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Need REAL opinions from professionals in the industry

3K views 32 replies 26 participants last post by  chefjasonb 
#1 ·
Hey I decided to join the forums as this would be the best place to ask for opinions. 

Just to tell you a little about my background... I'm freshly graduated out of high school, already got my Professional Cook Level 1 from Culinary Arts, and have been working in the industry for about a year now. I love cooking and everything about it. And of coarse I love food too. Being a red seal chef and directing a kitchen has crossed my mind a couple times, but thats a different story...

Now to get to the point. I live in a town with about 30,000 people and I currently work at one of the best pubs in town. I've worked there for roughly three months as a line cook, doing part-time. We do dishes and prep everyday too. I'm loving this job but recently something happened. 

About 4 days ago my chef was filtering out the fryers by himself. After he was done he asked me to help him carry a big stock pot of FRESH, BURNING HOT, OIL, that he was going to take out to the oil bin which is about a 30 second walk away. He told me to get some oven mitts and we went on our way. And of coarse this was my first time carrying a stock pot of hot oil on a walk ever. So we get half way there and the hot oil splashes on my forearm!! It hurt like hell. I think he asked me if I was okay and if it hurt, and I said "sure does" and after I said I was fine and we kept walking and we finished the task. He told me to put some water on it when we got back to the kitchen, I told him that it would be hurting all day long if I did. I coped with the pain and went on with my day. A half hour later he gives me a bag of ice wrapped in a cloth. I didn't use it. Later on in the day I ask him if I'm going to have this scar for the rest of my life, he said no. That day he asked me if I could stay 3 hours overtime also, I did.

So day two and I'm working with my sous-chef and I ask her if chef could of waited for that oil to cool down before we took it out, and she said yeah he could of, but he didn't, and it wasn't right of him. And I let that sit in my mind for a couple days.

Another two days pass and parts of my oil burn start to blister and pop. So it was that deep... A second degree burn. Yesterday I worked with my chef and I'm just right choked... #1 because he couldn't wait for the oil to cool down before taking it out to the bins and NOW I'm stuck with this ugly scar for the rest of my life. #2 THE MOST OF ALL, he didn't even bother to say sorry after the fact. We've talked before, he's told me a little about his life and he's been through hell and gone through like 4 marriages, whatever. I understand from that, he doesn't like the word sorry, I could imagine it's useless to him and he's not too fond of feelings either. But back to about yesterday when I was at work... I didnt say much to him, he knew I was mad. I finally decided to say to him "so it turns out i'm stuck with this scar for the rest of my life. do you got anything to say to that?" he thought deeply and basically said no after. I was hurt. The one person I gave all my respect to and trusted... it just hurt my soul, he didnt even bother to say sorry. I thought of those two words "i'm sorry" as some sort of consultation to this matter. I could care less about the scar or the pain that went along with it, I think of it as a battle scar from the kitchen otherwise. But I just hate to look at my chef now. It pisses me off so much I wanna cry everytime I look at my scar now, and I thought about quitting too. But i'm not gonna let down my sous-chef and all the servers down. The place needs someone like me, someone that puts 110% every, single, day. What do I do from this point?? I'm litterally starting to hate my chef. Those two words I'm Sorry could of made a HUGE difference. Is it wrong of me to feel this way just because I got my first oil burn EVER that i'm gonna have a scar from AND on top of it he didnt say sorry!! Help me please!
 
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#2 · (Edited)
So many possible things to say...

How old are you? 5?

Grow up. Get over it.

Don't be clumsy. 

Better yet, find a new career. 

I can honestly say I've never burned myself with hot oil after emptying the fryers. Even when I had to transport it through the entire kitchen, down the elevator, down a loading ramp, across the parking lot, and raise it (stock pot of hot oil) to chest height to dump it. Or when I accidentally left the fryer on drain when I started dumping water into it and the water went into the Shortening Shuttle
 
#3 ·
As you go through life you will encounter people that don't behave as you think they should.

One option is to accept that fact. You don't have to like their behavior. You don't have to condone their behavior. You just accept the fact that it occurs.

The second option is to develop a resentment about their behavior.

Resentments are like rocks. They get heavy after awhile, especially the more you pick up.

Put them down and walk away. Why let a rock control your life?
 
#5 · (Edited)
A third option exists: Nothing prompts an apology from your employer like a server slapping a court summons on

their chest naming them personally in a 50,000 dollar lawsuit for medical damages due to their negligence. But

by then their "sorry sorry sorry" is too late. lol

And I personally think negligence is at work here. This same thing happened to my nephew a few years back, he

finished culinary up north, got a chef gig in a city hotel, and was pretty much ordered to walk that barrel of hot

oil out. About the third time round he slipped (on oil of course) , the barrel spilled down his leg and gave him

3rd degree burns over most of it. He needed skin grafts, and he's still in great pain to this day. He looked into

a lawsuit, had grounds, but I don't know if he followed through on it.

