Episode 108: Kitchen Tool Design with Kate and Bryce Hansen, Creators of the Ergo Spout

We talk with Kate and Bryce Hansen, inventors and creators of the Ergo Spout, all about designing this kitchen tool. In order to bring this spout that can be used with a regular-mouth Mason jar, they did market research, created prototypes, and hired engineers to eventually get it to a successful Kickstarter campaign. Listeners can still pre-order and get 15% off when you enter the code HUNGRY2 at checkout on their website. Also, Winter and Lee also talk about popcorn popping machines and try out interesting jerky that some listeners sent in!

Let's taco 'bout it!

Disclosure: Some of the links within these show notes are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, we will earn a commission, which helps support our show. This commission comes at no additional cost to you, our wonderful listener!

Let's taco 'bout it!

• Food Nerd Shoutout: People had definite opinions about cotton candy (aka fairy floss), such as listener Marisa E.G. who loves it, while other listener Nadia G. who was sure she wouldn't like it if she tried it again today. Second shoutout: Leslie and Aaron of the So This is Love Podcast let us know they listened to our episodes on salt (here and here) and finally were able to find and buy this!
• Let's Dig into the Kitchen Drawer: Lee doesn't like our current home air popcorn popper, the classic Presto PopLite Hot Air Corn Popper, because it spits out so many unpopped kernels. Lee's rating: 1 out of 5 stars. Do you have a popcorn popper that you love?  Send us an email at hungrysquared@gmail.com.
• Welcome to Kate and Bryce Hansen, the creators of the Ergo Spout. You can find them at www.Culinesco.com.

Bryce and Kate Hansen, inventors of the Ergo Spout (photo courtesy of Ergo Spout)

• We met Bryce at the Bountiful Farmers Market while Lee was running his food stand, Bee's Knees Waffles.
• Kate had a vintage syrup dispenser that she chipped and she was bummed. What I really need is a mason jar! Kate exclaimed. It lead her to search the Internet to see if there was anything out there. There was nothing.
• Bryce decided to run with it (he's always wanted to do a Kickstarter campaign), so he approached
• 3-D printing made a huge difference in prototyping. They would sometimes do 2-3 different prototypes each week. Have you every 3D printed? You can buy a home model 3D printer like this or this.

Ergo Spout prototypes, first (left) to final prototype (right)

• Bryce named it the Ergo Spout, since he is quite particular about how it help in the hand. They showed Winter several prototypes and the evolution from beginning to final product.
• The lid was the next design challenge. It started out as a little lid that covers the hole only. They eventually moved to a lid that covered the entire spout. They had to hire an industrial designer to help with that flip-top lid.

The Ergo Spout's final lid (left) and the original lid (right)

• Kate's philosophy of kitchen tools: There's two categories of kitchen tools: 1) Aspirational tools and 2) Enhancement tools. Aspirational tools want to "change your life", but most times don't. Enhancement tools enhances whatever you're doing already in the kitchen and how you cook.
• Bryce's philosophy of kitchen tools: It's all about the user experience. For example, he loves ice cream scoopers, such as the well-designed Cutco-brand Scoop, the Midnight Scoop, and the Bellaire Scoop.
• They started finding their tribe and growing their email list through going to farmer's markets, home shows, and Facebook ads. The email list should be 5,000-10,000 big to have an audience when the Kickstarter launched. 
• To be successful with a Kickstarter, the product needs to be somewhat unique, but also somewhat familiar. They launched their Ergo Spout Kickstarter July 2, 2018 and was funded in 14 hours. Congrats!
• They learned that homesteaders want this product. The small dairy industry would really benefit from the Ergo Spout also.

