As the Navy looks toward extending endurance aboard vessels in contested logistics environments, sailors who've served on any ship or submarine know the options available on the mess deck can depend on the ingredients and equipment available.
If a ship is sailing in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean, for example, it might not have many options to stop for replenishment.
With those restrictions in mind, a lab in Natick, Massachusetts, tests recipes and evaluates commercial kitchen equipment specifically for naval vessel galleys to help make life easier for culinary specialists and to give more options to sailors on board.
The lab is part of the Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center's Combat Feeding Division. It has two Navy project officers who spend their days researching and developing new recipes and equipment for the Navy Standard Core Menu.
"Those are developed specifically with the equipment that's actually on board a ship in mind, and the limited ingredients they have," explained project officer Rick Watts, who was a Navy cook for 26 years. "The Navy uses … a very small list of actual ingredients that they can procure and bring on board the ship."
Because of these logistical restrictions, the Navy menu differs from the Armed Forces Recipe Service, which does most of the recipe development for War Department personnel and dining facilities.
The Navy is focused on finding options that can help ships remain at sea longer without needing replenishment. For example, project officers have been creating recipes using freeze-dried products such as ground beef, chicken and sausage that have a 25-year shelf life. They can be stored anywhere on the ship, opening up freezer space for other items and, therefore, keeping ships at sea longer.
"It's not necessarily new technology, but it's new-to-the-Navy technology," said Watts, who added they've demonstrated how to use the freeze-dried items in dishes for several ships now.
Automated Innovations Freeing Up Time for Other Tasks
Finding acceptable equipment can be a challenge of its own due to power requirements, water requirements and sheer size — whether it will fit through a submarine hatch, for example. To adjust for those needs, Watts and his colleague often look toward commercial off-the-shelf appliances and tools that are going to overcome three obstacles: personnel shortages, obsolete equipment and lack of training.
"The first thing we look at is what's already existing and how we can make it better," Watts said. He explained that they're currently experimenting with a fully automated cleaning system to attach to ice cream machines already on aircraft carriers, cutting the time and personnel required to manually clean each machine.
They're also testing a flavor-injection system attachment that can create combinations for seafaring ice cream lovers.
"It's a more fun one, less functional, but it's all about crew morale once you get on board the ship," Watts said.
Another new innovation they're testing is the Breadbot, an automated, industrial-scale breadmaker to be used on large ships that have to feed thousands of sailors. Watts said the technology could cut down on the time and hands needed for large-scale production.
"This machine can make up to 10 loaves an hour. So, we figure in a 23-hour day, with an hour to clean, we could probably pump out 230 loaves," he said. "All you need is one sailor at a point to load in one of four flavored mixes, and then at some point, empty out the cabinet. Other than that, the machine is going to do everything."
A third item that's been tested and is going through the long process of getting approval for implementation is a space-saving, efficiency-promoting, preprogrammed tilt skillet that also serves as a pasta cooker, a deep fryer and a grill.
"If I wanted to boil pasta, I come into the preprogrammed pasta setting, and now it's automatically filling, automatically heating," Watts explained while demonstrating the machine. "Once the water is fully filled and boiling, it'll set an alarm to tell me to load product. [When] I hit the checkmark, this is going to automatically lower, completely cook the pasta, raise it up, and then it'll alarm again. I don't have to have a sailor standing over this and watching it."
Even the smallest innovation can cut time and effort, allowing sailors to focus on more important assignments. At the Natick Navy lab, their work is focused on streamlining daily culinary tasks and making better meals for crew members.