A Huge Lift

I was astonished: The trucker arrived exactly when he said he would.

Inside the container he brought, my 6500-pound retort pressure cooker sat on a pallet bolted to the floor with 2 inches of clearance on each side and a foot of head space.

My job was to slip it out of the container and then slide it into its permanent working spot inside, 30 feet from the entrance.

Once it is hooked up and my entire kitchen has been inspected by the USDA, I can begin making and selling 16- ounce pouches of ready-to-eat meals that don’t need a refrigerator or freezer.

I had only a few challenges.

First, I did not have a machine that can lift 6500 pounds.

Second, the right machine probably would not fit through my 80-inch-high doorway.

Third, I’m not a particularly good forklift driver.

Fortunately, Conrad is full of people who help.

A skilled forklift driver pulled the pallet out until a boom truck driver could attach straps to the retort.

The boom truck held the heavy retort in the air while the truck driver pulled away.

The retort tipped in the air.

I gasped.

Maybe I screamed.

We were so close, yet so far.

This particular retort was invented only a couple of years ago. It models retorts that have existed for many years, but this Immersaflow retort heats and cools faster – just what I need to make meals with meat and vegetables.

I ordered this model last March from a company in Louisiana.

They had it made in Spain and loaded it on a ship last November.

This will be the first Immersaflow in production in the U.S. -- as long as it didn’t crash to the ground before I could get it in place.

The boom truck driver, laughed at my gasp.

Then the competent crew lined up a forklift that could lift half of the weight in the front of the retort pallet and a skid steer that could lift the other half in the back.

The two drivers couldn’t see one another so the rest of us guided them as they matched their pace through the doorway – with 3 inches of overhead clearance -- over a couple of lips and precisely into place where a concrete wall in the basement provides added weight-bearing support.

Without even a dent in the shiny, new stainless steel Immersaflow.

Now I was cooking.

Almost.

This Immersaflow retort is the center of modern food manufacturing with a twist.

It has the capacity to cook 1500 to 6000 packages of meals each day – enough for a small company to develop new packaged convenient foods and test markets.

The consumer wins with more options at reasonable prices.

Before, small companies could dehydrate or freeze food so people didn’t need to cook from scratch, but ready-to-eat-right-out-of-the-bag meals that include meat and vegetables have been hard to find.

Large companies produce cans of salty beef stew with mushy vegetables, but small companies have not had access to a small-scale food manufacturing plant.

Until now.

My beef and lamb recipes are ready and waiting.

Meanwhile, other co-packing companies are reaching out, curious about how we might partner.

Already, a company that will package whole chicken breasts plans to use my Immersaflow as soon as I have it plumbed and inspected.

While the risk is big, the benefits are bigger.

My friend who names inanimate objects suggested the retort’s new name: Chingona.

Chingona will give women a chance to blaze new trails, offering an entry point for independent, creative, competent people to bring their culinary innovations to grocery shelves.

I can’t wait to see her in action.