Students work at their stations on blueberry muffins in the Culinary Creations Lab in the Student Innovation Center on Monday morning. The lab is part of hospitality management's baking and pastry class. Photos by Christopher Gannon.
The Student Innovation Center helps students develop what's next and its Culinary Creation Lab allows time to provide them with important life skills.
The lab is available to rent -- $93 for four hours and $187 for eight -- outside of College of Health and Human Sciences class periods. All students can use the equipment in the lab, something not possible for non-majors at other kitchen lab locations across campus. Those interested -- from campus groups to instructors -- can email Matt Haynes, apparel, events and hospitality management program specialist, at mrhaynes@iastate.edu.
The culinary lab is one of six spaces in the building colleges helped plan to better serve their students.
Erica Beirman, culinary food science program coordinator in the College of Health and Human Sciences, used a grant to develop a culinary boot camp she leads in the lab. Students from all majors can learn essential culinary techniques while considering nutrition, food safety and strategies to reduce food waste. Students also tour a grocery store to plan a menu, understand food labels and learn to stretch a tight budget.
"I teach an American food and cultures class, and I asked my students what they make to eat in their dorm or apartment," Beirman said. "A lot said they just made a big pot of rice and chicken and ate that all week. Incorporating a fruit or vegetable into a meal does not have to be hard."
Offerings like the boot camp and other culinary preparation courses provide students with opportunities and ensures the lab is used frequently.
"Normally, when you are designing a space, you set the program and decide what is going to happen in the space," Beirman said. "That was not the idea with this lab. The idea was to be flexible for all types of things, which made it a little challenging."
The lab accommodates 24 students for the boot camp, which is expanding to two sections next fall because of its popularity. Last fall, each student received a chef knife, cutting board, thermometer and glass meal prep dish to keep after completing the eight-week, two-credit course.
The layout
Located on the third floor, the lab features 12 stations with basic kitchen equipment, including an induction burner. The lab has two large convection ovens, an induction range, freezers, refrigerators and kitchen tools from bowls to mixers and blenders. Several large screens hang from the ceiling on which instructors share information with students.
Students Izzy Mentzer (front) and Sammie Saucedo place blueberry muffins into a convection oven in the Culinary Creations Lab in the Student Innovation Center on Monday morning.
Courses in the lab
Beirman enlisted alumni and entrepreneurs to teach several courses the food science and human nutrition department conducts in the lab. Courses range from one to three credits.
Jessica Anderson, an alumna and owner of Jess Desserts in Des Moines, leads a baking workshop focused on the fundamentals of baking and desserts. It covers a range of techniques from simple cookies to more complex pastries and breads.
Karla Boetel, food science and human nutrition professor of practice, returned to campus to teach after working as the executive chef for ISU Dining in the early 2000s. Boetel teaches a pasta course where students learn how to make rolled, stuffed and cut pasta. Boetel demonstrates how to make each pasta, and students use the second half of class to prepare their own. They can eat it there or take it with them.
"I want to make it very approachable for them," Boetel said. "By the second week, you can see there is excitement and they want to learn about the dishes."
Emily Nienhaus, another ISU alumna working at the Better Homes and Gardens test kitchen in Des Moines, taught a course focused on international cuisine, flavors and food sources.
"All of those offerings filled up very quickly," Beirman said. "Bringing in instructors with real-world experience helps students learn from their successes and the things that did not work."
Many students in the courses would like to start their own full-time or side business, she said.
Outside of the food science and human nutrition department, hospitality management teaches a baking and pastry course in the lab where students get the realistic experience of working in a bakeshop, restaurant or bakery. A non-alcoholic beverages and café operations course focuses on hot and cold beverages, and those students pitch beverage concepts to SPARKS Café in the Student Innovation Center. The family and consumer sciences education and studies program also uses the lab to prepare students to teach in a food lab setting.
