CSC

The dairy portion of the new Culinary Support Center at BYU passed it's final inspection today. What that means to all you non-BYU people is that BYU can now begin to make ice cream on Monday. Other areas of this building have not yet passed the inspection. It's a complicated building but it's pretty darn cool! I purchased all the equipment for the building. There will be the Dairy section where they will make their own cheese, yogurt and ice cream. They will bottle orange juice and regular and chocolate milk there as well. In other rooms of this building we will produce all our own produce products like sliced, diced and cored vegetables and fruits. They will make their own lettuce salad mixes (like the Dole lettuce package you see in the store). Another room will be the bakery where they will make all their own rolls, breads, pizza dough, etc. A third room is called a garde manger or cook chill facility. Large vats will cook food to a certain temperature and will then be quick chilled and bagged. Some of the applications here will be meat cooked to a certain point here and then shipped off to the various kitchens to finish up before serving. They will make their own marinara sauce, spaghetti sauces, gravies, soup bases, etc. that we currently purchase from manufactures.

There is also a cold room where fresh sandwiches, meat trays and fruit trays will be assembled. I would not want to work in there! The donut shop will be moving over there rather than here in my building. That will be good for my health. :)

This is actually a pretty exciting building. There is only one other facility like this one in the state of Utah and that's up near Ogden. I belive the Davis School District has one.

A year and a half ago the Dairy Products Lab began to make as much ice cream as they could to store for what they thought would only be a year. They have been storing their ice cream at Payson Fruit Growers because they have the kind of freezer that is needed to keep the ice cream at perfect temperatures. It was mind numbing to see how much product we had to purchase for a year's worth of ice cream. We bought truck loads (literally) of crushed cookies, cookie dough, flavorings, etc. Like most building projects, however, this has gone on a lot longer than anticipated. BYU finally ran completely out of ice cream last week. That is why their center was the first to get finished. Monday they will begin to make new ice cream. I can't wait to taste their roasted almond fudge again! Anybody want to go with me to get a hot fudge ice cream sundae?

The new convenience store at the front of the building will be the last area to be inspected. I don't think that store will open for a couple-three weeks. BYU ice cream is back in business! It's been an interesting project to watch and participate in as we have placed the orders and stayed under budget.