Last Updated: May, 2026
This page explains who I am, how content gets made on BatchAndGather, what role AI plays in my workflow, and the standards I hold every recipe to. If you're going to trust me with how you feed your family, you deserve to know how the work actually gets done., Victor Eskew, Founder, BatchAndGather
Who I Am and Why That Matters
I'm Victor Eskew. I've spent more than 15 years working in professional food and beverage operations, catering vendor operations at major venues including the Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta Motor Speedway, Bristol Motor Speedway, Road Atlanta, Stone Mountain Park, Piedmont Park, Sanford Stadium at UGA, Georgia Tech football, and TomorrowWorld 2014. I served five years as catering director and two years as general manager for a regional barbecue franchise. I've also managed independent mom-and-pop cafés and restaurants where the crew was small, the budget was tight, and every plate mattered. I served as the Executive Chef's Administrative Assistant at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. I've supported a KCBS competition barbecue team and competed on one.
That experience is the foundation of everything on this site. The recipes, the systems, the techniques, the order of operations, the reasoning behind the choices, that's not researched. That's lived.
BatchAndGather exists to translate restaurant-grade operational thinking into systems home cooks can actually use. Algebra, not arithmetic. Formulas, not recipes.
How Content Gets Made
Every page on this site goes through the same workflow:
Step 1, Idea and intent. I decide what to write based on what home cooks actually search for and what gaps exist in how this material is taught. The systems, the principles, and the strategic decisions about what to teach come from me.
Step 2, Drafting with AI assistance. I use AI writing tools to help with drafting, structuring, editing, and SEO research. I dictate ideas, frameworks, and lived experience into the conversation, and the AI helps me organize and polish the language faster than I could on my own.
Step 3, Expertise overlay. Every draft gets reviewed against my professional knowledge. Ingredient ratios, technique recommendations, equipment choices, timing, food safety calls, these get verified or corrected based on what I actually know works in production. AI doesn't make those calls. I do.
Step 4, Final edit and publish. Nothing goes live without my review and approval.
How I Use AI, Full Disclosure
I use AI as a production tool. Here's what that means in practice.
What AI helps me with:
- Drafting and rewriting copy based on my dictated input and intent
- Organizing long-form content into clear structure
- SEO research and keyphrase analysis
- Editing for clarity, pacing, and consistency
- Formatting recipes for the site's recipe system
- Generating featured images and decorative photography
- Generating draft recipes for systematic categories that I then test, revise, and finalize in my own kitchen
- Building automation workflows that move content from idea to publish faster
What AI never touches:
- The systems and frameworks behind the content, the 24/48 Rule, batch protein methodology, soup-à-la-minute principle, cast iron rules, buy-vs-build framework, these are mine, drawn from professional kitchen experience
- Personal stories, family references, and claims about my professional background
- Final editorial judgment on what gets published and what doesn't
- Recommendations for equipment I haven't personally used
- Food safety guidance, that's verified against established standards, not generated
On AI imagery: Featured images and decorative photography across the site are AI-generated using Midjourney, refined in Topaz, and compressed for performance. This is a deliberate production choice that lets me invest my time in the substance of the content, the recipes, the systems, and the professional knowledge behind them. Replacement with original photography happens incrementally, tied to the recipe testing initiative below.
I'm telling you this because I'd rather you know than wonder. Trust gets built by being direct, not by hiding the workflow.
Recipe Testing Standards
Recipes on BatchAndGather fall into two categories:
Personally tested recipes. These have been cooked, eaten, and refined in my own kitchen. The amounts, timing, and technique have been verified through actual production. Tested recipes are marked accordingly on the recipe card.
Structurally adapted recipes. These are built from professional experience, recipes I know how to execute based on years of running them in catering and restaurant operations, but that I'm formally re-testing in a home-kitchen context for this site. They're accurate to the technique, but the home-cook adaptation is what's being verified.
I'm in the middle of a systematic testing initiative to personally cook every recipe in the second category at home, photograph the results, and update the recipe accordingly. This is a public commitment. As recipes complete testing, they get marked tested and the imagery gets replaced with original photography from my kitchen.
If you cook a recipe and something doesn't work the way the page says it should, tell me. That's how the system gets better.
Corrections and Updates
When I'm wrong, I fix it. When standards change, Mediavine policy, FDA food safety guidance, ingredient sourcing realities, the affected pages get updated and noted. This site is a living document, not a museum.
If you spot something inaccurate, outdated, or unclear, contact me through the form on the contact page. I read every message.
Affiliate Disclosure
BatchAndGather participates in the Amazon Associates program and may participate in other affiliate programs. When you click an affiliate link on this site and make a qualifying purchase, I earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. I only recommend equipment and products I've personally used or that meet the standards I'd apply in a professional kitchen. Affiliate revenue helps keep the free content on this site free.
For full details, see the Affiliate Disclosure page.
Contact
Questions about how content is made, corrections to specific pages, or anything else covered on this page, reach me through the Contact page.