Speaking of Microsoft, in addition to the well-known systems and various software, as well as the recent ups and downs of Blizzard acquisitions, there is another place that is not low-profile - the kitchen.
The cafeteria in the Redmond campus of Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle is the envy of many Microsoft employees.
A few years ago, Microsoft began a renovation of its Seattle headquarters to make it a natural, open, and smart community space, and the canteen will naturally be renovated.
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However, it will not only have a new environment, but also a "new era kitchen" - a pure electric kitchen.
Environmental protection, reducing carbon emissions... It is an indispensable keyword for many large companies today, and Microsoft is no exception. "Hot" kitchens, especially those that feed nearly 50,000 employees, are also high fuel consumption.
About 80% of cooking equipment in Microsoft's kitchens depend on gas, so there are also large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions. In order to reduce carbon emissions, Microsoft hopes to phase out fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy, and kitchens that use fossil fuels heavily have become the "focus" of energy reform.
▲ Image from: Microsoft
Microsoft partnered with Jade Range, a manufacturer of commercial kitchen equipment, to develop a "no-fire wok." This is actually a new type of wok-induction cooker combination, called "induction wok".
Cooking is the art of fire. Food born from a wok is always inseparable from the cooking oil of the fire. In the pot on the flame, the ingredients emit a delicious aroma in the heat, the seasoning and the chef's constant stir-frying, and the caramelized aroma created by the high temperature is always fascinating.
However, a common induction cooker is usually a flat bottom that needs to be sensed to the bottom of the pot to heat, but the action of stir-frying the pot will always separate the bottom of the pot from the bottom of the stove.
▲ Image from: Microsoft
To this end, Microsoft has developed an "induction frying pan" in cooperation with Jade Range, and the bottom is not a common horizontal surface, but has a certain curvature, so as to meet the needs of chefs when cooking. After comparing the gas wok and the "induction wok", the effect of the two is comparable.
▲ Image from: Microsoft
With new equipment and cooking methods, chefs also face new challenges. After all, in the past, chefs used to cook on a flame, and the time and skill required for cooking the same food in the "induction wok" was never the same as before.
▲ Image from: Microsoft
Microsoft is currently in the "Beta" of the first phase of the transition to an all-electric kitchen, with 400 electric kitchen equipment in a 13,000-square-foot green building. Here, products, processes and menu items are tested, and 1,000 meals can be prepared daily, covering 9 different cuisines.
In the new kitchen, there will not only be new "induction woks", but also grills, pizza ovens, etc. The area will then expand to more than 77,000 square feet and more than 10,000 meals per day by the time of a full expansion in 2023.
▲ Image from: Microsoft
It is worth mentioning that Microsoft headquarters can achieve the goal of reducing carbon emissions thanks to a huge geothermal system. The Thermal Energy Centre is the hub of a new energy system that supplies electricity to the headquarters almost exclusively through the electricity provided by the geothermal energy exchange.
The center will house dozens of 65-foot-tall thermal energy storage tanks heated by hundreds of geothermal wells drilled 550 feet underground. Through a heat pump system, coolers, and a 220-mile piping system, the thermal center will use constant temperatures deep within the Earth's surface to heat and cool it down when the new office building opens in 2023.
▲ Image from: Microsoft
The system eliminates the need for traditional natural gas boilers and electric coolers and is estimated to reduce electricity use by 50 percent. In 2020, Microsoft has set a goal of achieving negative carbon emissions by 2030, and already has a kitchen that reduces carbon, and it seems that this goal is not so far away.