Edward J

Alot of ink has been spilled on this subject, and there are quite a few interesting devices out there. But to keep our facts straight, the transfer sheets are silkscreened on acetate, not printed on. There are a few E-gullet-ers who have attempted this, and with good results, but with a lot of effort and experimenting. Then there's machines that "print" directly onto chocolate, but it must be printed on white chocolate and the pieces must be 100% flat and of even thickeness. Good luck!

Nicholson's Bakery eqpt. Bby side of Boundry and Gravely

Wish I could be so brave.... I DO make my ow mince meat--and sell it in my store, but it's meatless. Lots of stuff in there, and I candy my own ornjage peel, lemon peel, and cherries.

No, I did a 3 yeear apprenticeship in Luzern, Switzerland. It's true, I worked like a dog and got paid next to nothing, but on the other hand, never had any loans to pay off. Three years experience is 3 years experience. IMHO N.Ameican culianry schools tend to "front end load" knowledge without balancing out the experience end of things. Call me biased, but an apprenticeship offrs teh best of both knowledge and experience.

This is a very typical question from many students, and it needs some explaining. If you have already worked in the industry for a while, you wouldn't be asking this, as it would be very clear that the school is way overpriced. I don't mean this to sound mean spirited or snooty. School is important, and so is experience. 90% of the employers are "colour blind" when they see the name of your culinary school on a resume. For them, the true acid test is a 4 hour shift in the kitchen: Either you know your stuff or you don't. And school is no guarantee that you do. I really suggest looking at Community Colleges in your area. Next, I strongly sugggest you talk to prospective employers and ask them what they pay. Then do the math on paying back student loans of your tuiton from a C.C vs tuition from a big name school. Hope this helps

YES!!!!! That's exactly the attitude I was talking about. Use the facilities, don't spend a dime there, and take a cheap swipe at them as well (ie "such a sh*thole establishment). And then emphatically insist everyone else do the same as you Yeah, I "did" Europe too, but that was back in the 80's and back the Fench wouldn't even think about opening a Mc D's. Pay toilets all over the place in Europe, and clean too.

Like I said, you're going to have to deal with a real estate agent. You can check the MLS (multiple listing services), but in order to be on the MLS you need an agent to represent you. Many landlords claim they can "kick the existing tennant out". But then, if you think about it, that could be you in two years time as well.

Best fish scaler? Looks like a little box on a handle with a lid, bottom of the box is open and has a serrated blade. You did notice the bold and italics on "with a lid"? Funny thing about fish scales, you find them in the darndest places, and usually many days after you 've eaten the fish..........

Ther are a few pastry items that come to mind, Joconde with a stenciled pattern, chocoalte "S" meringues are hard, and have to be made a few times before I can master them. Th hardest thing cooking was with the ingredients and equipment provided to us in my stint in the Swiss Army. Morale decreed that weo make field rtions more, ah... "enjoyable". There was "Panzerbrot" (literally translated as armoured bread) which were small loaves infused with pure alcohol and vacuum packed. Apparantly the shelf life on that was great. But the main challange was an item nick named "John Wayne", an individualy canned pork stew with beans and vegetables. The sauce was, mildly put, terrible. As we were cooking for about 100 the cans were opened, dumped into a huge collander, sauce hosed off, and a new sauce made, the solid contents then re-heated with this. Many of kitchens were situated in air raid shelters and wonderfully equipped, other times we had "o" refrigeration and cooked with gasoline fueled two-burner units that needed horrendous amounts of cleaning and maintainence on a daily basis. And then doing all of that and some officer decides to call for a mock gas attack alarm, so we have to stop and do all of the gas alarm procedures. Fun times........

Technically that's very true. Money, however, comes from the buyer, not the seller..........

If you've ever removed a sliver from your hand, you can appreciate a pair of tweezers with sharp edges as opposed to a pair of round ended pliars......

