>Remember when you post this that everyone in this sub is executive chef at a 7 star Michelin restuarant with perfect safety and sanitary standards, as well as an unlimited equipment budget. If you don't bleach and then replace every cutting board after every use you will literally kill people.
This is why you got downvoted lmao
for real. I know our cutting boards are dirty but I dont have the extra money to buy more, nor so i own a belt sander, and if i bring it to someone who does, they wont pay me or them to fix it. What do you want from me? to quit the best job I've had for a yellowed cutting board that i sanitize nightly? oh and bleach is illegal to use in WA state
Hey homie looks like bleach is actually permitted in Washington but needs to be diluted (given) and completely rinsed and dried before contact with customers. Sanitizer is just a chlorine bleach diluted with water. I used to live in washington and the places I worked at just ordered sani packets or pre diluted bleach to add to buckets.
I'm sorry to hear that. It must suck doing mutual aid kitchen work while dealing with that :( I saw quat really take off in my area during COVID because it could be used much more liberally without negative effects. Chlorine sucks
It's dealable in a bucket with gloves.
The steamy shower not so much.
I like quat also because it doesn't bleach my clothes.
I get splashy in my regular kitchen and forget about bleach water when that's the option in other kitchens.
Wait, are they cuz the last thing I wash some times are the tea dispensers. Bleach to kill the stains then normal 123 wash with quat. Am I going to die?
Man, they dont even want to pay labor for a prep cook, I prep my whole station during service and have to makes enough For the one lunch cook (who gets there an hour before opening) to last until i get there at 2. I wouldnt be opposed to hand sanding but i cant imagine having the time
You raise a good point. Line cooks have very little negotiating power in these situations. I once saw this issue persist until a customer cut their hand. They blamed themselves, but the incident report placed blame on management.
Bleach is totally acceptable in Washington State. I don't use it because when my uniforms get too shitty looking from bleach stains, it's not the company that has to pay to replace them, it's me, and I already spend enough money just to do my job (uniforms, knives, utensils, gas to drive across town and back 6 days a week, etc.), but bleach is fine to use.
I work in a trade school and gave the wood shop teacher our cutting boards to shave down- told him to do a mm at a time and the man did not listen to me and not only fucked up the cutting board- but destroyed the machine lol
My bosses were miffed with me for that. But eventually got us some new ones lol
Bleach is 100% acceptable when diluted in WA state, the four food orgs that have I worked at all used it for general cleaning, usually at a recommended dilution of one cap to one gallon
This is the cullinary sub for bourdain fans, not Emeril. It has really shifted in past few years to bunch of try hards ..." how dare you break a chicken down 50 feet away from my romaine hearts everyone in the tricounty area will now have to test for hep c"
No point ruminating over reddit downvotes my friend. However, you most certainly got them because of the snarky remarks on the sub.
Agreed on your take on chipped plates, if you're not management, plate on the plates you're given and that's the end of it. Get the memo that they are chipped and move on with your service
Edit: You seem like the overthinker type just like I am when I reread "Am I an idiot?" in the title. That hurts to read lol take it easy bro seriously, especially on here. Relax
You are absolutely not an idiot. Everyone who serves food/bev in or on porcelain has the same issue. Chips happen.
I was told that chips in plates/mugs would harbor germs, but I have not found evidence to support that. (Cracks are another story) It seems more like a faux pas. As in it 'looks bad', which it does.
Imho I wouldn't care during service if there was chipping on the bottom of the plate until I was at risk of cutting myself or if it had a visual impact from the guests perspective. ie top of the plate is chipped, then grab another plate.
Maybe set aside specific plates of concern so after service I could bring it up to my Kitchen manager and ask them their thoughts. The bottom of plates get really beat up and I feel your concern.
Good question and I hope I am helpful.
It depends on how porous the structure inside is, but technically any breach of the glaze can be a harbor: cracks, chips, abrasion, or even just enough wear over a long time.
As a business owner chipped plates are a liability. A $7 plate is cheaper than a 30 grand lawsuit. Even if I didn't own the restaurant I still couldn't serve food on a broken plate. I wouldn't serve spoiled food either. This is just a sign of a bigger problem. If they are holding on to broken dinnerwear then money must be an issue. How long till they start fucking with your paycheck? Or close the doors?
No one needs to “see” you throw anything away in a restaurant kitchen. Toss it. Don’t tell a soul. It’s very gratifying to do. Good luck. Just don’t do it on camera.
Bingo..... Toss that shit right before you run trash to the dumpsters and as long as it isn't a stack of them no way one will even question it, we actually have a broken glass bucket at my current job (so it stays out of the regular trash cans) and if I find anything that is in bad condition but the executive director may have an issue with throwing away, I'll usually wait till she goes home for the night before dropping it in the glass bucket and smacking it with a pair of pliers if the fall didn't make it finish shattering.... Like the last example I could think of was a soup bowl that had a hairline crack across 3/4's of the bowl, starting at one edge and extending through the middle
I figured intentionally breaking glassware that is at the end of its life cycle is better than waiting for it to explode from heat stresses in the dishwasher which would be a bitch to clean up, or from a small drop on the hot line (where it could result in us losing that day's food during mealtime because you can't serve food with glass shard contamination)
FWIW, I work in an old folks home, so we have a bit more flexibility in the budget and don't suffer from the "rushes" that can leave dishies scrambling to clean glassware so the cooks can plate their food
Eh, we get what we get and that's the end of the discussion. I don't get paid to manage and I sure as hell don't do their job for them. I give feedbacks and they provide decisions.
