Cal State Northridge Equipment Lab

[Hometechdoc]

Several of your guys have asked for pictures from the Equipment lab here at Cal State Northridge. I took some pics the other day in the lab while the students were conducting experiments with various ovens. If you like the thread I will take some more pics and share.

The first pic is of the classroom section. As you can see there is quite a variety of students in the course.

 

[appnut]

Allen please do!!! Bob.

 

[Hometechdoc]

The steam oven

Joey and Sarapi make love to the Miele steam oven

 

[Hometechdoc]

More Steam Oven

Anthony prepares broccoli for the class. It is fast, holds its shape and retains its colour.

 

[Hometechdoc]

Convection load test

Gil and Mischeal prepare cookies for the convection load test. Five trays of cookes are prepared at once in one convection oven

 

[Hometechdoc]

assessing the oven performance Which is the top and which is

The cookies that is, we already know which of the boys are top and bottom, although the girls seem a bit clueless. No matter how good the oven is, there is usually more browning on the top rack. Radiant heat is reflected from the top of the oven.

 

[maytagbear]

Fascinating!

Thank you for posting these snaps.

Looks like my Ma's Home Ec lab on steroids.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[sharples]

Wish...

I wish PSU had a lab and class like that....

 

[appnut]

I'll take anthony as an apptiser.

 

[tlee618]

Allen, thanks so much for sharing the great pictures, sure looks like fun. You have such a neat job!! Wish I could visit that lab sometime.

 

[gansky1]

Great pics, Allen - thanks a lot for taking posting them.

More, more!

 

[retromom]

This is great Allen! Is this an engineering class? If so, what kind? What else do you test? Definitely post more pics and experiments!

BTW...as a homemaker, I always had a problem with burning the tops of the cookies, rolls, etc., on the upper racks, while the bottoms would be barely done.

Here's a question for you...The upper oven of our old GE double range would burn everything with a vengance. Was this because the upper range was smaller and, therefore, retained more heat? Wouldn't a thermostat have taken care of this? I have also noticed that the smaller oven in our Frigidaire range tends to run a bit hotter than it's "full figured" sister to the right. I'm sure there is a physics problem in there somewhere! LOL

 

[veg-o-matic]

Oh, yeah...

Anthony has no idea how popular he's going to be here!

veg

 

[exploder3211]

I dunno.. I like the dude behind anthony...

 

[westytoploader]

Allen, great pictures, thanks for sharing. You mentioned the test kitchens (and the Miele appliances within) in Tucson and I have since wondered how the layout was! Looks like you have a fun class too, BTW.

 

[accapp]

I hope they all take turns cleaning the built-in coffee system after every 6 cups.

 

[scott55405]

It's very fun to see where you work, Allen.

 

[Cybrvanr]

Neat class! What was the object off all the experiments? Looks like a lot of fun being able to cool stuff in class!

Retromom, you bring up a good point...oven size! I have noticed that just about everything that I cook in a toaster oven cooks quicker than it does in a full-size oven. I have always wondered what the physics were in involved with that was. That may be a good topic for the class!

 

[Hometechdoc]

cleaning the coffee system

Actually the maintenance on the coffee systemis pretty simple. If you use it daily, as I do with the one I have at home. You can get by with rinsing out the brew system weekily and dumping the used grounds (makes great compost). My housekeeper does this. I have it programmed to pre-rinse/pre-warm with the first cup and this keeps the system pretty clean.

I do the full cleaning routine every 500 cups. There is a counter to help remind you. I would love if the system was plummed to water, but in LA, it is better if you add your own water since ours is pretty hard.

My parents have the Lance-Larking built in system which is permanantly plummed, but in VA they have good quality water. That system requires adding grounds for every pot brewed,but is still a nice system for a quarter of the Miele price and is built into the wall, where the Miela is built into the cabinet like a built-in microwave or oven