Archived Closing Starbucks...

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I'm freaking out a little bit, here!

I have to close by myself for the first time tomorrow night, and I do not feel good about it. Honestly, I just don't feel adequately trained. Most of my anxiety stems from doing dishes. Just because of the way things have worked out, I haven't had to do any dishes since I started training at the beginning of this month. None! Either someone from Food Ave did them, or the person I was scheduled with took care of them. I wish they would've let me do them myself... I know about the whole "wash, rinse, sanitize" thing. But that's about the extent of it. Do all of the dishes need to go in the dishwasher?! How in the world does that thing even work?

Any major tips for closing? I know it's a good idea to start eliminating/washing dishes that you don't need ASAP. But other than that... Ugh. I'm just feeling so frazzled!

Any help would be appreciated!
 
Generally I start 2 hrs before close, traffic permitting of course.
I grab one of the dishwasher baskets & set it aside to load/carry. I'll put in half the milk/steam pitchers, all but 2 spoons, the soy blender, 1-2 of the frap pitchers, drain mats & take them to the sink to wash.
After rinsing, position them in the basket for the dishwasher (drain mat drapes over the contents). The basket slides in, close the door & hit the cycle/start button. It runs just over a minute.
While they're washing, wipe down your counter/prep areas with 1) degreaser 2) water 3) sanitizer. Once finished, you can dip them in sanitizer then set them out to dry. When you set out the clean drain mats, set your clean pitchers, etc to dry. Repeat with the other half. Just about every removable counter fixture can go through the dishwasher: syrup stand, ice scoop tower, plexicubes for cup stacks, etc. Not all fixtures need a nightly wash, tho (except ice scoop tower).
You should have 2 sets of syrup buckets & pumps: one in use & the other set ready for prep. Some folks change out the pumps & clean them singly, others do them all at once. You should have one ea for frap coffee base, white mocha, mocha (large bucket), chai & pumpkin spice. Fill the new bucket with syrup, top with the pump & put a date sticker for the next day (expires at closing).
Take the old pump, dump out the old syrup & rinse before washing/rinsing/etc. Disassemble the pump for cleaning, placing small pieces in a hot cup with hot water from the brew station spigot (rubber ring, plastic disc, etc). remaining pieces go into the dishwasher after wash/rinse. Don't forget the skinny mocha pump, too.
When reassembling the pumps, match the spouts with the appropriate knob. Chai & frap base have a smaller hole at the base of the spout than the heavy syrups. Put a date stamp on each syrup as you go.
Pull out sections of your prep area (cup stacks, lid holders, sleeves, straws) & wipe them down in the same manner: 1) degreaser 2) water 3) sanitizer.
During the last hr, you should be down to just 2 coffee pots: Pike & decaf. All others should have been emptied, rinsed with scalding water, filled with hot water from the brew station & the lids shut. If the insides seem grungy, pour a packet of the stainless cleansor in & fill it with hot water. It'll fizz for a while dissolving the build-up. When done, pour out & rinse with scalding water.
If pastries have sold down, see if you can combine them on fewer platters on the upper shelf while you wipe down the lower one. Once they're QMOSed, clean the glass with glance. Platters & tongs into the wash.
When using the vacuum to clean out the loose beans from the espresso machine, use it to clean around the brew station & grinder as well.
Depending upon the model of your espresso machine, the drip pan may be removable. Scrub it & the grate to rid it of milk foam build-up.
Tea pitchers, iced coffee pitchers, banana coolers, cream pitchers, pour station stand components, hot water measure cup - these should be washed daily.
That's all I can think of for the wash. Make sure the dishwasher has about an inch of water in the bottom. If it's dry, hit the fill button 2-3 times until sufficient.
Hope this helps.
 
Thank you SO much! I really don't know why nobody ever taught me some of this stuff. It's really frustrating, sometimes. But I feel a little better about it now!
 
Yup, pretty much. Sometimes just before closing I'll also pour the teas into cold cups so I can wash those too. I really hate running around at the end of the night. Hope your closing went well!
 
It did go pretty well! I only went about 10 minutes over when I was supposed to leave, so that was way better than I expected! Luckily, they now have two of us closing on the weekends, for the holidays. Which is so nice!
 
Yup, pretty much. Sometimes just before closing I'll also pour the teas into cold cups so I can wash those too. I really hate running around at the end of the night. Hope your closing went well!
Yeh, forgot to mention that. We pour our teas & iced coffee into trenta cups so we can wash the pitchers, too.
 
Wow. I can't believe how differently my Starbucks runs.
First, what is a dishwasher?! Not that I mind washing everything by hand but wow that sounds amazing.
I know all stores do things differently but I can't believe how drastic it is. This was a good read
 
Pastries are generally QMOS'd & tossed after closing.
There used to be a list of which items were good for two days (loafs) vs one day (cakepops, brownies, cookies, etc) but when La Boulange rolled out we were told to pitch everything at day's end.
 
We never had a dishwasher at mine either. We have one at the company store I work at, but is just basically a sanitizing machine. So, yeah, we still hand wash.
 
Our dishwasher is an absolute beast & is great when you're crunched for time.
That said, I've washed by hand when it's gone down. Most of the youngsters I work with would do ANYTHING in lieu of washing by hand (for one, they can't handle hot water) so I always let them deal with guests & I have my zen time washing dishes :)
 
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