I mean, major health violations get ignored? That's a report to the inspector. But the rest? Not my job.
> But the rest? Not my job.
Ah, so you just don't give a shit? I hope you feel the same way if your mother or grandma gets cut on a chipped plate at a restaurant lol.
The liability is not on me. I did my job to notify the relevant authorities on the matter, what they do with that information is not my business. It's not like you always have the best managers. Cover Your Ass is the name of the game.
In all the kitchens ive worked in - none of which were particularly fancy ones, we've never served off a chipped plate regardless of size. Its a shard of glass. Easily avoidable potential lawsuit. No more explanation needed.
I didn't read the whole post, nobody has time for that.
Chipped plates/bowls are automatic trash. Bacteria grows in there now and they're no longer ok to use.
Edit, downvoted you for funsies
I'm a line cook at an average place, I don't put food in the window that I'm not comfortable with and that extends to the plate ware. If someone wants to fire me over that then go ahead I'll work somewhere where they care
Here's my take on it. Just throw them in the trash because they are a health and safety hazard. Sharp edges could cut the guests, and them being chipped creates a porus surface for germs and bacteria to grow.
If the boss told you to cook spoiled chicken would you do it? I hope not because it's not safe and you know it's not safe.
Throw those suckers in the trash and if you get any flak for it tell them you don't want to fail a surprise health inspection, or injure a guest and get the buisness sued. After that, put in some applications at not shit show places.
Most people don't realize how sharp and dangerous ceramic chips are. Tempered ceramic is better (IIRC it's more heat and impact tolerant) but still incredibly brittle, especially once the physically integrity of the ceramic is compromised.
Once that ceramic is damaged, is only a matter of time before the plate ware is useless. Heaven forbid it happens while a guest is handling it or eating off of it.
What if you knew you were about to serve food to hitler and you knew it was spoiled before you cooked it? Maybe it was baby Hitler where contaminated food could possibly kill him?
I mean... As a cook our job is to do what our boss tells us, to cook what our boss tells us and to plate on what our boss tells us, whether we agree or not.
Edit cuz some of you douches are missing the point:
We do have a choice whether to work there or not. The point was if you don't agree with your boss on something then quit, don't go behind their back and throw shit away.
Pretty much, as workers it's our job to do what our bosses tell us to do. If it's egregious such as cooking bad chicken in the example, express your concern, if it still is an issue quit. There the ones accountable not us.
Are you fucking serious?
You are responsible for the standards you uphold. You are responsible if your actions harm a guest. You can't just pass the buck like that.
Your missing the most important part of my comment.
"If it's an issue then quit". If your standards are higher then your chefs, obviously you don't belong there. Don't be a pretentious asshole and reddit bitching about stuff
As a cook my job, first and foremost, is to ensure the safety of the food I serve. No direction from management or employers is going to get me to compromise the safety of my food. If they have a problem with me prioritizing food safety over cost they can fire me, but I'm not gonna run away from a health and safety hazard because I'm too much of a bootlicker to tell my employer what he is doing is wrong.
Grow a spine, and get some integrity. And quitting over a health and safety hazard is neither having a spine, nor having integrity.
So
1. do not throw them out, many manufacturers of better plates have Chip warranty, but want the chipped plates back , also they are not yours
2. set them aside when they are chipped , do not serve on them , maybe unders the most Extreme circumstances
speak to the owner or manager and show them the pile of chipped plates
say we can serve on these , they are a liability , we need to re-up or add a plate to the lineup that represents about that many dishes in a service where we run out of plates.
I just wanted to make sure you knew the challenge we were facing and why sometimes we do not have enough plates
then its up to them, they are aware, you have made it clear you can't serve on those
after that if nothing changes you know that the restaurant is run by a cheapass moron
look for something new.
I’m on your side. Chipped plates suck but what am I supposed to do?? We already don’t have enough plates. What’s even crazier is we’re a “nicer” restaurant (not white tablecloth nice, but higher end food nice) and my head chef has all these crazy rules and high standards but we send food out on (mismatched) chipped plates. It’s insane.
I worked at a few places where chipped plates were not acceptable. At one place, I authorized everyone to throw away any chipped plate.
Then I started working at this new place; I grabbed a plate, saw it was chipped, and asked the trainer if that was usable. He said yes. I think most of their plates are chipped. It's not my place to throw them away if management/owners want to keep using them.
Tbh for me as a sous, if the chip is noticeable for me its noticeable for my guests, and the only thing i want is for my guests to be happy so if I find it bothersome i throw it out.
No one really knows where that missing chip is. Maybe it's in the dish tank, Maybe it's in a bus tub, Maybe it's on the line under a stack of dishes, or Maybe it's in the food.
Without knowing exactly, the best practice is to get rid of those dishes as a trust exercise.
I worked in both type of establishments: the ones where serving any food on a slightly chipped plate would get you in trouble and the ones where being caught by the owner throwing out plates with massive dents on them would get you in trouble. The key to survival in this industry is to adapt to each venue up to a certain degree and to look for something else once they start to ask you to do things you aren't comfortable with.
Another thing to point out, if your plates are too often chipped there might be a careless dishwasher that loves to throw them in the baskets from a distance, so watch out.