An employer has an obligation to put employee safety ahead of their own convenience, and if the employee is

hurt because of it, then they need to make good on it. IMO no restaurant is worth bearing a scar and pain for

life--especially if its easily avoided.

I would start by following Kuan's suggestion, file a workman's comp case (or whatever equivalent you have in

your area) --and do it right now--you're already letting too much time go by. Oh the employer will no doubt gripe

about how his premiums are gonna go up blah blah, so just point blank ask him what kind of premium he

puts on your health and safety.

And the next time you work, you might want to discreetly stick a thermometer in that oil barrel, so you can

accurately report in your case how hot that oil was that injured your arm.
 
#6 ·
An oil burn is barely an injury. Be glad you werent wearing the barrel. That might garner you empathy. Get a plastic cart... about half of the places i worked at we had to change the hot oil. Just the division of labour. The burn will fade. Most likely not bad enough to leave a noticeable scar otherwise youd be in a burn ward being prepped for a graft (noooooot)
 
#7 · (Edited)
Also if you are worried about ugly scars you might as well start thinking about another line of work besides full service restos because guess what! I saw a guy break his arm on the arm of a hobart mixer.... couldnt wait for it to wind down. Youre going to injure yourself again, probably worse, at some point in your career.
 
#8 ·
There's no negligence here, any medical should be covered by l&i or whatever they have in Canada. Also, it's not like nobody knew the giant barrel of oil was dangerous, EVERYBODY did. Thats why 2 people were carrying it out.
Is carrying it more dangerous than in a pot in the middle of the kitchen until it cools down, in four hours or so?
You also didn't ask him to apologize, you basically baited him because you thought he should. So if you feel that strongly about it, be more direct. But you didn't say that he splashed you with oil; so if he didn't personally splash you, why does he need to apologize.
Keep the burn very clean & don't cover it or it'll get infected. Most of my scars have faded, so give a few years before you start ranting about the rest of your life.
And listen to cheflayne because most people won't behave the way you think they shoul
 
#9 ·
Hey I decided to join the forums as this would be the best place to ask for opinions.

Just to tell you a little about my background... I'm freshly graduated out of high school, already got my Professional Cook Level 1 from Culinary Arts, and have been working in the industry for about a year now. I love cooking and everything about it. And of coarse I love food too. Being a red seal chef and directing a kitchen has crossed my mind a couple times, but thats a different story...

Now to get to the point. I live in a town with about 30,000 people and I currently work at one of the best pubs in town. I've worked there for roughly three months as a line cook, doing part-time. We do dishes and prep everyday too. I'm loving this job but recently something happened.

About 4 days ago my chef was filtering out the fryers by himself. After he was done he asked me to help him carry a big stock pot of FRESH, BURNING HOT, OIL, that he was going to take out to the oil bin which is about a 30 second walk away. He told me to get some oven mitts and we went on our way. And of coarse this was my first time carrying a stock pot of hot oil on a walk ever. So we get half way there and the hot oil splashes on my forearm!! It hurt like hell. I think he asked me if I was okay and if it hurt, and I said "sure does" and after I said I was fine and we kept walking and we finished the task. He told me to put some water on it when we got back to the kitchen, I told him that it would be hurting all day long if I did. I coped with the pain and went on with my day. A half hour later he gives me a bag of ice wrapped in a cloth. I didn't use it. Later on in the day I ask him if I'm going to have this scar for the rest of my life, he said no. That day he asked me if I could stay 3 hours overtime also, I did.

So day two and I'm working with my sous-chef and I ask her if chef could of waited for that oil to cool down before we took it out, and she said yeah he could of, but he didn't, and it wasn't right of him. And I let that sit in my mind for a couple days.

Another two days pass and parts of my oil burn start to blister and pop. So it was that deep... A second degree burn. Yesterday I worked with my chef and I'm just right choked... #1 because he couldn't wait for the oil to cool down before taking it out to the bins and NOW I'm stuck with this ugly scar for the rest of my life. #2 THE MOST OF ALL, he didn't even bother to say sorry after the fact. We've talked before, he's told me a little about his life and he's been through hell and gone through like 4 marriages, whatever. I understand from that, he doesn't like the word sorry, I could imagine it's useless to him and he's not too fond of feelings either. But back to about yesterday when I was at work... I didnt say much to him, he knew I was mad. I finally decided to say to him "so it turns out i'm stuck with this scar for the rest of my life. do you got anything to say to that?" he thought deeply and basically said no after. I was hurt. The one person I gave all my respect to and trusted... it just hurt my soul, he didnt even bother to say sorry. I thought of those two words "i'm sorry" as some sort of consultation to this matter. I could care less about the scar or the pain that went along with it, I think of it as a battle scar from the kitchen otherwise. But I just hate to look at my chef now. It pisses me off so much I wanna cry everytime I look at my scar now, and I thought about quitting too. But i'm not gonna let down my sous-chef and all the servers down. The place needs someone like me, someone that puts 110% every, single, day. What do I do from this point?? I'm litterally starting to hate my chef. Those two words I'm Sorry could of made a HUGE difference. Is it wrong of me to feel this way just because I got my first oil burn EVER that i'm gonna have a scar from AND on top of it he didnt say sorry!! Help me please!
Let me get this straight...you burned yourself. You told your chef you were fine. Your chef tried to give you an ice pack and you didn't take it. Now you're upset that he did say he was sorry because you burnt yourself? Just so we're clear here generally when I get a burn like that, I keep working. When my co-workers get burns like that, they keep working. When my chef gets a burn like that he keeps working. The kitchen world is rough. we get cuts, we get burns, some of us break arms, its life.

