How Kirk from 'Kirk's Cooking and Cocktails' turned viral success into a modern food platform

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Cooking dinner might be the last thing on your mind after coming home from a long day at work, but one Wisconsin man is trying to change that. You might've heard of 'Kirks Cooking and Cocktails' on social media. Daniela Cado sits down with the content creator who says there's truly nothing like a home-cooked meal.

"Life's hard enough, cooking doesn't have to be," said Kirk Muenzenberger. "You know, I'm not a professionally trained chef, I'm just, I'm a dad who has a full-time job that likes to have a home-cooked meal with his family."

Muenzenberger is a full-time enterprise software salesperson and part-time content creator.

"I've always been resourceful in always getting a 'yes,'" he said. "You have to find creative ways to capture the audience, you have to find ways to stay consistent."

Around May of 2020, when lockdowns were instilled during the COVID-19 pandemic, Muenzenberger started showcasing delicious, quick, and easy recipes on social media--thanks to a family friend who pushed him out of his comfort zone.

"He's like, 'hey, you should film; you're a good cook, you know, you're on social media, you can see what's going on, you should film' and I said, 'that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard,'" he explained. "I said, 'I don't think that's going to be successful at all.'"

His page, known as 'Kirks Cooking and Cocktails,' has over 380,000 followers on Instagram and about 41,000 on TikTok.

"I grew to a thousand followers really quick; I'd say about a month and a half or so, and I was like 'oh this is great! It's really trending, and I'm like, 'this is so easy...I got to two thousand maybe 18 months later," he added.

It's not as easy as it looks but consistency is key.

"You have to go same day, same time, every week," he said. "In terms of how much you can make, I mean, the sky's the limit, you go talk to creators on all these channels that are making millions of dollars a year; am I there? No, would I love to be? Of course."

Muenzenberger told CBS Sunday Morning that it's a lot of trial and error.

"What I have found is sometimes the less polished that my posts are in terms of, like, perfect lighting and things like that, they actually do better, and I don't know if it's that people identify with them more, it makes the meal and recipe look a little more approachable," he said.

Using only a tripod and his iPhone, Muenzenberger cooks while recording his recipe step by step, and edits it all himself. All of his videos tend to stay within 40 seconds in length.

"And then I had a soup in December that, I dub it 'the soup heard around the world,'" he said. "It was one of the most viral food posts on Instagram."

His loaded baked potato soup recipe hit a record 95 million views.

"With that one I got about 75 thousand followers in 48 hours," he reminisced.

The Hartland man said it's all about easy access, which is why he writes the entire recipe down in the comments section.

"Because I was doing that, I made it so easy," he told CBS 58. "Likes and comments are great but saves and shares are really what drive social media algorithms through the roof."

He also comes up with his own fun drinks to try out.

"For the 21 and older segment, cocktails are on there as well," Muenzenberger shared. "I shot a tequila sunrise mimosa in 15 minutes and I had it edited and posted within 20 of even making it, and that one blew up for 12 and half million views and it's just one that I did not think it was going to do it, it was like six ingredients."

It's about getting creative and showing off that healthy can be good.

"One thing that people don't know about my cooking is that I do everything gluten free...I don't promote gluten free because I feel like I wouldn't get as much traction because people would see that and go, 'I don't want to eat that gluten-free food,' until they've tried it."

Due to his wife's dietary restriction, Muenzenberger has modified items on the menu and in turn, has become more inclusive to others who may be looking for something delicious to make during the work week.

"There's nothing better than sitting around the table with a home-cooked meal with family," he concluded.