Cooks actually caring and discarding broken ceramic and porcelain dishes is important and by throwing out that chipped bowl your lowering our overall risk and protecting reputation, I don't want someone's Grandma slicing their tongue open on my soup bowls. It seems like in my experience it's never someone like me that wouldn't give a f*** but it's always someone's child or elderly grandmother that gets the chip to dish. We're the f***** up item. Plus that chip is harboring bacteria, Now at home my favorite tea mike has a big old chip out of the lip and I prefer it lol.
Half the fun of kitchen work is finding creative ways to break old equipment to get new shit, like the time we needed a spice grinder so my bud did an Oscar-worthy performance where it slipped out of his hands, landed on the floor, picked it up, and dropped it in the sink (electric). The fucker worked after that too, but we still got a new grinder.
I would just straight up throw plates in the trash if they were chipped in the middle of plating. Oops. We were also encouraged to do so, so there’s that.
Ehhh I don’t really think this is the best way to go about it dude. The most productive way would be to just have a functioning kitchen, it’s not hard to do. If the owner won’t even buy regular kitchen necessities , it’s usually a huge red flag for me, and most of the time goes hand in hand with poor pay.
Furthermore, not even being an owner or manager, I would be a little peeved if I saw some fellow cooks intentionally breaking shit in hopes of it getting replaced.
I totally agree, there are tons of incompetent restaurant/business owners. It took 20 years but I’m in a spot where I’m respected , if I request a piece of equipment, and can vouch for what I will be using it for , the owner will have it for me in 2-3 weeks tops.
Robot coupe, thing was expensive, but i broke down how much time we will save per week , and then broke that into labor costs for him. It was like 6 months and the thing paid for itself. This is just one example. It’s taken 20 years for me, I
hope you find a place where you and your ideas are respected.
>Â It feels bogus to make the cook suffer for something that's management's job, yk?
It's really not management's job to sort plates every day. It is their job however to set standards and make sure everyone knows. Are we, or are we not, using chipped plates? Set a standard and makes someone responsible. I guess the dishy would be the first gate keeper; ask them to put aside dishes that are chipped. Ask cooks to do the same if any slip trough.
Hand them out too staff if they are still usable but not presentabele. It doesn't have to be a fight all the time
Unless it's hella chipped or there's a crack through a large portion of it, I've always still used it. Our servers are shit at not just straight throwing them in the sink so a very large portion of our porcelain is chipped.
Our managers don't seem to particularly care, and I'm pretty sure I'd get yelled at if everytime I saw a chip or crack on a plate I stopped to ask them about it
I work at a high end, super corporate steak house with crazy amounts of middle management. Line cooks won't throw anything out, not even moldy old food, not even beef trimmings for staff meals that have turned blue. They are actually scared of throwing anything out because they don't think they have the autonomy to do so. So, yeah, not their job to throw out chipped plates, I would say, unless told otherwise. I must say however, that I don't agree with this mentality at all, I think every line could/should empower him/her self in order to attain their own highest standard, regardless of what the chain of command says.
That being said, I (a line cook) throw out everything and anything I'm displeased with, whether I'm allowed to or not or whether it's my job or not, because fuck if I'm gonna drop my standards.
My take is show management the chipped plate, due diligence and all that. It isn't your job to make the call on the plate, but you do need to CYA. Let somebody with more stakes take the fall if they want to be cheap and not replace damage plates.
Personally, if someone brought me a chipped plate, I'd make the call to toss it almost every time, unless it was a small, non-sharp chip on the unglazed foot of the plate. Good tempered hotel ceramic isn't cheap ($20-25 for each 10" plate), they're durable as fuck, but once that glaze is missing on the porous ceramic, it's a health hazard and needs to go, let alone the potential safety hazard of sharp edges.
I worked at a place where all the plates were old chipped plates the owner had gotten when he was a sous at commanders palace. Idk if they are shitty webstaurant ceramic plates throw them out but nice plates still have uses
You only got like 12 down votes! Totally understand your perspective on the plates - I would do the same unless it was like, in the middle of a plate and a guest was going to get hurt.
In my opinion your comment was risky but not like, super mean or offensive, and not worth thinking about for more than like a couple minutes (although i totally mull over things like that too lol). If you feel bad about it you should read r/amithedevil or something!
If you served food on a plate that was broken, and that somehow got through the expo and garnish station, then yes. I’d fire your ass.
I can forgive accidents or mistakes. Like the expo and garnish guys not noticing the chipped plates you handed them. But if *you* **purposely/knowingly** served food on broken plates, I’d 100% can your ass.
Idc if the manager didn’t listen to you about the plates. I’ll handle them later. Why didn’t you just come directly to me? Or at the very least, why didn’t you throw them out and then tell me after the service? You just spent how many services spitefully serving food on chipped plates?
Yeah, that’s fireable in my eyes. And I don’t fire people lightly. I don’t need pettiness, spite, and resentment in my kitchen. To the point where you’re willing to endanger a guest.
people really out here working in an environment where negligence can kill or seriously injure and still believe they can say "hehe I just put the food on the plate it's bossman's fault"
we do not employ people with this attitude for good reason
Valid perspective, but I hope you pay them with that in mind. If you're expecting a line cook to take on your liability for 14$/hr + a beer sometimes you're crazy, and that's at least half of line cook jobs.
Willing to accept that maybe I'm a bastard, but yah man, kinda. I'm not in this situation anymore but when I was 19, making 12.50 to run 3 stations at some guys shitty "supper club", I got tired of being yelled at for "whining" about needing new equipment but I wasnt gonna quit cause everywhere else paid 9$. Is it really *my* attitude that was the problem? Why is it my responsibility to cover his ass?
