Celebrity Chef Reinvents Outdoor Cooking With Fully Equipped Portable Kitchen

    VENTURA, CA, August 04, 2015 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Chef Claud Mann, Host and Co-creator of TBS's long running comedy cooking show, Dinner & a Movie, spends a lot of his time these days teaching kids about the importance of healthy food and how to cook it. When Mann wanted to buy a portable, all-in-one, outdoor kitchen to use in his school garden cooking classes, he discovered one hadn't yet been invented...so he set out to invent one himself.

Chef Mann engaged Ventura, CA designer, Gavin Studer who was tasked with somehow incorporating all the features a traveling chef desires into one small device - a "Swiss Army Knife" of cooking, so to speak. That was two years ago. This summer, Mann and Studer unveiled their "Pop Kitchen" prototype on IndieGoGo as a crowdfunding venture. The Pop Kitchen is an ultra portable culinary workstation constructed from type 304 stainless steel, featuring a stovetop, full size sink, storage and professional-grade work surfaces. When folded, the Pop Kitchen is small enough to slide in the back of a Prius, yet it opens to offer 8.45-square feet of work surface and 4-cubic feet of enclosed storage. A pressurized stainless water tank feeds the sink for off-the-grid use; the 12,000 BTU stove runs on LP gas. Future plans include a solar LED canopy, Bluetooth speaker and built-in cooler.

For their IndiegoGo campaign, the Pop Kitchen team has partnered with three Ventura County community organizations. If their funding goal is met, Pop Kitchens will be donated to Ventura County's Food Share, Food For Thought Ojai, and The Captain Planet Foundation. Future plans for humanitarian deployment include a business model whereby for every ten units sold; one kitchen is donated to a school or community group addressing garden-based learning or food insecurity issues.

Thus far, the spectrum of Pop Kitchen's IndieGoGo campaign backers reflects its wide range of potential uses. The project is being actively supported by chefs, educators, winemakers, outdoorsmen, caterers, surfers and even the founders of Patagonia outdoor equipment

Mann says, "Gavin and I believe this device can improve people's lives, encouraging them to cook and eat real food together, spend more time outdoors and live healthier lives." The Pop Kitchen: a portable kitchen designed for the great outdoors with a heart for youth education is currently funding on IndieGoGo. It will be available for retail in the Spring of 2016.

About Pop Kitchen, LLC

Pop Kitchen, LLC was founded in 2014 by celebrity chef and food literacy advocate, Claud Mann and wunderkind designer, Gavin Studer with the intention of creating lifestyle and cooking products that encourage people to cook together, spend more time outdoors and live healthier lives.

Visit Pop Kitchen's IndieGoGo campaign

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