How to ensure food safety in the kitchen

Support your culinary passion with these key steps to food safety. Imagine a dinner party planned to take place at your house. You’ve spent weeks planning and preparing a masterpiece of epic proportions that would rival that of any celebrity chef. Every detail has come together flawlessly just as your dinner guests arrive. The anticipation of their approval and delight is overwhelming as you watch and listen for every gesture and comment as they partake of your creation. They smile as they let out that familiar mmmmm! As satisfaction sets in, your friends and family toast to a delicious and unforgettable meal. If you’ve ever experienced this, then you know that there are few things in this life that top such an unforgettable feeling of euphoria. Whether it’s a dinner party, banquet or a multi-unit restaurant, understanding food safety and sanitation is paramount in delivering a great guest experience. Keep those guests coming back by creating a culture of food safety in the kitchen. In this article we will be discussing food safety practices that will minimize health risks in the kitchen. Below is a list of key steps to learn and apply to all food preparation. Learning and implementing them into your team will serve as added protection for your guests.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Clean as you go
   
   Nobody wants a slob in their kitchen. I know I don’t. Be clean and organized as you work. A cluttered work area can create confusion and increase the risk of cross contamination. Leaving items out for an extended period of time will subject the food (especially high risk food items) to time temperature abuse. Staying neat and tidy as you work will not only make the culinary experience more enjoyable, it will aid in the protection of each ingredient.
2. Avoid the danger zone
   
   The Arctic or Death Valley. That’s where your food will be the happiest. Bacteria have a way of multiplying in the right climate and setting. If the temperature is just right, it will give bacteria the green light to spread its havoc all over the food. Avoiding the danger zone is a great way to deny bacteria its chance of growth. Think of the area between 40 degrees and 140 degrees as the last place you want your food to be. If your food needs to cool or reheat, be sure to pass through the danger zone as quickly as possible. Below I will describe some examples of ways to keep your hot food hot, your cold food cold and how to go as rapidly as possible through the danger zone.
3. Rapid cooling and cold holding
   
   An ice bath will be the best way to rapidly cool sauces or other food items. The bath should be made up of a water to ice ratio of 50/50. Adding cooked product into the bath will start adding another factor into this ratio. In the end the ratio should be balanced at 1/3 water, 1/3 ice and 1/3 product. Over filling the bath with product will slow down the cooling process. Any cooked product should be sealed before placed in the bath to prevent from cross contamination. Sealing batches of soup and sauces into bags works best. After the product is below 40 degrees, go ahead and throw it in the walk-in or reach-in refrigerator. The refrigerator is the most common source of cold holding. Using the refrigerator or the freezer is not optimal, however, for rapid chilling. They can be used as long as there is enough surface area of the product exposed to drop the temperature below 40 degrees in a 6 hour period. Monitor and adjust as needed. Once the food is cold, keep it that way until you need to use it. If product is resting on ice, be sure that there is a system in place to monitor ice melting throughout the shift.
4. Rapid Reheating and hot holding
   
   Cooking the food to the proper temperature is the best way to rapid reheat. The use of boiling water is great for reheating product without continuing the cooking process. One gallon of soup or sauce will take about an hour to reheat in boiling water. Invest in a hot holding cabinet. They are a very practical way to hot hold the food while still on sheet trays.
5. Personal hygiene
   
   There is more to personal hygiene than your morning ritual of bathing, brushing teeth and using deodorant. In the world of food production, personal hygiene is a constant state of being. Washing hands is the number one way to protect against a food borne illness. Be sure to wash your hands after handling meat to avoid cross contamination. Washing after smoking, eating, scratching, sneezing, coughing, or playing with hair is also highly recommended. Use gloves, hair nets and beard nets. Some chef’s feel that using gloves will restrict their ability to handle detail in the creation of beautiful dishes. This should be okay as long as hands are washed consistently, especially after handling hazardous foods. Keep your apron free of unnecessary grime. Your apron was not designed as a place to wipe your hands. If you or your chefs make a habit of this, it will be easy to tell by the discoloration just below the waist line. Set a uniform standard for your cooks, and have them check in with you before every shift. Holding your people accountable for personal hygiene will set precedence and it will create an environment of safety and pride.
6. Verify the quality of the ingredient
   
   Whether you receive a truck delivery or you are hand picking the product, finding a consistent source of high quality ingredients will pay off. Not only will your guests enjoy the finest and the freshest ingredients, they will be safe. If you are shopping for fresh foods be sure to learn and teach how to pick great produce, great meats, chicken and seafood.
7. Creating a culture of cleanliness and sanitation is crucial to a successful kitchen. The kitchen is the heart of the restaurant or the home after all, so keep it healthy!