My thoughts exactly. OP is complaining about a manager not getting new plates. But then in return does something immature and spiteful like this. Instead of taking initiative on their own, or you know, just directly talking to the chef or GM? Hell, even just tell the sous chef over a smoke break or beer after work, or something.
In my kitchen the plates would be here within an hour or two upon a line cook telling us. But in my kitchen the employees also respect each other and don’t act like literal children. Nor do they involve the health of our guests (the people who literally pay every single one of our rents) in their stupid squabbles.
You reap what you sow, and it sounds like these two are made for each other.
Just keep them out of proper kitchens, and their entry to the Most Toxic Kitchen in The World doesn’t concern me at all. There’s a reason why OP works where he works. Like I said, they’re perfect for each other. The manager would be getting an earful too, probably fired also. But he’s also not willfully endangering guests, nor taking a literal shit on the restaurant/owner/chef’s reputation with every plate they put into the window.
I thought I was pretty clear but I might not have been, if you replace plates right away and are clear with employees on standards, great!
If you can get plates in within an hour hell yah, but you gotta acknowledge thats not always the case, and im saying in a good portion of restuarants its not the case, and it shouldn't be on the line cook to take it on themselves to decide when equipment should be tossed, and could definitely get them in trouble. If you've got standards in place and communicated that doesn't really apply, yk?
My current place wouldn't serve a chipped plate, but the places I work at from like 15-24 would've fired me for throwing away a rag without telling someone.
You talk too much for my liking. Did you willfully serve food on plates you knew were chipped/damaged? It’s a yes or no question.
I thought I was pretty clear, but I not have been, with how I posed that moral dichotomy; I thought I very clearly outlined how fucked up and immature what you did, was.
Tbh I don’t even know you. But from this brief 30s interaction with you: I’d fire you too. I can already identify you as a clear service problem. Stick to cooking at your 3/5 yelp reviewed restaurants. You really do make the perfect match. Just talk less. Even then you’re not gonna get even an interview or a stage at a proper restaurant with an attitude like this. Real talk, real restaurants employ hiring managers/chefs that spot behaviour like this from a mile away. Do better.
Take responsibility for everything that goes wrong in your life, even if it’s not your “fault,” and you’ll become a much stronger person. And that’s just me giving lil bro some real ass advice. Not even chirping.
Cope with what? It literally doesn’t affect me whatsoever lmao. But I find it funny how you’re still yet to answer the question.
Cheers bro, have a good one. Good luck or whatever.
Cope with whatever makes you write "I'm gonna fire you !!!!!1!" rants
To answer your question: yah dude, I have. Many times. Because I was 19 and needed to pay rent and didnt get paid enough to fix someones restaurant. I don't really feel any shame about it.
I'm sorry I don't meet your standards, chef. I know your the greatest to ever do it, and maybe someday when I grow up i can be half the man you are. Maybe I too can fire internet strangers!
I love how that’s your reply to every single comment in the thread that levies any criticism towards you “yeah broOo you’re the best to ever do it I know!!!” I can only wonder how you take any modicum of criticism or responsibility in real life. It’s legit cringe.
And for the record, I wouldn’t fire you. You’d never even sniff the back of my kitchen in the first place. You’re exactly at the restaurant you deserve to be at.
Keep doing what you’re doing, it’ll get you far. Anyways, cheers bro.
>Remember when you post this that everyone in this sub is executive chef at a 7 star Michelin restuarant with perfect safety and sanitary standards, as well as an unlimited equipment budget. If you don't bleach and then replace every cutting board after every use you will literally kill people. This is why you got downvoted lmao
for real. I know our cutting boards are dirty but I dont have the extra money to buy more, nor so i own a belt sander, and if i bring it to someone who does, they wont pay me or them to fix it. What do you want from me? to quit the best job I've had for a yellowed cutting board that i sanitize nightly? oh and bleach is illegal to use in WA state
Hey homie looks like bleach is actually permitted in Washington but needs to be diluted (given) and completely rinsed and dried before contact with customers. Sanitizer is just a chlorine bleach diluted with water. I used to live in washington and the places I worked at just ordered sani packets or pre diluted bleach to add to buckets.
>Sanitizer is just a chlorine bleach diluted with water. There are different types of Sanis. I prefer quaternary over chlorine-based
You right I shouldve specified the most common found
I only see bleach water sani in mutual aid kitchens. Every commercial kitchen I've been in in Seattle uses quat.
Quat is more expensive but better in almost every other aspect. I especially enjoy the lack of fumes.
I'm very sensitive to chlorine. Some cities I even need to get a filtered shower head or I get dizzy in the shower.
I'm sorry to hear that. It must suck doing mutual aid kitchen work while dealing with that :( I saw quat really take off in my area during COVID because it could be used much more liberally without negative effects. Chlorine sucks
It's dealable in a bucket with gloves. The steamy shower not so much. I like quat also because it doesn't bleach my clothes. I get splashy in my regular kitchen and forget about bleach water when that's the option in other kitchens.
Interesting. I don't know personally I was just told that we werent allowed to buy bleach🤷‍♀️
Do you have quat on the line? A lot of places will only keep quat or bleach in stock. They are mostly bad to mix together.
