I have heard some cooks/chefs say that the staff eats the meal. I don't think there are huge portions being cooked that it would go to waste.

I've also heard TV chefs say that the staff is happy to eat whatever is made.

I do agree with amylou on the cake concoctions, I can't imagine how that could all be eaten.

Annie

Still can't figure it out. If you have a large kitchen with many chefs each working on a different recipe (like Milk Street or Cooks) there must be huge amounts of food, including all the failures of perfection. Surely they can't eat it all day after day.

The staffs for these shows is a lot larger than you might think.

But the cake stuff? I really don't like those shows. Unlike the British show, which emphasizes technigues and variety and interesting flavors , American shows are obsessed with decorations.

I imagine that the food made on TV is eaten by the staff... and perhaps.... audience. But the magazine photo food is usually inedible. In order to make the food look good and stable for photography other things are added to or sprayed on the food which make it not good tasting. Also, the hot lights, time, etc. might make some foods unsafe to eat.

When we did the actual food testing for taste, time and cost to decide which recipes to use in the magazines, I would frequently package up the leftovers and take them to the food bank.

laceyvail, I've wondered about that also!

Sometime ago, I had a chance to visit The TV Foodnetwork studio.

The chefs didn't really cook. What you see on TV with the chef cutting, chopping, seasoning, pots and pans, stirring, grilling, whatever----- are just for the camera for the show. There is a big kitchen not far from the many studio sets (6?). That kitchen has many refrigerators, stoves, ovens, large panties, and many cooks. The real cooking is done in that kitchen. That's how the food can get done so quickly even with very complicated recipes. Sometimes the food is done before the chef arrives at the studio.

I don't think many TV food shows give out food they cook. Liability issues.

dcarch

dcarch, I had to grin at the "large panties" in those kitchens. All that cooking, I'd need larger panties too, I suppose. (snicker)

This is going to go in the list of typos along with AnnT's "crap cakes" and the ever popular "puppy seeds". Oh, and Sherry's "brought a teat to my eye". LOLOLOL

I don't know about Food Network, but the explanation for many of the Cook's Illustrated recipes specifically says that staff members test the food, sometimes it says the food is all eaten, sometimes not, but someone has to test all those failures.

Annie

Years ago there was a cooking show on the Food Network called Cook Like A Chef. At the end, you'd see the cameramen and people offside come in and grab a plate. It was great to see that.

dcarch7, I always thought those good chefs who cook all day were quite large and certainly needed large panties.

I actually was thinking much more about the magazines like Cooks, Bon Appetit, Milk Street where they have many cooks all developing recipes. Many failures too apparently. Surely they can't eat all that food. I mentioned the shows, but since I don't have a TV and can't really watch videos on line, I wasn't thinking so much of them.

You could eat what they test, altho' it might not be what they are looking for. The recipes are usually pretty good to start out. The only criteria isn't only the taste, but also the complexity and cost of ingredients. I imagine it's up to each magazine what they do with the left-overs... IF there are any. As said before, the staff is huge and probably never bring a bag lunch.

No waste. A dozen magazines if that. They get the freshest ingredients...much better than your local grocery. Menus are planned in advance. Tested and tasted. What is photographed is fresh, not sprayed with glossy inedible 'juice'. Digital is fast. 2-300 pics in minutes.

The big waste is in a home kitchen and crapy restaurants. The better restaurants have compost and end-of-night pick-up for leftovers to be re-purposed into meals for soup kitchens, shelters, etc. No liability. In NYC anyway. Those rules changed years ago. We did underground distribution many years ago but was never a crime.

Lots of youtube videos...if you watch just a few of BonApetite it is clear how they operate.

lt is clear in the background the testing going on of other co-workers...and upstairs is other staff prepping the future. Some have families at home so 'left-overs' are welcome and never wasted. LED lighting is not hot so no plated food is melting for the cameras.

When I visited The Chew (formerly on ABC on weekdays), they told us that the staff ate what was cooked during the show. As someone mentioned above, the "prep" kitchen had done all the real work in adavance, producting several versions of each recipe so they could be shown in various stages of cooking.