Discussion Forums
for the
Personal Chef Industry

Hi Everyone, I am so excited to talk to others who understand the excitement and joy that cooking brings. I am a young self taught cook looking to starther own personel chef business since the corporate world has all ready taken a toll on me at 25 years old

I am listing some things I have done and what I really wanted to know was some advice for the problems/hurdles I have run into

In order to start I have: created business cards, created promotional postcards, done overhead expense forms to figure out what to charge (still debating this), designed a website , contacted wholesale food distributors for pricing, done a marketing plan, tested recipes (not freezing yet), determined the market that needs some TLC (focusing healthy options), created a DBA, obtaining all licenses, still need insurance...

Please let me know if there is something(s) I am missing the ball on.

My FEAR is FREEZING AND HEATING food again. I have tried to read as many books as possible on the personal chef business? But I guess what I really need to find is a guide for freezing all types of food and what I should cook vs. not before freezing? And how each type of food should be heated for optimal flavor and texture?

I am truly sorry for the length but I figured it would eliminate a lot of back and forth questions. I hope I hear from all of you wonderful chefs soon!

janderyn@joujoufemme.com

Hello Joujoufemme.
What an interesting name for your business.

You are right, that's a lot of information you are requesting in your message, and I think what you might want to do is READ the messages in this Open Forum We have been intentionally archiving questions and answers just like yours for over 8 years so that folks like you can have a place to come to to get answers.

All of the answers are here, so Be Our Guest, dive in and read the posts till your questions are answered.

The best advice I can give you on your biggest fear, freezing food, is to do what a lot of us did when we first started our personal chef businesses - many years ago - go walk the frozen food aisle in your local grocery store and see what is in there. then go home and do some testing with those same foods until you feel comfortable with your results.

Best wishes, have fun setting up your new business, and thanks for posting.
Candy

My suggestion is to attend one of the wonderful seminars that the organiation offers. I attended the one in Gaithersburg 2 weeks ago, and most, if not all of your concerns were addressed. It is well worth the time and expense.

Hello! I appreciate the responses I have received, I am aware of all of the posts. I have actiually been reading tons of them, but I wanted some guidance on books I could pick up to help me out with the subject of freezing and reheating, or something relevant.

I also wanted to know what containers people find most useful for certain types of food. I know there are a lot of archived posts but its hard to define which ones will contain the information I am looking for.

Any information is helpful! Thanks!

quote:

Originally posted by JouJou:
Hello! I appreciate the responses I have received, I am aware of all of the posts. I have actiually been reading tons of them, but I wanted some guidance on books I could pick up to help me out with the subject of freezing and reheating, or something relevant.

There are many books available on freezing but a majority are aimed at the "home cook", not necessarily a "bad thing" but not necessarily oriented to PC applications. Check out Amazon or even a google search.

quote:

I also wanted to know what containers people find most useful for certain types of food. I know there are a lot of archived posts but its hard to define which ones will contain the information I am looking for.

Any information is helpful! Thanks!

Boy oh boy, now you've gone and done it! Container selection, IMHO, is "client driven" at best. Each cook and client has their own preferences and it often depends on the client's choice for heating, i.e. oven, stovetop, simmering water, microwave.

Different foods have different storage and heating requirements for optimum results. I am not aware of a single, definitive resource.

This post is realy cool I have actually made a friend who is starting out as well and we are trying to share information throght trial and error....

I wish I would of had more responses but thank you to those who did respond..I am looking into the software to use since the Persnal Chef Office is not yet available. Many use Mastercook but I viewed the MacGourmet software and by far it is amazing (you can actually drag and drop recipes into the screen and it puts it in immediately) I do not see any software out there that does that? Any thoughts on the software issue?

Personal Chef Office web-based software IS available and our membership is using it now. Since it is web-based software, Mac users can utilize this resource to the full extend.

A most powerful and feature rich software solution for personal chefs called Personal Chef Office Desktop with arrive in the early summer which is being engineered for both Mac and Windows machines.

Presently, we offer our new Mac user members a very nice product called "A Cooks Book".

Please visit http://3caam.com/index.html and download a fully functional trial version. Give it a "test drive"... it is free.

It is really user friendly and you will get excellent and responsive tech support.

Our Mac user APPCA members can download over 1500 personal chef recommended recipes in a cookbook that is easily downloaded and can be opened with your Mac ... ready to go.

Happy Cooking!

