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Originally Posted by cartemj06  Thanks for the encouragement, I have been on here reading all day, and reading al kinds of stuff and trying to mentally prepare myself for wednesday.
any other hints and advice?
I am always willing to learn and I love to get advice from the people who have been in kitchen, growing up I always listened to the stories from from older relatives and stuff like that and I learned at a young age to find the person with the most experience and watch and listen. so any advice and things like that are truly welcomed and appreciated. |
Hey man, all I can tell you is that I'm 25 and I have been working in restaurants for the past 10 years. I recently made the decision to attend culinary school and really my only intention is to add a solid foundation behind me, so that I can really execute my ideas without being concerned if I do or don't know how to do something to do it! I think that you don't have to be worried about working the fryers. I put my dues in about 3 years on the fryers. Here's the things I took away:
- If the oil is smoking, it's old and needs to be replaced.
- If you dip your skimmer in the oil about an inch down and can't see it anymore, it's time to change the oil. You don't want to cook with burnt oil because it makes your food taste terrible and it also, of course, burns the food.
- 350 degrees is a nice frying temp.
- When you're battering items, don't just drop them in the oil, slowly lower them in the oil, and when they are about half way submerged, let them go. This will cut the amount of burns you're going to get at least in half.
- If something is floating, it's probably at least 95% done.
- If you spill a bunch of oil on the floor in your station during the middle of the rush, put a cardboard box over it and keep working. If you can't find one (for some reason), try some Kosher salt.
- Don't be a filthy chef. If you keep a clean work station, you won't feel nearly as busy. Fry is tough to keep clean, and it's impressive when fry cooks keep their stations clean. Learn to work clean and you're on your way outta there.
- When a ticket comes in, stop whatever you're doing and drop the item in the fryer. Do NOT wait to drop. Stop, drop, fire.
That's all I can think of right now, good luck and don't worry, fry is easy. You sound like you're capable of handling it just fine.