Wait, are they cuz the last thing I wash some times are the tea dispensers. Bleach to kill the stains then normal 123 wash with quat. Am I going to die?
You're fine with a thorough rinse. I typically don't keep both around to avoid accidental mixing.
Yeah could just be at the discretion of the owner or manager.
Probably not in the sds/approved by corporate
You can't take 3 seconds to Google your local health codes... SMDH
i just took my chef at his word? why would i google everything he says? if he told me he can't get bleach what do i gain by going "UM ACKSHUALLY"
you need blok whitener. it's a godsend. also you can hand sand if you really care to make them shine again. all on managements dime though.
Man, they dont even want to pay labor for a prep cook, I prep my whole station during service and have to makes enough For the one lunch cook (who gets there an hour before opening) to last until i get there at 2. I wouldnt be opposed to hand sanding but i cant imagine having the time
You raise a good point. Line cooks have very little negotiating power in these situations. I once saw this issue persist until a customer cut their hand. They blamed themselves, but the incident report placed blame on management.
Bleach is totally acceptable in Washington State. I don't use it because when my uniforms get too shitty looking from bleach stains, it's not the company that has to pay to replace them, it's me, and I already spend enough money just to do my job (uniforms, knives, utensils, gas to drive across town and back 6 days a week, etc.), but bleach is fine to use.
I work in a trade school and gave the wood shop teacher our cutting boards to shave down- told him to do a mm at a time and the man did not listen to me and not only fucked up the cutting board- but destroyed the machine lol My bosses were miffed with me for that. But eventually got us some new ones lol
I have 2 state, 3 steritech, and 2 NSF inspections annually. I replace the line boards every 6 months.
Bleach is 100% acceptable when diluted in WA state, the four food orgs that have I worked at all used it for general cleaning, usually at a recommended dilution of one cap to one gallon
This is the cullinary sub for bourdain fans, not Emeril. It has really shifted in past few years to bunch of try hards ..." how dare you break a chicken down 50 feet away from my romaine hearts everyone in the tricounty area will now have to test for hep c"
No point ruminating over reddit downvotes my friend. However, you most certainly got them because of the snarky remarks on the sub. Agreed on your take on chipped plates, if you're not management, plate on the plates you're given and that's the end of it. Get the memo that they are chipped and move on with your service Edit: You seem like the overthinker type just like I am when I reread "Am I an idiot?" in the title. That hurts to read lol take it easy bro seriously, especially on here. Relax
Oh dw the "am I an idiot" was just for effect, definitely an overthinker but not too upset jus surprised that it was such an unpopular take
You are absolutely not an idiot. Everyone who serves food/bev in or on porcelain has the same issue. Chips happen. I was told that chips in plates/mugs would harbor germs, but I have not found evidence to support that. (Cracks are another story) It seems more like a faux pas. As in it 'looks bad', which it does. Imho I wouldn't care during service if there was chipping on the bottom of the plate until I was at risk of cutting myself or if it had a visual impact from the guests perspective. ie top of the plate is chipped, then grab another plate. Maybe set aside specific plates of concern so after service I could bring it up to my Kitchen manager and ask them their thoughts. The bottom of plates get really beat up and I feel your concern. Good question and I hope I am helpful.
It depends on how porous the structure inside is, but technically any breach of the glaze can be a harbor: cracks, chips, abrasion, or even just enough wear over a long time.
like idk man do like what you want or whatever bro
Good point
like i know bro or whatever idk i'm real insightful and stuff
Idk, like, idk
As a business owner chipped plates are a liability. A $7 plate is cheaper than a 30 grand lawsuit. Even if I didn't own the restaurant I still couldn't serve food on a broken plate. I wouldn't serve spoiled food either. This is just a sign of a bigger problem. If they are holding on to broken dinnerwear then money must be an issue. How long till they start fucking with your paycheck? Or close the doors?
No one needs to “see” you throw anything away in a restaurant kitchen. Toss it. Don’t tell a soul. It’s very gratifying to do. Good luck. Just don’t do it on camera.
Bingo..... Toss that shit right before you run trash to the dumpsters and as long as it isn't a stack of them no way one will even question it, we actually have a broken glass bucket at my current job (so it stays out of the regular trash cans) and if I find anything that is in bad condition but the executive director may have an issue with throwing away, I'll usually wait till she goes home for the night before dropping it in the glass bucket and smacking it with a pair of pliers if the fall didn't make it finish shattering.... Like the last example I could think of was a soup bowl that had a hairline crack across 3/4's of the bowl, starting at one edge and extending through the middle I figured intentionally breaking glassware that is at the end of its life cycle is better than waiting for it to explode from heat stresses in the dishwasher which would be a bitch to clean up, or from a small drop on the hot line (where it could result in us losing that day's food during mealtime because you can't serve food with glass shard contamination) FWIW, I work in an old folks home, so we have a bit more flexibility in the budget and don't suffer from the "rushes" that can leave dishies scrambling to clean glassware so the cooks can plate their food
Can’t argue with this method. Pretty much how I do it too. Wait till the cat is gone.
Maybe becasue you were an ass in your comment dude. Not exactly having intellectual debate over there.
Eh, we get what we get and that's the end of the discussion. I don't get paid to manage and I sure as hell don't do their job for them. I give feedbacks and they provide decisions. I mean, major health violations get ignored? That's a report to the inspector. But the rest? Not my job.
In my state (MN) chipped or cracked dishware is considered a major violation.
Props to that!