Ergo Spout prototypes on different Mason jars

• They are signed up for the Pinners Conference and Expo in November 2018. But they are looking at advertising online, since there are a lot of option in the digital space.
• The Ergo Spout fits the regular-sized mouth Mason jars currently. They will be doing their next Kickstarter for the wide-mouthed Mason jars soon. Ball, one of the largest Mason jar manufacturers, only manufactures the half-gallon jars in wide-mouth. Sign up for their newsletter here to stay up to date!
• The design issue with the Ergo Trap was the difference in the thickness of the inside of jars. Vintage jars have thicker glass on the inside. The outside diameter is generally consistent.
• You can preorder your own Ergo Spout (and the Ergo Trap) here. Hungry Squared listeners get 15% off if you enter HUNGRY2 at checkout. Thanks, Kate and Bryce!

Ergo Spout (photo courtesy of Ergo Spout TM)

• Introducing Interesting Ingredients: Thanks to our friends, Jamie, Ryan, Bonnie, and James, who gave us some pork jerky made by Wild Stampede from the Beef Jerky Outlet. We tried some Pork/Kangaroo, Pork/Ostrich, and Pork/Alligator jerky. The Pork/Ostrich was Winter's favorite. That was very interesting!
• You can send us non-perishable food items to PO Box 651652, Salt Lake City, Utah 84165.
• We love you guys!

Run Time: 55 minutes

Sponsors: We have no sponsors for this episode. If you're interested in working with us, please contact us. We'd love to partner with you.

Leave a Comment Ergo Spout

Episode 107: Fried Foods Mini Episode with Lee Redd

Lee joins Winter on this week's mini episode (Happy Honeymoon to Sharon!) to talk about fried foods, especially ones you may find at your local state fair. We briefly talk about the history of frying foods and the science behind a good fried product, then jump into a "Would you eat it?" session. Yikes, that's a lot of fried food!

Let's taco 'bout it!

Photography courtesy of Blake Guidry

Disclosure: Some of the links within these show notes are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, we will earn a commission, which helps support our show. This commission comes at no additional cost to you, our wonderful listener!

Let's taco 'bout it!

• Food Nerd Shoutout: Thanks to Shannon J. for letting us know that's she's been listening to a lot of our older episodes--Lee does cook a lot for us! And shoutout to Yandary for sending us a link to some vintage cast iron pieces that someone was selling on Craigslist. If you need some new pieces to restore, check it out here!
• There's a long history of frying things in oil, dating from the first written account in the Roman cookbook Apicius in the 5th century BCE. 

Run Time: 22 minutes

Sponsors: We have no sponsors for this episode. If you're interested in working with us, please contact us. We'd love to partner with you.

Leave a Comment fried foods, state fair

Episode 106: Cotton Candy

Because it's state fair time, we decided to talk about a requested topic (thanks, listener Chad!)--cotton candy! We get into the history of the World's Fair in 1904 and how it came on the scene and what was introduced at that World's Fair. It was historic. We also delve into how spun sugar was the precursor of cotton candy and how cotton candy is made. Fascinating! Plus, Sharon puts in her two cents on a rice cooker and Winter tells us about moon cakes.

Let's taco 'bout it!

Disclosure: Some of the links within these show notes are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, we will earn a commission, which helps support our show. This commission comes at no additional cost to you, our wonderful listener!

Let's taco 'bout it!

• Food Nerd Shoutout: Joyce S. told us she needs to eat some cheese after reading the Anthony Bordain quotation about cheese that our guest, Vanessa Chang, shared during her episodes on choosing cheese (listen here) and about the American Cheese Society's Certified Cheese Professional exam (and listen to the other episode here). Thanks for commenting and supporting us, Joyce!
• Let's Dig into the Kitchen Drawer: Sharon shares a "workhorse" of her kitchen: the Aroma 6-cup Rice Cooker. It even cooked a Lundberg Wild Blend (brown rice/wild rice combination) with no problems. Granted Sharon did guilt the rice cooker into doing its job and threatening to buy an Instant Pot instead (ha ha!). It's a kitchen warrior, in fact! (Winter tells her story of taking home a new Yamada rice-cooker on the plane as carry-on luggage! She won't give it up, even now that she has an Instant Pot.) Sharon's Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

• We're talking all about cotton candy on today's episode. Thanks for requesting this sweet and interesting topic suggested on Instagram by one of our listeners, Chad. 
• When is your state fair? The Utah State Fair is happening right now! Don't miss the Blue Oyster Cult! ;) Or the Big Yellow Slide! Or the Dutch Oven Cooking Contest (hey Ned from Dutch Oven Daddy)!
• Cotton candy was invented in 1897 by dentist William Morrison (a dentist!) and confectioner John C. Wharton. It was introduced widely in 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. This fair was also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Attendance was about 19.7 million people.

