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The Minimum Viable Kitchen

priceonomics.com

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Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#3

Post by jon-wood »

run4yourlives wrote: post #2

That's a lot closer to a dream kitchen than an "minimum viable".

Agreed, I'd say I have half the items on that list at the most, and still manage to make good food most nights (admittedly my last soup came out like baby food).

And since it seems somewhat on topic, Hubbub are hiring developers, so if you love both food and technology we'd love to hear from you: http://developers.hubbub.co.uk/.

We provide an online delivery service for local independent food shops, because we love food too much to leave it to the supermarkets.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#5

Post by jmduke »

Line by line, my disagreements:

- You don't need cookbooks. The internet is better in terms of 'MVK', and the best cookbook is the one you make yourself.

- Get rid of half of the pots and the dutch oven. Cast iron is indeed the greatest.

- A stand mixer is nice, but by no means is it Minimum Viable.

- If you insist on getting a mixing bowl that isn't a regular bowl, don't get three of them.

- Ditch the whisk.

- Saying an ice cream maker is part of an MVK is like saying cool t-shirts is part of a startup's MVP.

That being said, I really like this article.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#6

Post by protomyth »

run4yourlives wrote: post #2

That's a lot closer to a dream kitchen than an "minimum viable".

the quote in the article is "This post lays out the Minimum Viable Kitchen (MVK) for creating gourmet food." - I'm guessing it is equivalent to "the Minimum Viable Garage for race car teams".

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#7

Post by weego »

The only part he got right imo is the one most people get wrong; knives. Lots of my friends have tons of them, I have 3, a good chefs knife and a good flexible knife for boning and filleting and then a throwaway paring knife (ie it is so cheap that if I feel like it's not sharpening up well after a few months I throw it away). Lots of other stuff I've never had... I mean an ice cream making as minimum? And a stand mixer? Elbow grease costs nothing, as someone probably rightly once said.

The takeaway possibly is that minimum viable anything is relative to the expectations of the observer. Also that over-thinking things can lead to excess.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#8

Post by ironchef »

jmduke wrote: post #5

Line by line, my disagreements: - You don't need cookbooks. The internet is better in terms of 'MVK', and the best cookbook is the one you make yourself. - Get rid of half of the pots and the dutch oven. Cast iron is indeed the greatest. - A stand mixer is nice, but by no means is it Minimum Viable. - If you insist on getting a mixing bowl that isn't a regular bowl, don't get three of them. - Ditch the whisk. - Sayin…

Ditch the whisk? A whisk is perfect for controlled aeration of a substance. A fork lacks the necessary dispersion area. What else would you suggest using to cream whites or eggs that is in his list (if you're also getting rid of the stand mixer)?

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#9

Post by justjimmy »

Good list and good read but nowhere close to MVK.

$25 for a cutting board? A $40 digital scale is overkill.

True MVP/MVK should be using stuff that's truly necessary. ie: A knife honer - just use the bottom of a ceramic bowl - worked for chefs for millennium.

Re: The Minimum Viable Kitchen

#10

Post by protomyth »

This article is horribly titled (not the HN one, the article's actual title). The full quote from the article (Minimum Viable Kitchen (MVK) for creating gourmet food) would have been better.

The thesis statement is also helpful to understand what he is trying to achieve:

  I define the Minimum Viable Kitchen as one that can 
  allow you to create over 75% of the recipes that are
  in what I consider to be the best cookbooks for 
  home chefs.
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