Betty Crocker Kitchens

The Betty Crocker Kitchens are part of the test kitchens at the world headquarters of General Mills in Golden Valley, Minnesota. The Betty Crocker Kitchens were remodeled in 2003 and the facility contains 19 individual kitchens.[1] They are modeled after and equipped like a kitchen you would find in someone's home since the products and recipes tested are intended for home use.[2] Majory Child Husted, an economist hired by the Washburn-Crosby company, was not only a key player in developing the persona of Betty Crocker but also recognized the subtle difference in how home cooks measured and approached recipes compared to how these recipes were made in the test kitchens. Based on her cooking instruction experience, Hustad felt that Betty Crocker's recipes need to be reliable and fool-proof for the home cook. She passed her observations on to the company's research department.[2]

History

Originally, the test kitchens were used as a testing grounds for the Gold Medal flour produced by the then Washburn-Crosby company (later to become General Mills). The test kitchens became formally known as the “Betty Crocker Kitchens” in 1946. In 1958, seven new kitchens were built in the General Mills headquarters in Golden Valley, MN.[3]

The 1950 edition of Betty Crocker's Picture Cookbook introduction contains the evolution of the kitchen in general and discusses the testing done to create the cookbook. For example, they tested Gold Medal flour from mills across the country in the recipes to assure success for the baker at home and to help “anyone appreciate the care and thought and science which is back of [the] products”.[4] This indicates the “careful testing and checking, experimenting and planning” that occurs in the Betty Crocker test kitchens.[4]

References
  1. "General Mills: History of Innovation: The History of Betty Crocker". General Mills.
  2. Shapiro, Laura (2004). "And here she is...your Betty Crocker!". American Scholar. 73 (2): 87–99.
  3. "Betty Crocker Kitchens".
  4. Crocker, Betty (1950). Betty Crocker's picture cook book. New York: McGraw-Hill. pp. 463.


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