diff --git a/extensions/kafka/src/main/java/io/deephaven/kafka/KafkaTools.java b/extensions/kafka/src/main/java/io/deephaven/kafka/KafkaTools.java
index e51f44251d6..34cee93c488 100644
--- a/extensions/kafka/src/main/java/io/deephaven/kafka/KafkaTools.java
+++ b/extensions/kafka/src/main/java/io/deephaven/kafka/KafkaTools.java
@@ -1218,33 +1218,30 @@ public Function<TopicPartition, KafkaRecordConsumer> visit(@NotNull final PerPar
     }
 
     /**
-     * Consume from Kafka to {@link StreamConsumer stream consumers} supplied by {@code streamConsumerRegistrar}.
-     *
-     * @param kafkaProperties Properties to configure this table and also to be passed to create the KafkaConsumer
-     * @param topic Kafka topic name
-     * @param partitionFilter A predicate returning true for the partitions to consume. The convenience constant
-     *        {@code ALL_PARTITIONS} is defined to facilitate requesting all partitions.
-     * @param partitionToInitialOffset A function specifying the desired initial offset for each partition consumed
-     * @param keySpec Conversion specification for Kafka record keys
-     * @param valueSpec Conversion specification for Kafka record values
-     * @param streamConsumerRegistrarProvider A provider for a function to
-     *        {@link StreamPublisher#register(StreamConsumer) register} {@link StreamConsumer} instances. The registered
-     *        stream consumers must accept {@link ChunkType chunk types} that correspond to
-     *        {@link StreamChunkUtils#chunkTypeForColumnIndex(TableDefinition, int)} for the supplied
-     *        {@link TableDefinition}. See {@link StreamConsumerRegistrarProvider#single(SingleConsumerRegistrar)
-     *        single} and {@link StreamConsumerRegistrarProvider#perPartition(PerPartitionConsumerRegistrar)
-     *        per-partition}.
-     * @param consumerLoopCallback callback to inject logic into the ingester's consumer loop
+     * Basic holder structure used to pass multiple objects back to a calling method.
      */
-    public static void consume(
+    private static class ConsumeStruct {
+        final TableDefinition tableDefinition;
+        final KafkaStreamPublisher.Parameters publisherParameters;
+        final Deserializer<?> keyDeser;
+        final Deserializer<?> valueDeser;
+
+        private ConsumeStruct(
+                @NotNull final TableDefinition tableDefinition,
+                @NotNull final KafkaStreamPublisher.Parameters publisherParameters,
+                @NotNull final Deserializer<?> keyDeser,
+                @NotNull final Deserializer<?> valueDeser) {
+            this.tableDefinition = tableDefinition;
+            this.publisherParameters = publisherParameters;
+            this.keyDeser = keyDeser;
+            this.valueDeser = valueDeser;
+        }
+    }
+
+    private static ConsumeStruct getConsumeStruct(
             @NotNull final Properties kafkaProperties,
-            @NotNull final String topic,
-            @NotNull final IntPredicate partitionFilter,
-            @NotNull final InitialOffsetLookup partitionToInitialOffset,
             @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec keySpec,
-            @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec valueSpec,
-            @NotNull final StreamConsumerRegistrarProvider streamConsumerRegistrarProvider,
-            @Nullable final ConsumerLoopCallback consumerLoopCallback) {
+            @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec valueSpec) {
         if (Consume.isIgnore(keySpec) && Consume.isIgnore(valueSpec)) {
             throw new IllegalArgumentException(
                     "can't ignore both key and value: keySpec and valueSpec can't both be ignore specs");
@@ -1297,12 +1294,64 @@ public static void consume(
                     .setValueToChunkObjectMapper(valueIngestData.toObjectChunkMapper);
         }
 
