Worst Culinary Short Cuts

[Karri]

That chicken lamb thing is a nightmare. But also on a sidenote one becomes desensitized the longer you work and the more you see. Cockroaches in blanching water, etc.

[Snadra]

Worst sins I've seen were raw meat in the deep fryer, and--get this, dumping a flat of whole, shell eggs in the Hobart, put the paddle in, let 'er rip for a minute or two, then strain through a chnoise to gt "liquid eggs" for the B'fst buffet.

Lollol, that's kinda how the real shelling machines work. I've seen em demoed at restaurant conventions. They look kinda like upright washers. You dump in a whole cube of shell eggs. Let er rip. Liquid eggs come out of the spigot into your bucket. The busted up shells are retained in the drum for you to empty.

Yeah, seriously, it may be lazy but it also sounds smart. What's wrong with this?

Nothing inherently, but I recall an incident of food poisoning some years ago invoving the Egg King and a cook who didn't wash his hands before handling the eggs, and this presumes the shells are clean to begin with.

Liquid eggs from a HACCP-accredited facility are one thing, but I would have fits if I saw that happening here - it only flies if the eggs are washed, which doesn't happen in every country. I open the carton at the supermarket not only to check for broken eggs, but also for very dirty ones, because I prefer my scrambled eggs without a poop garnish.

[Snadra]

That chicken lamb thing is a nightmare. But also on a sidenote one becomes desensitized the longer you work and the more you see. Cockroaches in blanching water, etc.

Cockroach in the ice cream...and the kitchen hand was going to dish out around it because he couldn't be asked going to the other freezer to get a fresh bucket.

[Karri]

Aye, but that was off-topic. I've seen demi-glace made in an instant with aromat, soy sauce and bovril. I've seen a creme brulee from start to finish in one minute. It involved natural yoghurt, vanilla essence and eggs done in a micro. Quite impressive actually.

To me the most disgraceful are the chefs who cook with powders of stock or sauce. The central kitchen that serves 600 meals per night are making roux from powder... Really, you don't have time to fry flour and butter?

I'm working in a 5* hotel.

Edit: le spell cheque

Edited December 15, 2011 by Karri (log)

[Shamanjoe]

I think I'm going to have to forget this entire thread before I can go out to eat again..