise, feed, protect and nurture the animals until they are ready to be slaughtered. That all requires time, resources and people. those require money, and a lot of it.

According to the article only small amount have been grown, about 1cm long, but they believe you could make a small pork chop in only 30 days. 30 days, that's nothing, compared to the years it would normally take to raise an animal, then process it.

It was brought up in class that it has a strange texture, but eventually that will be taken care of also. The possibilities of this are virtually endless.

compass raises posibilities

http://food-management.com/business_topics/marketing/compass-raises-posibilities-0409/

compass is doing something really cool that will save alot of time and money for people that eat at there onsite company. Compass has introduced a new point of sale system where in stead of either paying someone or putting in a visa or debit card all you get is a card where you can just wave it in front of the screen and it automatically pays, and with the receipt also comes a nutritional fact about the food that you have just purchased which is pretty awesome. The card it is almost like a declining balance card but the only difference is obviously the nutrition fact sheet and no more swiping just wave the card over the screen.

i like this i mean it is an advance in technology and i believe it won't save as much time as people think, i mean really how long does it take to swipe .... not to long maybe 3-4 seconds and compass says it will save you seconds by waving the card. overall i like the advance in technology and we can only get better from here on out.

http://www.21stcentury.co.uk/technology/beyond_future_kitchen.asp

Digital Kitchen.

This is a great idea, basically your whole kitchen is linked to a central computer, the idea is as old as Disney and the kitchen of the future but the implication is brand new. This will allow the kitchen to guide experienced through the cooking process. This is all based on networking, all your appliances are linked together and to the central unit. the microwave has a bar code scanner and over 4,000 programmed items that it will automatically program cook time. the computer will guide you threw your kitchen and allow you to see what ingredients you have and which you need. I feel that this can drastically increase the speed of quick service kitchens by cutting down on time spent looking for ingredients and looking up recipes. also it can possibly predict when ingredients need to be ordered and prevent running out of things. Which can also save money by keeping better inventory. Obviously there will be a few bugs to work out but overall this will make the kitchen experience ten times better.

digital menu boards

tp://www.wirespring.com/Solutions/restaurants.html

This article is basically about digital menu boards and how they are growing in the field of food service. The menu board gives a whole bunch of opportunities such as faster ordering and no wait , it allows the customer to pay right there and to see the order before it is confirmed.

it seems like a good idea, i mean no hassle, no wait, but the cost for this is probably a huge upfront cost, but it probably pays off in the long run since it would cost you more to pay for an hourly employee overtime.

What makes it not so good is that it takes jobs away from people, it makes the dining experience a little impersonal and most of all what happens when the machine's go down, how can you serve any customers.

digital menu boards

tp://www.wirespring.com/Solutions/restaurants.html

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol3no4/osterhol.htm

Food Irradiation.

This article is basically a neutral explanation of food irradiation. It includes all the information, the positives and the negatives.

More or less this is a form of pasteurization (sorry Louis) that doesn't require any heat to be applied to the food. This is good because by nature heat changes the flavor of foods, and you don't want to taste scalded milk when you take a bite of cheerios. Food irradiation works by exposing food to low doses of gamma rays (highly energized electromagnetic radiation caused by nuclear decay), X-rays, and a beam of electrons. As most people know radiation can kill cells by interrupting their DNA. this causes bacteria to die but no change in taste of the food.

But don't things absorb radiation you might ask? Yes they do, it is very easy to make something radio active, like rubbing a magnet over a pin, but you need a lot of magnet and a lot of rubbing to make the pin. Same with radiation, you need a significant amount to cause a secondary object to become harmful. So with food so little radiation is used it doesn't literally irradiate your milk, it just kills bacteria. the problem lies in producing the radiation used.

I feel that this is a relatively cheap and effective way to sterilize foods (like meats) to prevent food born illness. Cobalt-60 has a half life of about 5 years, that's a lot of time to sanitize food. A lot cheaper than having to burn oil to heat things up.

http://www.fesmag.com/article/CA6709255.html