-        final KafkaStreamPublisher.Parameters publisherParameters = publisherParametersBuilder.build();
+        return new ConsumeStruct(tableDefinition, publisherParametersBuilder.build(), keyDeser, valueDeser);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Construct a {@link TableDefinition} based on the input Properties and {@link Consume.KeyOrValueSpec} parameters.
+     * Given the same input Properties and Consume.KeyOrValueSpec parameters, the returned TableDefinition is the same
+     * as the TableDefinition of the table produced by
+     * {@link #consumeToTable(Properties, String, IntPredicate, IntToLongFunction, Consume.KeyOrValueSpec, Consume.KeyOrValueSpec, TableType)}
+     *
+     * @param kafkaProperties Properties to configure this table
+     * @param keySpec Conversion specification for Kafka record keys
+     * @param valueSpec Conversion specification for Kafka record values
+     * @return A TableDefinition derived from the input Properties and KeyOrValueSpec instances
+     */
+    @SuppressWarnings("unused")
+    public static TableDefinition getTableDefinition(
+            @NotNull final Properties kafkaProperties,
+            @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec keySpec,
+            @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec valueSpec) {
+        return getConsumeStruct(kafkaProperties, keySpec, valueSpec).tableDefinition;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Consume from Kafka to {@link StreamConsumer stream consumers} supplied by {@code streamConsumerRegistrar}.
+     *
+     * @param kafkaProperties Properties to configure this table and also to be passed to create the KafkaConsumer
+     * @param topic Kafka topic name
+     * @param partitionFilter A predicate returning true for the partitions to consume. The convenience constant
+     *        {@code ALL_PARTITIONS} is defined to facilitate requesting all partitions.
+     * @param partitionToInitialOffset A function specifying the desired initial offset for each partition consumed
+     * @param keySpec Conversion specification for Kafka record keys
+     * @param valueSpec Conversion specification for Kafka record values
+     * @param streamConsumerRegistrarProvider A provider for a function to
+     *        {@link StreamPublisher#register(StreamConsumer) register} {@link StreamConsumer} instances. The registered
+     *        stream consumers must accept {@link ChunkType chunk types} that correspond to
+     *        {@link StreamChunkUtils#chunkTypeForColumnIndex(TableDefinition, int)} for the supplied
+     *        {@link TableDefinition}. See {@link StreamConsumerRegistrarProvider#single(SingleConsumerRegistrar)
+     *        single} and {@link StreamConsumerRegistrarProvider#perPartition(PerPartitionConsumerRegistrar)
+     *        per-partition}.
+     * @param consumerLoopCallback callback to inject logic into the ingester's consumer loop
+     */
+    public static void consume(
+            @NotNull final Properties kafkaProperties,
+            @NotNull final String topic,
+            @NotNull final IntPredicate partitionFilter,
+            @NotNull final InitialOffsetLookup partitionToInitialOffset,
+            @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec keySpec,
+            @NotNull final Consume.KeyOrValueSpec valueSpec,
+            @NotNull final StreamConsumerRegistrarProvider streamConsumerRegistrarProvider,
+            @Nullable final ConsumerLoopCallback consumerLoopCallback) {
+        final ConsumeStruct consumeStruct = getConsumeStruct(kafkaProperties, keySpec, valueSpec);
+
         final MutableObject<KafkaIngester> kafkaIngesterHolder = new MutableObject<>();
 
         final Function<TopicPartition, KafkaRecordConsumer> kafkaRecordConsumerFactory =
                 streamConsumerRegistrarProvider.walk(
-                        new KafkaRecordConsumerFactoryCreator(publisherParameters, kafkaIngesterHolder::getValue));
+                        new KafkaRecordConsumerFactoryCreator(consumeStruct.publisherParameters,
+                                kafkaIngesterHolder::getValue));
 
         final KafkaIngester ingester = new KafkaIngester(
                 log,
@@ -1311,8 +1360,8 @@ public static void consume(
                 partitionFilter,
                 kafkaRecordConsumerFactory,
                 partitionToInitialOffset,
-                keyDeser,
-                valueDeser,
+                consumeStruct.keyDeser,
+                consumeStruct.valueDeser,
                 consumerLoopCallback);
         kafkaIngesterHolder.setValue(ingester);
         ingester.start();