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Flat top griddle caught fire mid-service because I got lazy with the deep clean
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?
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nancyn6921d ago
Nah, respectfully you're the dummy here. A 3 day build up on a flat top is asking for trouble, especially during a rush. Gotta stay on top of that nightly scrape or you're just gambling with the health of your line and your customers' safety.
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the_elliot20d agoMost Upvoted
I worked a place where the GM literally said "the black on the flat top is flavor" and nobody got sick for the whole 18 months I was there. Not saying that's right, but the fear mongering about a few days of carbon is overblown compared to how often I see dirty towels sitting in sanitizer buckets that should have been changed an hour ago. How many times have you personally checked the temp of your prep station's cold wells this week though? Cause I can tell you from experience that a 45 degree walk-in is gonna do way more damage to customers than burnt on seasoning on a griddle.
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Bullshit honestly. @nancyn69 acting like they never cut a corner once. Three days of buildup is rookie numbers some lines I worked went two weeks before a deep clean. The fire extinguisher thing is a rite of passage not a failure. Every seasoned cook has had a flare up at least once. The real lesson here is keep a lid nearby for oxygen control not obsess over scraping every damn night.
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