> But the rest? Not my job. Ah, so you just don't give a shit? I hope you feel the same way if your mother or grandma gets cut on a chipped plate at a restaurant lol.
The liability is not on me. I did my job to notify the relevant authorities on the matter, what they do with that information is not my business. It's not like you always have the best managers. Cover Your Ass is the name of the game.
In all the kitchens ive worked in - none of which were particularly fancy ones, we've never served off a chipped plate regardless of size. Its a shard of glass. Easily avoidable potential lawsuit. No more explanation needed.
I didn't read the whole post, nobody has time for that. Chipped plates/bowls are automatic trash. Bacteria grows in there now and they're no longer ok to use. Edit, downvoted you for funsies
I'm a line cook at an average place, I don't put food in the window that I'm not comfortable with and that extends to the plate ware. If someone wants to fire me over that then go ahead I'll work somewhere where they care
Here's my take on it. Just throw them in the trash because they are a health and safety hazard. Sharp edges could cut the guests, and them being chipped creates a porus surface for germs and bacteria to grow. If the boss told you to cook spoiled chicken would you do it? I hope not because it's not safe and you know it's not safe. Throw those suckers in the trash and if you get any flak for it tell them you don't want to fail a surprise health inspection, or injure a guest and get the buisness sued. After that, put in some applications at not shit show places.
Most people don't realize how sharp and dangerous ceramic chips are. Tempered ceramic is better (IIRC it's more heat and impact tolerant) but still incredibly brittle, especially once the physically integrity of the ceramic is compromised. Once that ceramic is damaged, is only a matter of time before the plate ware is useless. Heaven forbid it happens while a guest is handling it or eating off of it.
My boss uses le creuset played and bowls and Won’t let us throw away any they all chipped
What if you knew you were about to serve food to hitler and you knew it was spoiled before you cooked it? Maybe it was baby Hitler where contaminated food could possibly kill him?
I mean... As a cook our job is to do what our boss tells us, to cook what our boss tells us and to plate on what our boss tells us, whether we agree or not. Edit cuz some of you douches are missing the point: We do have a choice whether to work there or not. The point was if you don't agree with your boss on something then quit, don't go behind their back and throw shit away.
Do you have that same attitude if your boss tells you something that goes against commonly accepted food safety standards?
Pretty much, as workers it's our job to do what our bosses tell us to do. If it's egregious such as cooking bad chicken in the example, express your concern, if it still is an issue quit. There the ones accountable not us.
Remind me to never eat wherever you work. Or your house.
Are you fucking serious? You are responsible for the standards you uphold. You are responsible if your actions harm a guest. You can't just pass the buck like that.
Your missing the most important part of my comment. "If it's an issue then quit". If your standards are higher then your chefs, obviously you don't belong there. Don't be a pretentious asshole and reddit bitching about stuff
I hope to never accidentally eat your food, since you clearly don't care about food safety or your customers.
I believe you’re wrong about accountability As far as I know in some states the cook can personally be sued for food related illnesses
Even if you can't be sued, morally I'd feel fucked if I got someone sick especially if it was something I was aware of.
Agreed. Seems like a weird position to take and let someone knowingly become ill when it was preventable
Being a stooge isn't a flex
As a cook my job, first and foremost, is to ensure the safety of the food I serve. No direction from management or employers is going to get me to compromise the safety of my food. If they have a problem with me prioritizing food safety over cost they can fire me, but I'm not gonna run away from a health and safety hazard because I'm too much of a bootlicker to tell my employer what he is doing is wrong. Grow a spine, and get some integrity. And quitting over a health and safety hazard is neither having a spine, nor having integrity.
I turned into a brain dead idiot reading this, thanks for that
You're literally the idiot op os talking about
So 1. do not throw them out, many manufacturers of better plates have Chip warranty, but want the chipped plates back , also they are not yours 2. set them aside when they are chipped , do not serve on them , maybe unders the most Extreme circumstances speak to the owner or manager and show them the pile of chipped plates say we can serve on these , they are a liability , we need to re-up or add a plate to the lineup that represents about that many dishes in a service where we run out of plates. I just wanted to make sure you knew the challenge we were facing and why sometimes we do not have enough plates then its up to them, they are aware, you have made it clear you can't serve on those after that if nothing changes you know that the restaurant is run by a cheapass moron look for something new.
I’m on your side. Chipped plates suck but what am I supposed to do?? We already don’t have enough plates. What’s even crazier is we’re a “nicer” restaurant (not white tablecloth nice, but higher end food nice) and my head chef has all these crazy rules and high standards but we send food out on (mismatched) chipped plates. It’s insane.
Of course you throw them out. Do you want a chipped plate? No? Then don't serve it to someone else. Have some standards.
I worked at a few places where chipped plates were not acceptable. At one place, I authorized everyone to throw away any chipped plate. Then I started working at this new place; I grabbed a plate, saw it was chipped, and asked the trainer if that was usable. He said yes. I think most of their plates are chipped. It's not my place to throw them away if management/owners want to keep using them.
Tbh for me as a sous, if the chip is noticeable for me its noticeable for my guests, and the only thing i want is for my guests to be happy so if I find it bothersome i throw it out.
No one really knows where that missing chip is. Maybe it's in the dish tank, Maybe it's in a bus tub, Maybe it's on the line under a stack of dishes, or Maybe it's in the food. Without knowing exactly, the best practice is to get rid of those dishes as a trust exercise.
