I switched my station over to a big maple board last week at the bistro I work at in Denver, after 3 years of using plastic boards because everyone said they were safer. The knife grip is 10 times better and I haven't had a single slip or cut near my fingers since. Am I missing something about hygiene, or is the plastic board hype just a health inspector preference thing?
I followed his advice for 6 months and now all my skillets have this flaky, peeling layer that I can't get off, has anyone else dealt with that disaster?
He said it's so the knife doesn't catch on dried juice spots when you rotate ingredients, and honestly that one tip saved me about 20 minutes of frustration during last Saturday's dinner rush. Has anyone else had a rookie change how you think about something basic?
I saw three different line cooks reusing the same gloves after handling raw chicken and wiping down counters, has anyone else caught this at their spot?
I was working a busy Friday service last week and the new kid cut his finger pretty bad on a mandoline. My sous chef was all about how gloves give you that false sense of safety and you actually cut yourself more. But then the head chef said gloves are just basic sanitation and anyone who argues is stuck in the old ways. I've been doing this for 8 years and I've seen both sides. I personally go barehand when I'm dicing onions but glove up for raw chicken. What do you all do in your kitchens? Does your spot have a rule or is it more of a personal call?
So I've been cooking professionally for about 8 years now. Always did the whole 'salty like the sea' thing for pasta water. Then last month at this Italian spot in Portland, the sous chef watched me dump a fistful of salt in and just shook his head. He pulled me aside and had me taste the water after a normal amount. Then he had me taste it at what I usually did. I mean, I always thought more salt = better flavor right? But he explained that if the water is too salty, the pasta absorbs that salt and then your sauce just tastes like salt no matter what you do. Realized I had been screwing up my cacio e pepe for like 2 years because the pasta itself was already salted to hell before it even hit the cheese. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple adjustment made a huge difference?
Had a $9 chuck roast from Aldi. Threw it in the bath at 135F for 36 hours. Seared it hard in cast iron. Family couldn't tell the difference from a ribeye. What's the longest you've gone with a tough cut?
I was saving up for a good knife for months, finally bought this Japanese style blade for around $80. First two days it sliced perfect, felt great in my hand. Then I was chopping a butternut squash and a tiny chip flew out of the edge. Now I'm out the money and back to using my old beater knife. Anyone else have a knife that just couldn't handle real kitchen work?
I was at a workshop in Chicago last fall and the instructor kept saying Hershey's was fine for tempering. I believed her for way too long. Tried seeding method, tabling, all that. Ended up with bloomed, streaky messes every time. Finally a pastry chef at a dinner party saw me struggling and showed me his trick with a marble slab and a heat gun. Took him 5 minutes flat. I had wasted half a year on bad advice and bad chocolate. Anyone else had a mentor shortcut that saved you months of frustration?
I've been cooking for 8 years and never thought I'd hit 500 covers by myself on a random Friday night. The ticket machine just kept printing, and by 8pm I had 30 tickets hanging. My expo station looked like a war zone with half the tickets I couldn't even read anymore. How do you guys handle those nights where the volume just keeps going up and there's no backup? Any tricks for not losing your mind when it gets that crazy?
I used to set up my cold prep line first every morning, chopping veg in advance. Now I start with hot holding and build saute mise first, then chop for cold station after service starts. Changed about 8 months ago when I realized I was wasting 45 minutes prepping stuff that sat in the cooler while the hot line was scrambling during lunch rush. My old way felt organized but the new way cut ticket times by maybe 30%. Anyone else shift their morning routine and notice a difference in speed?
I always half-assed my prep thinking I could wing it on the line, but after that rush I saw how every missing pinch of salt and untrimmed herb cost me seconds I didn't have, so what's your go-to mise item that saves your ass mid-service?
I used to take at least 20 minutes just to get my mise en place sorted for a Friday dinner rush. Last night I had everything laid out and ready in 8 minutes flat. The difference was finally ditching the sheet tray system and using 6-inch hotel pans for everything. Anybody else find a weird container swap that saved your setup time?
I run the line at a busy spot in Orlando and we just did 10,042 covers last month. That's about 340 a day for our 130 seat restaurant. I thought I knew what busy was but this was a whole different beast. My sous and I were doing 14 hour shifts for 3 weeks straight just to keep up with prep and service. My feet still hurt and I think my knife hand is permanently cramped. Has anyone else hit a crazy milestone like this and had to change how they run their station because of it?
I worked a brunch shift in Austin last Sunday and our backup chef showed up 45 minutes late. The whole system is supposed to save us when someone calls in sick, but it just left me juggling two stations while waiting on them. On one hand, having that extra person means we don't shut down unexpectedly. On the other hand, the unreliability and extra prep work for a maybe-person feels like a waste. Does anyone else find backup chefs just create more chaos than they solve?
I used to go through cheap spatulas every few months, they'd bend or the handle would get loose. This one from a restaurant supply place is thinner and flexible, it slides under stuff without breaking delicate fish or over-easy eggs. Has anyone else found one kitchen tool that was worth the upgrade?
Worked at this farm-to-table place in Asheville back in 2018. I was real proud of my demi-glace, spent hours on it. One night a new line cook named Marcus just said "man, this tastes like you boiled the flavor out of it." Stung like hell but he was right. I was reducing everything way too long trying to get that deep color. Now I stop the second it coats a spoon and the meatiness is way better. Any other cooks here have a junior staff member call them out on something that actually improved their food?
Last Saturday night during a 50-cover rush at The Rusty Spoon in Austin, my flat top just erupted into flames. I had been skipping the nightly scrape-down for 3 days and the carbon build up was insane. Had to shut down the line for 10 minutes while I hit it with a fire extinguisher. Has anyone else learned this lesson the hard way or am I just the dummy on the block?
Was reading a farmers market newsletter last week and they said 70% of grocery store garlic has started sprouting by the time it hits the shelf. I always thought that green center just meant it was old, but apparently it changes the flavor way more than I realized. Anyone else start checking their bulbs closer after hearing something like that?
Busiest night of the week. 40 covers on the books. Pureeing a butternut squash soup when the motor just made this grinding noise and stopped. Dead. $60 blender. Six months old. Had to finish the soup with a hand whisk and a lot of elbow grease. Took me 15 extra minutes and the soup came out lumpy. What's a decent brand that actually lasts more than a season?
Found out my protein waste was running at 18% which means I've been throwing away around $900 a month just in trim and over-portioning, anyone else run a deep dive on their numbers recently?
I was grabbing takeout from a new spot downtown last week and heard one of the line cooks telling a server he thinks mise en place is just for people who can't work fast. I stood there for a second thinking about it. Like yeah, I get the idea of being fast on the fly but without prepped stuff ready to go my station would be a disaster in 5 minutes. Has anyone else ever worked with a cook who skips the prep and actually makes it work?
I bought one of those expensive stainless steel mandolines with the super sharp blades last month. Figured it would save me time on prep, you know, for uniform veg cuts. But the guard slipped on my third onion and I sliced right into my thumb, bad enough to need three stitches at urgent care. I swear I was being careful too, has anyone else had a scary close call with a slicer like that?
Last Saturday during service, one of my new line cooks mentioned 'you start your prep backwards from the plating time.' It hit me like a brick. I always just worked in order of what needed to be done first, but I never really thought about counting backwards from when food hits the window. Now I map out my whole morning prep based on that and I'm finishing 20 minutes earlier every shift. Anyone else have a simple rethink that fixed a big workflow problem?