• Other things that were introduced at that World's Fair: the electric street car, the personal automobile, the ice cream cone, radiation therapy (Fensin light), the X-Ray machine, the "infant incubator", the wireless telephone (aka the radio telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell), the teleautograph (precursor to the fax machine), Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey (he got the gold medal for the finest whiskey in the world), the ice cream cone, puffed rice, and Dr. Pepper!
• It was known as Fairy Floss at the 1904 World' Fair (and is still called Fairy Floss in Australia). They sold 68,655 boxes at 25 cents a box. That equals to about just under a half a million dollars in today's dollar!
• In the UK, cotton candy is known as papa's beard. 

• You can get different flavors, including blue raspberry, cherry vanilla, bubblegum, banana, chocolate, vanilla, watermelon, and maple syrup. There are much more contemporary flavors, such as lychee, 
• National Cotton Candy Day is December 7 (or maybe July 31).
• You can hear about how sugar changes in our caramelization episode here. The basic building block of sugar is carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The bonds holding the sucrose together will break apart when heat is applied. Hydrogen and oxygen will get together and form water, then carbon is left.
• Spun sugar is the precursor to cotton candy, being made in the 15th century by Italian chefs.
• The cotton candy machine consists of a funnel where the sugar goes, a heating element to warm the sugar to make it molten, and the outer bowl to catch the fibers of sugar that are flung out of the tiny holes in the funnel, and the centrifuge to spin the funnel at high speeds.

• You can buy your own commercial grade cotton candy machine for a couple hundred dollars or you can go with a less expensive tabletop, home-use cotton candy machine for $30 (to go along with your tiny popcorn maker and Snoopy sno-cone maker)! Cotton candy sugar isn't terribly expensive either!
• Check out this cotton candy eating contest. This is how to win!

• Introducing Interesting Ingredients: On September 24, 2018 is the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival and moon cakes (not moon pies) are eaten. It's autumn (though the pumpkin spice hasn't really come out in full force yet), so this happens on the full moon of the 8th month of the lunar calendar. There are many legends surrounding this festival. 
• Moon cakes are generally filled with lotus paste or black bean paste, though nowadays, there are much fancier and creative types and fillings.
• Send us an email at hungrysquared@gmail.com.
• Make sure you sign up for our newsletter here!

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Sponsors: We have no sponsors for this episode. If you're interested in working with us, please contact us. We'd love to partner with you.

Leave a Comment aroma rice cooker, chinese moon cakes, cotton candy, state fair

Episode 105: How to Choose An Artisan Cheese Part 2 with Vanessa Chang, ACS Certified Cheese Professional

We continue with our interview with Vanessa Chang, ACS Certified Cheese Professional, and she tells us her guidelines for choosing a cheese if you are new to the world of artisan cheeses. She also gives us a taste of producers and agers that she is excited about and shares some of the cheese combinations you can try at your next party. Sharon also talks about a camping French Press coffee maker and Winter tells us all about capers and caper berries.

Let's taco 'bout it!

Photography courtesy of Jez Timms

Disclosure: Some of the links within these show notes are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, we will earn a commission, which helps support our show. This commission comes at no additional cost to you, our wonderful listener!

Let's taco 'bout it!