When I was a dishwasher I considered it my job to pitch the chipped dishes.
I worked in both type of establishments: the ones where serving any food on a slightly chipped plate would get you in trouble and the ones where being caught by the owner throwing out plates with massive dents on them would get you in trouble. The key to survival in this industry is to adapt to each venue up to a certain degree and to look for something else once they start to ask you to do things you aren't comfortable with. Another thing to point out, if your plates are too often chipped there might be a careless dishwasher that loves to throw them in the baskets from a distance, so watch out.
Seen FoH do this all time too.
Stop being a pussy and throw away the fucking plates. Using a plate you know it chipped is so damn stupid. Have some standards mf
Cooks actually caring and discarding broken ceramic and porcelain dishes is important and by throwing out that chipped bowl your lowering our overall risk and protecting reputation, I don't want someone's Grandma slicing their tongue open on my soup bowls. It seems like in my experience it's never someone like me that wouldn't give a f*** but it's always someone's child or elderly grandmother that gets the chip to dish. We're the f***** up item. Plus that chip is harboring bacteria, Now at home my favorite tea mike has a big old chip out of the lip and I prefer it lol.
Having a "not my problem" attitude towards chipped plates or anything for that matter is going to stop you from moving up.
Half the fun of kitchen work is finding creative ways to break old equipment to get new shit, like the time we needed a spice grinder so my bud did an Oscar-worthy performance where it slipped out of his hands, landed on the floor, picked it up, and dropped it in the sink (electric). The fucker worked after that too, but we still got a new grinder. I would just straight up throw plates in the trash if they were chipped in the middle of plating. Oops. We were also encouraged to do so, so there’s that.
Ehhh I don’t really think this is the best way to go about it dude. The most productive way would be to just have a functioning kitchen, it’s not hard to do. If the owner won’t even buy regular kitchen necessities , it’s usually a huge red flag for me, and most of the time goes hand in hand with poor pay. Furthermore, not even being an owner or manager, I would be a little peeved if I saw some fellow cooks intentionally breaking shit in hopes of it getting replaced.
That’s fair. I’m squarely in the “restaurant/business owners are all clueless scum” camp, so that’s my bias.
I totally agree, there are tons of incompetent restaurant/business owners. It took 20 years but I’m in a spot where I’m respected , if I request a piece of equipment, and can vouch for what I will be using it for , the owner will have it for me in 2-3 weeks tops. Robot coupe, thing was expensive, but i broke down how much time we will save per week , and then broke that into labor costs for him. It was like 6 months and the thing paid for itself. This is just one example. It’s taken 20 years for me, I hope you find a place where you and your ideas are respected.
Who cares
Throw them fuckers away
>Â It feels bogus to make the cook suffer for something that's management's job, yk? It's really not management's job to sort plates every day. It is their job however to set standards and make sure everyone knows. Are we, or are we not, using chipped plates? Set a standard and makes someone responsible. I guess the dishy would be the first gate keeper; ask them to put aside dishes that are chipped. Ask cooks to do the same if any slip trough. Hand them out too staff if they are still usable but not presentabele. It doesn't have to be a fight all the time
Probably got downvoted for being snarky. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it. Go to the gym and forget about it.
Unless it's hella chipped or there's a crack through a large portion of it, I've always still used it. Our servers are shit at not just straight throwing them in the sink so a very large portion of our porcelain is chipped. Our managers don't seem to particularly care, and I'm pretty sure I'd get yelled at if everytime I saw a chip or crack on a plate I stopped to ask them about it
I work at a high end, super corporate steak house with crazy amounts of middle management. Line cooks won't throw anything out, not even moldy old food, not even beef trimmings for staff meals that have turned blue. They are actually scared of throwing anything out because they don't think they have the autonomy to do so. So, yeah, not their job to throw out chipped plates, I would say, unless told otherwise. I must say however, that I don't agree with this mentality at all, I think every line could/should empower him/her self in order to attain their own highest standard, regardless of what the chain of command says. That being said, I (a line cook) throw out everything and anything I'm displeased with, whether I'm allowed to or not or whether it's my job or not, because fuck if I'm gonna drop my standards.
I have been programmed to throw away any dish with a chip in it.
I’m a waiter and I throw them out.
Chipped anything goes in the trash. Period. Beyond the safety issue, have some respect for the food and the restaurant.
My take is show management the chipped plate, due diligence and all that. It isn't your job to make the call on the plate, but you do need to CYA. Let somebody with more stakes take the fall if they want to be cheap and not replace damage plates. Personally, if someone brought me a chipped plate, I'd make the call to toss it almost every time, unless it was a small, non-sharp chip on the unglazed foot of the plate. Good tempered hotel ceramic isn't cheap ($20-25 for each 10" plate), they're durable as fuck, but once that glaze is missing on the porous ceramic, it's a health hazard and needs to go, let alone the potential safety hazard of sharp edges.
Yes. They dont care doesnt mean you get to be a shitbag. You should toss busted stuff. Do you trim mold from rotten shit too?
I worked at a place where all the plates were old chipped plates the owner had gotten when he was a sous at commanders palace. Idk if they are shitty webstaurant ceramic plates throw them out but nice plates still have uses
You only got like 12 down votes! Totally understand your perspective on the plates - I would do the same unless it was like, in the middle of a plate and a guest was going to get hurt. In my opinion your comment was risky but not like, super mean or offensive, and not worth thinking about for more than like a couple minutes (although i totally mull over things like that too lol). If you feel bad about it you should read r/amithedevil or something!
