ChefHangout is a genius use of Google+ Hangouts and could actually make money

Can the technology support hundreds of viewers? Can you moderate people piping up with questions so it doesn't get out of control?

If so, celeb chefs even just in Australia could rake in money using this. Cooking reality shows (MasterChef, Kitchen Rules) are very popular and the chefs are often household names. I am not one for mainstream television, but the Friday night Master Classes during the MasterChef season are great.

If you put one of those names like Gary or George from MasterChef (and there are a number of Australian celebrity chefs ahead of them) in a Friday night class doing 2-3 dishes for $15, you could get 1,000 signed up if not 10-30,000 with a bit of promotion.

Imagine a season pass with a chef doing Friday night dishes. Tune in when you can or have access to archives if you're otherwise occupied. Suddenly the market for cooking classes booms.

I've done in-person cooking classes here in Australia and also in Turkey and could see myself trying out on-line streams.

Further than cooking classes, imagine name musicians teaching signature tips and tricks with a guitar or effects. Imagine Trent Reznor, or Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, doing live Friday evening jam sessions to viewers. They set up the camera, open a bottle of wine, and start mucking around. Moderators could enable fans to butt in at the right times to suggest a style or ask a question. "Hey, can you drop-D and stuff around for a bit - would love to see what you create!" Make it affordable at $10-15 and you could get hordes.

In each case, do special/limited shows for $80+ with more access to interact and get personal feedback.

Could it work? I'd love to build it.

It's clever, and I hope it succeeds, but:

This site could also be a great way for chefs to get the word out about their respective restaurants and book ventures

... well, for generating awareness of a restaurant or a book, isn't a simple broadcast video of the same content more effective?

I think this is an excellent use of the G+ technology stack.

For certain dishes or chefs, I easily see foodies and aspirational gourmands paying the price of admission.

The viability of ventures like this are very dependent on the underlying technology, but more importantly they are subject to the legal attitude of the host company - I was about to say that I would be nervous trusting my product to such a high level of vendor lock-in, but I use PaaS products as often as possible (speed kills)...

Seems interesting, but overpriced. I wouldn't pay $25 for a video conference with a chef - I'd probably just find a video on youtube of how to do it for free. That said, I think it's a cool idea, and I'd love to host my own cooking sessions if I could list it for free (not sure if you can or not, didn't see any classes that were free). It'd be a fun social interaction site, but I wouldn't pay for it directly.

This could apply to other services, like www.tangomeet.com, or others where they offer online video lessons.

Strange, I follow the instructions to apply as a chef, but when I get to the step that says click on My Account, all I see is Manage Account. If I click on that, I don't see the Application option anywhere on the page. I'm trying to help a couple of chef friends sign up.

I think this is great. My wife and I can't get out much due to the baby in the house, plus there aren't a ton of private cooking classes to be had in Wichita, KS. But we'd love to learn some more advanced techniques. We'll definitely pick out a class and give it a try!

Why do I see this expanding into other "lessons". I can completely see doing something like guitar lessons this way. Or college classes, or study groups...

Seems like they shouldn't have just focused on chefs, however could be a good market to test before opening up to other areas of interest. Great work!