• Food Nerd Shoutout: Thanks to listener Kathy for letting Winter know in person, that she enjoyed the salt episodes with Darryl Bosshardt. She even went out and got some Real Salt--sweet! You can listen to Salt Part 1 and Salt Part 2 here.
• Let's Dig into the Kitchen Drawer: Sharon loves the Stanley Cook and Brew Set used for French Press coffee. Sharon went out to Payson Lakes in Utah and it was great for camping--the super fine mesh keeps out all the ashes and bugs! Sharon's rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

• We continue our interview with Vanessa Chang for Part 2. If you haven't heard Part 1 with Vanessa, you can listen here.
• What can I start out if I want to try artisan cheeses? Vanessa suggests asking questions, especially since you're trying to learn. There are no stupid questions. The only thing that cheesemongers may not totally love, are the know-it-all customers.
• Tip 1: Start with what you know when it comes to choosing cheeses. For example, if you are used to block cheddar, tell the cheesemonger what you are familiar with, and he/she can suggest a mind-blowing version, that may be aged longer, maybe doesn't have annatto (used to color cheeses), or possible in wheel or truckle form.
• By the way, all cheese has a place!

Photography courtesy of Chris Ralston

• Tip 2: Acknowledge what makes a cheese good. There are different characteristics to cheeses that make them good. Don't go "ew" (you'll offend the cheesemonger)!
• What is the crunch or those "freckles" in cheese? Vanessa tells us it's not mold. It's the amino acid tyrosine. As a cheese ages, the enzyme in the cheese breaks down fats and proteins (amino acids) and there is water loss as it ages, which causes the tyrosine crystals becomes more apparent.
• Cheese-making is controlled spoilage (David Chang calls it controlled rot).
• Rockhill Creamery is a US-based cheesemaker that does everything in the cheesemaking process.
• What cheese producers are you excited about: Vanessa's desert island cheeses are alpine cheeses such as Comte (goes well with coffee). She especially loves the Marcel Petite Comte. Producers: Jasper Hill out of Vermont has a cheese called the Harbison that she likes. The side is wrapped in strips of spruce. (They also have a Cabot Clothbound cheddar cheese, which is also good.)

Photography courtesy of Marc Babin

• There could be different people involved in the cheesemaking process: There could be the dairymen, to the cheesemakers, to the cheese agers. By the way, an affineur (in French) or stagianato (in Italian) is a cheese ager.
• Favorite pairings: Coffee with cheese like a Comte; meats and cheeses (Creminelli High West Whiskey Salami + alpine-style cheeses such as Gruyere or Comte); cheese and chocolate (blue cheese such as a stilton or Point Reyes Bay Blue cheese + Harper Macaw Rainforest Blend (Dark 70%) or Milk (57%) chocolate; cheese and junk food like Doritos and Cheetos and Corn Nuts. Cheese doesn't need to be "precious". Enjoy it how you want to when you take it home.  By the way, a Dutch stroopwafel with blue cheese is a good combination.
• Rachel Perez comes up with unconventional pairings, such as burrata cheese + summer corn + trout roe.

Photography courtesy of Brooke Lark

• Most exotic cheese: Kris Lloyd Artisan from Australia produce Ant Hill, a goat cheese with green ants. Green ants are citrusy and goes well with goat cheese.
• Vanessa is currently working with St. Benoit Creamery, related two other cheese producers, Laura Chenel Chevre and Marin French Cheese.
• You can take Vanessa's cheese classes in San Francisco through the Cheese School of San Francisco. They have a new location in Ghirardelli Square, so check out their calendar here.
• You can follow Vanessa on Instagram @vanessajchang, Twitter @vness, and Facebook.
• Introducing Interesting Ingredients: Winter talks about capers (the edible pea-sized flower buds) and caper berries (olive-sized). They are similar to olives, in which they need to be treated and pickled to be palatable. This recipe, Sautéed Chicken Thighs with Lemon and Capers, from Weight Watchers is a winner! Caper berries are used in martinis and would be great on a charcuterie board.

Capers (front) and caper berries (back)

• We love getting email. Send us an email hungrysquared@gmail.com. Or you can bug us on Instagram or Facebook!

Run Time: 46 minutes

Sponsors: We have no sponsors for this episode. If you're interested in working with us, please contact us. We'd love to partner with you.

Leave a Comment cheese, interview, Vanessa Chang