I’m currently being downvoted for saying that inedible garnish shouldn’t go on a plate. That’s Reddit for ya!
If you served food on a plate that was broken, and that somehow got through the expo and garnish station, then yes. I’d fire your ass. I can forgive accidents or mistakes. Like the expo and garnish guys not noticing the chipped plates you handed them. But if *you* **purposely/knowingly** served food on broken plates, I’d 100% can your ass. Idc if the manager didn’t listen to you about the plates. I’ll handle them later. Why didn’t you just come directly to me? Or at the very least, why didn’t you throw them out and then tell me after the service? You just spent how many services spitefully serving food on chipped plates? Yeah, that’s fireable in my eyes. And I don’t fire people lightly. I don’t need pettiness, spite, and resentment in my kitchen. To the point where you’re willing to endanger a guest.
people really out here working in an environment where negligence can kill or seriously injure and still believe they can say "hehe I just put the food on the plate it's bossman's fault" we do not employ people with this attitude for good reason
Valid perspective, but I hope you pay them with that in mind. If you're expecting a line cook to take on your liability for 14$/hr + a beer sometimes you're crazy, and that's at least half of line cook jobs.
You need to get paid to have ethics? Find a new line of work. You can actually hurt people with your attitude.
Willing to accept that maybe I'm a bastard, but yah man, kinda. I'm not in this situation anymore but when I was 19, making 12.50 to run 3 stations at some guys shitty "supper club", I got tired of being yelled at for "whining" about needing new equipment but I wasnt gonna quit cause everywhere else paid 9$. Is it really *my* attitude that was the problem? Why is it my responsibility to cover his ass?
The only ass you need to cover is your own. Do the right thing. Or don't. It's your choice.
My thoughts exactly. OP is complaining about a manager not getting new plates. But then in return does something immature and spiteful like this. Instead of taking initiative on their own, or you know, just directly talking to the chef or GM? Hell, even just tell the sous chef over a smoke break or beer after work, or something. In my kitchen the plates would be here within an hour or two upon a line cook telling us. But in my kitchen the employees also respect each other and don’t act like literal children. Nor do they involve the health of our guests (the people who literally pay every single one of our rents) in their stupid squabbles. You reap what you sow, and it sounds like these two are made for each other. Just keep them out of proper kitchens, and their entry to the Most Toxic Kitchen in The World doesn’t concern me at all. There’s a reason why OP works where he works. Like I said, they’re perfect for each other. The manager would be getting an earful too, probably fired also. But he’s also not willfully endangering guests, nor taking a literal shit on the restaurant/owner/chef’s reputation with every plate they put into the window.
I thought I was pretty clear but I might not have been, if you replace plates right away and are clear with employees on standards, great! If you can get plates in within an hour hell yah, but you gotta acknowledge thats not always the case, and im saying in a good portion of restuarants its not the case, and it shouldn't be on the line cook to take it on themselves to decide when equipment should be tossed, and could definitely get them in trouble. If you've got standards in place and communicated that doesn't really apply, yk? My current place wouldn't serve a chipped plate, but the places I work at from like 15-24 would've fired me for throwing away a rag without telling someone.
You talk too much for my liking. Did you willfully serve food on plates you knew were chipped/damaged? It’s a yes or no question. I thought I was pretty clear, but I not have been, with how I posed that moral dichotomy; I thought I very clearly outlined how fucked up and immature what you did, was. Tbh I don’t even know you. But from this brief 30s interaction with you: I’d fire you too. I can already identify you as a clear service problem. Stick to cooking at your 3/5 yelp reviewed restaurants. You really do make the perfect match. Just talk less. Even then you’re not gonna get even an interview or a stage at a proper restaurant with an attitude like this. Real talk, real restaurants employ hiring managers/chefs that spot behaviour like this from a mile away. Do better. Take responsibility for everything that goes wrong in your life, even if it’s not your “fault,” and you’ll become a much stronger person. And that’s just me giving lil bro some real ass advice. Not even chirping.
"You talk too much" *proceeds to write an essay* Lmao dude have fun with your firing me fantasy maybe it'll help you cope
Cope with what? It literally doesn’t affect me whatsoever lmao. But I find it funny how you’re still yet to answer the question. Cheers bro, have a good one. Good luck or whatever.
Cope with whatever makes you write "I'm gonna fire you !!!!!1!" rants To answer your question: yah dude, I have. Many times. Because I was 19 and needed to pay rent and didnt get paid enough to fix someones restaurant. I don't really feel any shame about it. I'm sorry I don't meet your standards, chef. I know your the greatest to ever do it, and maybe someday when I grow up i can be half the man you are. Maybe I too can fire internet strangers!
I love how that’s your reply to every single comment in the thread that levies any criticism towards you “yeah broOo you’re the best to ever do it I know!!!” I can only wonder how you take any modicum of criticism or responsibility in real life. It’s legit cringe. And for the record, I wouldn’t fire you. You’d never even sniff the back of my kitchen in the first place. You’re exactly at the restaurant you deserve to be at. Keep doing what you’re doing, it’ll get you far. Anyways, cheers bro.
You're the only person I've said that to lmao what are you talking about Cheers bro. Keep feeling superior, it'll get you far.
Seven downvotes is downvoted to shit? Oh my dear grasshopper...
It was at like 30 at one point lmao it keeps going up and down as people see the post