Disclosure certainty 4/5 debate potential 1/5

Ells: We blanch avocados and peppers in boiling water for five seconds

Steve Ells · Chipotle: Steve Ells · Oct 30, 2017 · at 39:45

Chipotle founder Steve Ells describes the food safety and sterilization protocols implemented after the 2015 E. coli crisis.

0:00 / 0:26exact quote · 26.7s
720p mp4 · rendered on demand · StarZero watermark
“And so what we do with this avocado now is after we wash it, we plunge it into boiling water for five seconds. This is called blanching. And it's not long enough to cook the avocado. But just long enough to bring the temperature of the skin and the area under the skin just high enough so that it would kill any pathogen that might be there. And we do this with lemons and limes and bell peppers and jalapeno peppers.”

quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →

More from Steve Ells

Prediction Not checkable as stated
Steve Ells: Robots will not displace restaurant cooking anytime soon
“And so the, your question, will robots displace that? I mean, maybe someday, but certainly not Not anywhere in the near future.”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 4:56 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
Disclosure
Ells: Kernel needs only three peak-period workers versus twelve at typical restaurants
“And so where a typical fast casual restaurant might have, you know, a dozen folks at peak period Colonel would have three.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 17:25 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Insight
Ells: Restaurant models reliant on large, high-turnover staffs are unsustainable
“I know for sure that continuing to operate these systems that's heavy, heavy, heavy on, on numbers of employees who turn over very frequently is not sustainable.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 34:35 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Disclosure
Steve Ells shut down both Kernel restaurants after less than a year
“So we closed down the two Kernel restaurants after less than a year spent a couple of months you know, retooling, and opened counter service”
Steve Ells Apr 9, 2026 ▶ 2:10 Advice Line with Steve Ells of Chipotle
Disclosure
Steve Ells: Kernel will offer restaurant workers stock options and full benefits
“And since we only have three people we'll be able to afford those higher wages. Plus I think our Purpose is bigger than our product. Being able to address global warming, being able to address some of the inequality with pay for folks in, in, in the world of f…”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 31:08 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Insight
Ells: Fast food wages stay low because restaurant margins cannot afford raises
“I think you see depressed wages because margins are so tight, right? It's, and I think these operators would love to pay their folks more, but the model just can't afford to do it.”
Steve Ells Nov 9, 2023 ▶ 33:19 When a robot cooks your lunch with Steve Ells of Chipotle and Kernel
Made with StarZero

Turn any episode into a week of clips.

This entire site, over 800 episodes transcribed, diarized, checked and made playable, runs on the StarZero media pipeline. Drop in your own episode and the podcast clipper finds the moments worth sharing, cuts them, captions them, and reframes them for every feed.