Why would he tell you that hes sorry because you burnt yourself? Why are you cooking if you're worried about burn scars? Why would you EVER leave an open stock pot full of hot oil sitting around in the kitchen? That is behavior that is just not safe.

If you're going to get this ego bruised over someone not apologizing that something bad happened to you maybe its time to look for a job in a corporate environment, or perhaps and office job.
 
#10 ·
No one has mentioned anything about that injury the OP.

How can he be so sure he will be scared?

When I was 20 years old and going to culinary school my French Chef purposely bumped me while I was carrying several sheet pans with hot chicken grease one each.

The hot grease splashed down my legs and arms.

I had 2nd degree burns as well.................BUT they healed and there were no scars.

Since he never sought help for his injury how can the OP be certain he will be "maimed for life?"
 
#11 ·
Get over it, toughen up if you are going to have a career in food service. This may be your first burn, but certainly won't be your last. This isn't like your youth soccer league where even the loosing team gets a trophy.

I have burn and cut scars from 30 years of abuse, have scar tissue in a bad cut from 20 yrs ago in my left hand that keeps me from being able to place my palm flat on the table, it WILL require surgery to correct.

Put your big girl or boy pants on, nose to the grindstone and carry on. You are young and have so much to learn.
 
#12 · (Edited)
The scars last about 5 years.  Wear them with pride.  :)  They pop more after you've been out in the sun and get a tan.  And there will be more.  Just try and be careful.

As for the actual injury itself, depending on how extensive, you really have to make sure they heal well and don't get infected.  If they're larger than a large sized band aid I suggest you go to urgent care.  This really is a workman's comp case.  No you won't get anything by suing.  So despite all the harsh advice to suck it up you need to make sure you heal up without losing your arm to infection.

And also, FWIW, the best time to change the oil is when it's hot.  This way you get most of the sludge out.
 
#13 ·
I agree with the majority of people that replied, our world is rough and in 10 years time you will be telling some young chef about this happening to you. I know it is not easy but if you are not sure about something don't do it...Like someone said already move on, keep you mouth shut and try and avoid it or be more careful next time you do it. One thing we all know this is not going to be your last scar, we all have a few......
 
#14 ·
I couldn't agree more with the majority of posters here-suck it up.  This is not a job for the faint of heart.  You work with sharp objects.  You work with fire.  You work with boiling hot liquids.  You will get injured more than once.  It's a fact of life, and no matter how careful you are it will happen.  If you can't wear your scars with pride, then you shouldn't be in this business (that's even if it scars up enough to be noticed).

As Kuan said, it is much easier to clean fryers when the oil is hot. And as stated before, what's more dangerous, 2 people carefully moving that oil, who know that it's hot, or allowing that huge pot of oil to sit around where people can bump into it, spill it, or drop things in it, not knowing how hot it is.  It's not like it will cool off in the next 20-30 minutes.

Sorry to sound harsh, but the reality of a professional kitchen is it is full of danger at every turn.  Some of the jobs we do are inherently dangerous and there's not much you can do about that other than be careful while handling those tasks.  It sounds like you might want to re-think your choosen career path.
 
#15 ·
Wow, I wanted to bash you OP but I thought about it and maybe I should approach lightly.

First, if you b*tching about a little burn, you will not like whats coming. As you get deeper in this profession, you will face many burns, cuts, accidents in general. Every real cook has ugly arms , all marked up. This is because as you get more developed , you will be a bad ass cook and during dinner rush, you will knock out many dishes and you have no time to stop for a simple burn, you just keep going and deal with it later. I myself remember once during a dinner rush, grabbed a saute pan that has been sitting next to a burner that was on , with too much going on, I grabbed it with my bare hands (yes I use towels but as I said, too much going on, you slip up) then the pain rushed in, my whole palm was like melted cheese (mozzarella) I quickly grabbed quart of iced water and kept cooking, occasionally dipping my hand in that water after every 30 sec to numb the pain because it was that unbearable. Same night I also had a grease burn from the fryer, didnt have time to react so the oil set it and burned me like you, following day I had a bubble. The good news is, you just made it, you are tough now, you beat the rush and the scars feel good. Even better news, in few weeks - month , no scars, oil burns don't leave scars as you would think.

