To observe the inner functions of a firehouse kitchen area, I checked out the Aurora Fire Department, where I talked with Harr and Kevin Albert, 2 firemens accountable for the majority of the meals at the AFD. I enjoyed them make supper for the team in the dynamic commercial-grade kitchen area and after that sat with them around the table once they called, “Chow’s up!”
Something was instantly clear: When you’re cooking numerous meals a day for a big group, you require tools that can withstand consistent wear and tear. In the Aurora firehouse kitchen area, there’s absolutely nothing rather as critical as a cast iron frying pan. “There’s not a day they’re not utilized,” Albert stated of the AFD’s fleet of Lodge cast iron frying pans, which likewise take place to be a leading choice in our guide.
Cast iron frying pans are workhorses and can be utilized to prepare practically anything, consisting of searing steaks, frying eggs, roasting veggies, and even baking cornbread or cakes. And, as long as they’re taken care of appropriately, they can last a life time.
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And couple of kitchen area tools are as emblematic of that custom as the cast iron pans that have actually been utilized by generations of firemens. “I do not even understand how old they are,” McGraw stated of the cast iron frying pans he utilizes in the Richardson firehouse kitchen area. “These exact same pans were being utilized 70, 80 years back. Which’s not even particular to my firehouse– you go to any firehouse in the nation, and they’re gon na have the exact same cast iron pans from when the station was initially[opened] The fire service is huge on custom.”
However cast iron isn’t just for frying pans. “Dutch ovens are huge here,” Harr stated, not just due to the fact that they’re flexible adequate to prepare a range of meals, however they’re likewise spacious enough for large-batch cooking. On the night I checked out the AFD, Harr utilized the kitchen area’s Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven to prepare braised brief ribs, moving the Dutch oven from the stovetop to the oven to end up cooking while we talked.
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The Lodge 6-quart Dutch oven, the leading choice in our guide to the very best Dutch ovens, has brief sides and a large base, which our specialists state permit steam to leave more quickly than deeper-walled pots. This offers you a much better sear on meat and assists to focus tastes throughout cooking.
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Of all the tools in the kitchen area, Albert thinks about a trusted instant-read thermometer the most important. “It’s such a video game changer,” he stated. “It resembles looking inside the meat.”
The Aurora firehouse kitchen area has a ThermoPro TP15H on hand, however Albert states he chooses to utilize the ThermoWorks ThermoPop 2 when he’s cooking in your home. The ThermoPop 2 (a Wirecutter choice) offers quick, precise temperature level readings, showed on an easy-to-read, backlit screen. According to our guide, it’s likewise entirely water resistant and able to stand up to kitchen area sprays and splashes.
An excellent chef’s knife is necessary in any kitchen area, and keeping it in great shape is an obstacle in a firehouse. “Guys will utilize knives then toss them in the dishwashing machine, which’s how they get dull,” McGraw discussed, which he stated can be aggravating. (Anybody who’s been on a group journey most likely understands the sensation.)
To navigate this, the RFD has 2 different sets of knives. “We have station knives, and after that we have shift knives,” McGraw stated. “The station knives are the ones that get included the drawers, and, you understand, they’re all beat to hell. So my team, all of us tossed in together and purchased a set of knives for us that we keep in our food locker.”
Before the team purchased a brand-new set, among McGraw’s colleagues generated his Topfeel 3-Piece Butcher Knife Set from home to tide them over. They liked utilizing the knives a lot that they chose to purchase a set of their own to keep in the kitchen area. They have actually utilized the knife set now for a year, and he states that they have actually held up terrific regardless of being fairly low-cost.
The knives at the AFD have actually likewise seen much better days. “We have dreadful knives. No one understands how to look after them,” stated Harr. Albert included that concealing top quality knives is a typical practice throughout firehouses. In a previous function at another station, he stated he kept his Wüsthof Classic Ikon Chef’s Knife squirreled away in his locker to keep it in great shape.
” A great deal of our things gets utilized a lot that we get the commercial-grade things,” McGraw stated, including that his firehouse generally acquires their products from dining establishment supply shops. “The majority of our cutting boards are the huge, durable plastic cutting boards that you would see within a dining establishment.”
Plastic cutting boards are simpler to clean up and preserve than wood boards, that make them the go-to in busy firehouse kitchen areas. McGraw states the Option White Polyethylene Cutting Board, a tough choice offered by dining establishment supply shops, is warp- and crack-resistant and can stand up to heavy usage. Plus, it’s spacious enough to accommodate the volume of food preparation required for feeding the Richardson firehouse team.
Harr found out to prepare while on the task. When he signed up with the fire service in 1996, he had actually never ever prepared a meal before. On his extremely first shift, he discovered himself in the kitchen area preparing supper for 8 individuals. Utilizing canned veggies and other packaged components, he nervously threw up an enchilada casserole. “Was it edible? Yes,” Harr stated, however it wasn’t always great. “I’m mortified– we would never ever make that today.”
Nearly 3 years later on, Harr has actually moved far from the boring firehouse staples that he utilized to keep rotation– like boiled meat and potatoes and casseroles made with canned soups– going with more-creative, tasty meals made with fresh components that take more time, effort, and a couple of additional kitchen area devices to manage.
Though not an important for the firehouse cooks I talked with, a stand mixer is good to have when they’re preparing to make something more daring.
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On the night I checked out the AFD, they utilized a KitchenAid 5.5 Quart Bowl-Lift Stand Mixer to whip together velvety mashed potatoes (it’s a suggestion in our guide to stand mixers). In the past, they have actually utilized the mixer to make fresh pasta and homemade bread.
Harr has actually discovered that a trusted rice cooker is available in useful when cooking for a crowd, too. Rather of tending to a boiling pot while handling a variety of other jobs, he can set it and forget it till it’s time to consume.
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When preparing huge batches of rice, the Aurora firehouse cooks utilize a Zojirushi Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker & & Warmer, the leading choice in our rice cooker guide. Though it’s on the costlier side, Harr states the Neuro Fuzzy Rice Cooker deserves the expense. “It’s so constant,” he stated, including that it makes the specific very same rice each time. And, if taken care of properly, the device can last years. “My mama has actually had hers for … I do not even understand for how long!”
” In our kind of work, it’s difficult. We see a great deal of bad things,” McGraw stated. Collecting around the table uses the team an opportunity to decompress and link. “It makes it that far better when it’s an excellent meal that everybody delights in.”
In some cases, however, supper can be disrupted by an emergency situation call. “That’s the hardest thing” about cooking household supper, Harr stated. “We attempt to make actually great meals and we get disrupted.” When a call comes through, somebody presses an emergency situation button that cuts the power to the kitchen area, which securely brings the cooking procedure to a dead stop while they react. On those nights, “we consume a great deal of cold food,” Harr stated.
Due to the fact that they’re constantly preparing for a crowd, the firehouse cooks generally have leftovers to leave after every meal. “A great deal of the single guys will take the leftovers home,” Harr stated. “And if it’s something that I made that I like, then perhaps I’ll take it home.” To save all that additional food, the team depends on long lasting Pyrex glass containers that can deal with practically anything.
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Firehouse kitchen areas operate on team effort, custom, and the type of cooking that brings individuals together. No matter the number of mouths they’re feeding, these firemens count on tools that are difficult adequate to deal with everyday usage and reliable adequate to keep the team well fed. And while their meals may sometimes go cold, the routine of cooking and consuming together constantly makes the effort worth it.
This post was modified by Megan Beauchamp and Maxine Home Builder.