Ummmm.... Be carefull what you ask for, or you just might get what you want.... Now, if you wanted a crapped out restaurant for a catering or production kitchen, that's another story. And like all the others said, check with realators. Yes, they charge a commission, but they also give you a layer of security. Not every landlord is a saint.... The question you always have to ask yourself is: Why did the restaurant fail? 10 years ago I was in a similiar situation and must have checked out 25 clapped out places over a 6 mth period before getting the one that made the most sense. But I never wanted a'la carte, I wanted a place only for catering, and this is why it only took me 6 mths. About 50% of the time, the places fail becasue of infrastructure or permit issues. If you have diddly-squat for parking, walk away. If you can't get a liquor license, walk away. If the place needs serious infrastructure upgrades, either cut a deal with the owner or walk away. If you pay for infrastructure upgrades on a leased place, you deserve to be taken. I guess this sounds harsh, and it is. The other 50% of the time, you can fix up what was lousy: Bad food or service, chronic staffing problems, complete and utter ignorence of building and health codes, no financial backup to hold you over the critical first few years, no marketing stratedgy, and, of course, operator fatigue. Beware the used food eqpt dealer. By the time one of those boys tells you about a place, he's picked the carcass clean--I mean removed the hood and Ansul system and walk-in. And these guys don't like to make a deal on any piece of equipment unless they can make a minimum of 150% mark up. Yes, 150, not 15. Beware the indoor shopping mall, the leases are "performace driven". If you make under what they want you to make, they kick you out, over the minimum, they want a bigger slice. Why do you think every store in the mall has the same cash register? DAMHIKT..................

While XXChef has answered the question perfectly, one of the main reasons pastry people scale out ingredients (whatever the recipie) is because of consistancy. I've got a zillion recipies for sweet dough, some only differing in the ratio of flour, or the use of powdered sugar vs granulated. Each recipie is intended for specific purposes, but each recipie must be made as consistant as the last batch.

I know and have worked with guys who were professional meat cutters--guys who would do nothing other than making 3 or 4 cuts on the same primal cut for hours on end. Thier preferance was to have as highly polished knife surface as possible--minimum 8000 grit and better. Why? The more "tooth" the blade has, the more resistance it has, and for cutting meat hours on end, this translates into more effort. Also, the higher polished the edge is, the longer the edge lasts, and those guys didn't want to stop and get a fresh knife every couple of hours, they wanted the edge to last 8 hrs.

I've been using metric for almost 30 years now.... No, what I'm beefing about is "metric cups" and Metric tespoons". One of the most hilarious things is to go to CDN supermarket and buy a block of butter--which weighs exactly 454 grams (sound familiar?) and then to have little red marks on the wrapper telling you where to cut the block into 250 gr units...... Measuring by volume has many pitfalls, especially in the commerical kitchen/bakery-- which is where I have been for the last 30 years. If you're gonna use a scale for scaling out sugar, use the same scale to measure out flour, butter, nuts, honey, mollasses, and liquds like milk or booze. Far more precise, no dirty cups to wash out.

Yup, that's where I stole the idea from. Me? Id id a 3 yr apprenticeship in Luzern, Switzerland. One day a week, every week you go to school, the rest of the time you work like dog. Lot to be said for such a system, and the pay is something that you can acutally live on too. I've cousins who are plumbers, auto mechanics, even a pharmasist, who all apprenticed the same way.

IMH experience, I see grads going into fields like construction or driving a forklift in a warehouse @ $30./hr in order to pay off student loans. You gotta admit, the hospitality biz is one of the lowest paying industries..... Others find that they like the "life" and move up the ladder, many go on to positions in management in large catering outfits,(decent hours, actual benifits), into jobs as sales reps, (ditto, plus commision) and some take over a family business or start their own up. Culinary schools in N. America are all "Front end loading" types. That is, the student is crammed with knowledge, some practical experience in a school atmosphere, and given a diploma. Many get "culture shock" when they actually work a solid 3-6 mths in the field after graduating. Perhaps the schools should offer a new type of curriculum? Say, 3 mths of basic training, and a diploma. After 6-12 mths of working in the field, course ii is offered for another 3 mths of intense training. After graduating from this course, the grad has a "peg" to demand a higher wage, and after an additional 6-12 mths of working in the field, course iii is offered.

One of my favorite desserts I used to make as a kid was "stuffed apples", apples cored, stuffed with chocolate, lightly buttered, and wrapped in foil. Bake in an oven or on the Bbq

Ah pshaw.... Back in the late '90's B.C.'s then-W.C.B. (Worker's comp. Board)decided to impliment a total no-smoking ban in all restaurants. Hefty fines of $500 were put forth. Problem was, the WCB had no means to enforce this, or to enforce the fines. The solution? Why, to fine the owner of the establishment, that's what. Still in effect today too. And you thought Rodney Dangerfield got no respect?