Second, you need to reconsider your career choice. In this line of work, you need very thick skin. This business isn't what you see on foodnetwork, you will get scold from your very nice chef many many time. Doesn't mean he hates you, its just how it is sometimes. You suffer a lot for being underpaid and overworked, so if your passion isn't there, you might as well quit now. 

Third, I just gotta laugh for a second. "Chef didn't say he's sorry" If you want tender love and care you won't find it working in a kitchen.
 
#16 ·
My major scar is on my right ankle, about 25 years now.  Not hot oil, caramel.  (deleted) napalm, and having hairy legs and ankles didn't do much for my comfort either.  The only good thing about that one was that the caramel was so hot, the doctor said there was no chance of infection.
 
#19 ·
Got to agree with every single post here. Toughen up bucko.

You'll never survive more than a few months in this industry if you're so hurt over not getting an apology over something that was YOUR fault.

Be careful. That is the most important advice I can give.

File a workers comp claim. That is your only recourse and it's an option to you for a reason. Accidents happen and will certainly happen again, especially if you aren't careful.

Pretty soon they will have you working with sharp knives. Are you going to want an apology from your chef after you cut your finger because he told you to cut up potatoes? Be careful!

Besides, what were you planning on being a male model after your cooking career washed up that you are so afraid of a little scar on your arm? You'll have plenty of little scars on your arms and hands by the time you are my age (32) even if you are super careful like I am.

Hey, at least your skin didn't peel off your arm like a glove. I have seen that happen to one of my former, clumsy co-workers.
 
#20 ·
Then there was one of my co-workers that thought he closed the valve on the fryer, poured hot grease back in and dumped a bunch all over his food.  Luckily the shoe to the brunt of it and he moved very quickly, but he burnt the heck out of it.  One of the few times I actually agreed that a hospital trip was in order (of course, I usually keep those thoughts to myself as I don't want to be seen as the a$$).
 
#21 ·
When I wa much younger I was doing a gig for a jewish caterer in yhr very old Commidore Hotel in NYC. One of the guys went over to light the oven, the minute he lit the match to  the burner the stove blew up sending him flying over a ss table about 20 feet. He was really hurt and went to hospital. We all stood on the other side of the kitxhen shocked. He did get better but it took a while. In those days gas did not smell like today and you would have a hard time smelling a leak.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Okay I've read back through this and need to modify my original um...reaction.

First I would note that the OP hasn't been back in yet.....

Second, when I wrote mine it was getting late I was tired and admittedly not in a good mood that night. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/redface.gif

I had sort of skimmed through the OP and 4 or 5 replies, the whole thing reminded me a bit too much of

my nephew's accident. And he was badly hurt, and it definitely was negligence on the part of his employer.

And he never got anything but a bad attitude from them.

That said, after reading back through the OP's post more thoroughly, with no assumptions, the way it stands

I really don't know the extent of your injury. It could be what I would consider a major injury, or what I might

consider, as others in here do, mere griping about the hazards inherent in the job you chose.

I'm not sure which it is, but there's something in the ....flavor of your complaints, and the way you say you

interacted with the chef that made your concerns sound more...."cosmetic", than seriously damaging.

And again reading through, and not that it usually matters, but I'm getting the feeling of this being a little

"gender indicative" as well.

So...I am hereby reserving judgment on your situation, until and unless you decide to upload some pics

of your injury for us to appraise. You certainly don't have to, but others have already done that in other

threads....ala, "Cap'n Quint & Hooper" style. lol

So until I know more, I'll stick with a few concepts: first, I've always held it's a good idea to immediately

see your company doctor following any kind of work injury, regardless of the profession. Just to cover

your own backside, should the injury prove more serious than was thought. This eliminates the

"Why did you wait so long to see someone?" kind of response.

And second, this doesn't have to be a dangerous profession, but it IS to a degree unpredictably hazardous.

If you work day in and out around chemicals say, you're eventually going to get spilled on.

If you're a dog groomer all day long, sooner or later you're gonna get bit.

Beekeepers inevitably get stung.

And in the kitchen, working around hot food, equipment, and sharp implements, you're going to get burnt,

and likely cut. (Although every knife cut I've experienced has been at home--my commercial kitchen knife

record is perfect so far. lol) All you can do is learn from it, and be more careful the next time not to cook your

leg off, remove fingers, or take even worse hot oil baths.

So if you're still interested in opinions, feel free to tell us more.....we're a fairly fair-minded lot in here. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif
 
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