Category: Events

Yes, that’s a monster donut being hoisted around by a crane… There are some things in life one never expects to do, and one of them is making a giant donut for a TV show for Food Network. This is the story of how I ended up doing exactly that. (Television, as I’ve written before , is a very, very weird place.)

Last fall, while on book tour for my book Cooking for Geeks , I received a call from a casting agent who was looking for a “food science geek” for “a network that deals with food” (*cough* Food Network *cough*). They were creating a show about two chefs who get into crazy bets with each other and calling it Monster Kitchen. Upon accepting the challenge, each chef would head back to their respective kitchens and, with the help of a pastry chef and a food geek, attempt to pull off the challenge.

It’s a fun spin on a reality TV competition with the potential of getting a MythBusters / Food Detectives-like angle on what’s happening scientifically. The exciting bit for me is to get people to think scientifically in the kitchen. Not sure how to make a giant donut? Break it down: can you make a one foot donut? What works at that scale, and what fails?

Continue reading How I Made a 500 Pound Donut for Food Network