Re your original question & before we retire this thread, here's a website that touches on how & where to begin on freezer/storage/thawing Go to:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/5000/5402.html

& download their freezer storage factsheet. full of helpful advice. As for containers, I find the FoodSaver vacuum bags & containers for the few home cooking & personal cheffing jobs I do now. bests, lg

Per my previous, I do NOT haul my FoodSaver Pro III to my cook & demo & teaching dates. If you haven't checked lately, FoodSaver has a recently introduced line of containers AND a stronger version of the WineSaver hand-held vacuum device. This relatively new system keeps food fresh for up to two weeks.

I apply Stretch-tite plastic wrap directly to the food/dish & up the side of the container, locking-out air from the food. (They're called leftover containers, by the way, & come in two sizes.)

I then vacuum the rest of the air with the hand-held vacuuming device& leave the food in the fridge. I tested this system at home for several weeks before agreeing to demo it...& it WORKS!!

check it out...bests, lg

Lou,

Are these the containers you are referring to?

Hi JouJou
One big thing to do when you are freezing is cool you items completly, before you freeze the smallest amount of heat inside the container will bring you water build up and freeze so when you re heat the water will break down the items.
Cool completly if you do that no worrys

Pete/Pierre:

Yes. I found them first in a WalMart in Sarasota, packaged w/a little clip/device to be used w/a FoodSaver vacuum machine.

On inquiry, I was shuffled thru several levels of nonsense before I found the $10 white version of the wine saver that I use today.

Don't know today's prices; got paid for three weeks of "training" salesfolks & the retired /retail commmunity in Sarasota--we train dogs, we teach salespersons--but it works ...works for up to two weeks w/out freezing. Creates a whole-new aspect to our personal chef business,.. if you will.

I'm also working under a grant to teach (not train) how to keep fresh purchases fresh --supermarkets are not very friendly to singles & young couples. Have any ideas? lemme know. Best rgds, lg

Before I'm cut off, my clients (2) & students (6)say they, like me,work w/recipes designed for four persons...doesn't everyone?

GREAT! if you are cooking for one or two persons & you can afford to throw away the other two!! But this is where new vacuum containers come into play--last week's leftovers are new again & taste (relatively)new...check it out, almost as good as fresh. I'm a witness & my clients thank me for having found a better way of having dinner. Any questions, I'm happy to answer. bests. lg

JouJou,
Whew you asked a GREAT question. It is a basic that will make or break your PC biz. Been in the Culinary Biz for a LONG time, sorry to hear that the Corp world beat you up after such a short amount of time. But just so you know, the PC biz is not for the faint of heart and it is NOT easy!!
Here are some things I learned while working not only as a PC but as an EC in a meal assembly biz....Don't get too carried away with Lowfat. If you must use boneless skinless chicken breasts and Pork Tenderloins, make the time to brine them. They will retain moisture and your finished dish results will be more uniformed and reheating for your clients will not result in a dried out nasty piece of shoe leather. Although the process is easy and quick, I don't want to post it here, you are free to email me @ onthego4522.gmail.com, I'll be happy to send the formula to you. I have done this in the restaurant and home setting. The more lowfat you make something the less freez-able it becomes because you need the moisture the fat contributes to help in cooking or reheating process again to keep from getting a nasty dried out mess upon cooking or reheating.Mexican dishes are great freezer meals. If you need a creamy freezer stable base, use a condensed cream of something soup-you can get organic or low fat & sodium ones now. Some things like ham once they are cooked and reheated tend to dry out and become hard and chewy so be careful with that as an ingredient. Beans freeze very well.
There is so much info that I would love to share with you, space and time here are limited!
Good luck with your new venture!

Hello everyone!!!!!!! I am so happy to see some more responses and beleive me they are like a boost of confidence to have more information.

A few things....I am not sure if I was clear in my statement above about the software but I actually do use windows not Mac but what I had mentioned was that I found the software MacGourmet to be so awesome and I had not known if there was something similar to that program where you can drag and drop recipes and things like that. I am aware of the personal chef office but for people who are just starting out (or maybe just me) purchases like that will have to wait a bit until we address other business expenses which in Florida are major. So if any is familiar with that MacGourmet program I would love to know if there is a program similar out there?

OnTheGo: Thank you so much for your input I will deffinetely be emailing you its nice to have some people to talk to and sort of help you along the way.

And lastly......THANK YOU !!!!!!!!!!!

Mastercook provides for "drag 'n drop" as well as many other features, including cost per serving calculations, shopping list creation, meal plan and menu generation and many more.