This is a point I'd like to discuss. Compare "X" and "Y". "X" is a waiter paid minimum wage or less than that, and works an 8 hr shift on a Saturday night in a "White tablecloth" restaurant. "Y" is a cook--not a Chef, but a cook, paid in the range of $14-$20 / hr who works the same 8 hr shift in the same place. What does X take home- that night, not at the end of his pay period, how much of it is tax free, and how much does "Y" take home at the end of the pay period? North America is a truly unique place: We have no standards or qualifications for waiters, cooks, or bakers. We have had ample opportunity to do so, and have ample Hospitality Unions to do so, but...... Also there are no qualifications or standards needed to open a restaurant, other than money. Stop to think why the hospitality industry is one of the poorest paid insustries.

Not much thought went into this "law".... EVERYONE you see working in a restaurant is neccesary, and if they wren't, they wouldn't be there. Therefore, every staff member has contributed to the dining experience. Social custom demands that we tip a percentage of the entire bill, or, in an other view, the entire dining experience. Why are only the wait staff "allowed" tips? True, they work very hard, but like I said, every staff member contributes toward the entire dining experience. Heaven forbid that the owner is entitled to tips! Every owner knows fully well that once a customer knows that the person who served him is the owner, by some magical law, the owner is not entitled to tips. Most owners put in 80 to 100 hour weeks, and the business is constantly on their minds, even when they are not at work. I dunno, the cynic in me doesn't see anything in the article about paying taxes on tips.....................

Many professionals use "belt sanders" or some form of motorized abrasive to establish a new bevel on the blade. This is rapid metal removal,a.k.a "Grinding", and it doesn't matter if it is done with a belt sander, a motorized grind stone, or any othter abrasive. It should be noted that a motorized abrasive has the opportunity to overheat the metal, and this can be avoided by dipping the item in water, using water cooled stones, slow speeds, etc. I have a 1" "belt sander" at home, and use this for, you guessed it, rapid metal removal primarily for establishing new bevels, reshaping broken blades, etc. Some of the virtues of 1" belt sanders are: -The belts can be changed very quickly. -The belts come in many grits, some as fine as 2 microns (3M abrasives). -Belts are comparitevly cheap--$3-$8 as compared to much higher priced wheels or stones -A leather strop can be subsituted for a belt--which is what I have, charged with Lee Valley green honing paste -The belts don't "shrink" as 6" or 8" wheels do with use, and don't produce a "hollow grind". There's a saying that " All's fair in love and war" and for sharpeners, whatever abrasive or technique works, works.

For me, broth means seasoned liquid. It could be as simple as salted water or as complex as all get-out. Main thing is, it is ready to consume. Stock for me, anyway, means a liquid to be converted to whatever use you may need it for, hence the name, stock. For this reason salt or strong flavours are never added. For me, with meat, or without, bones only, gels when cold, etc. doesn't factor in. Salt and final seasonings do.

Yup.......... So why not a hardware store or a supermarket when ya gotta? It's the attitude: I'll go whereever I please, and if I'm in a good mood maybe I'll buy a coffee afterwards. Maybe. Problem is, I've had one too many customers say the same thing, then back out of it, or even worse, question me or my staff on the price of 18 different items, (intentionaly ignoring the prices beside each item) then walk out. Fer gawds sake if you don't want to buy anything, then either ask me for permission first, or at least throw a loonie (CDN 1$ coin) in the tip jar on your way out. Would you say that is fair?

Actually, I do more sharpening with my woodworking tools than I do with my knives..... Sharpening is a slippery slope, it's never quite "perfect". Two very basic things about sharpening in general: 1) The finer the abrasive you use, the longer your edge will last 2) Pay good attention to your bevel, improper or inconsistant bevels will lead to poor edges quickly. Generaly, very generally, you need 3 grits. An 800-1000 course stone for basic shaping, a 2000-3000 for removing the scratches from the course stone, and a 5000+ stone for final polish. I go as far as 8,000 grit, and many go higher. There are many "combination" stones with coarse/medium or medium/fine combinations.