Archived So, I'm a Foodie..

[FoodieGaL]

I had my first solo shift today and honestly, think I screwed up a few things..

First, I tried to make the sanitizer stuff, but I really couldn't figure out WTH I was doing... I ended up just using the bottle from yesterday, and didn't do the sink thing.. I know this is wrong.. but I really didn't know what the heck I was doing..

Also. The Hot Dog roller. We don't have any of that non stick stuff, so we've been running it without and just using the oven cleaner stuff afterwards. It seems to do a good job cleaning it, but, um.. if you rinse well with water afterwards, is this ok?

Pizzas. If we have leftover prepped pizzas from the before, can we still use them if they were in the prep fridge? I was told not to throw them away.. but I don't think this is best practice.

Oh Yeah. And Popcorn. Fresh Batch every 30 Minutes? Are we supposed to trash the existing bags (if they are remaining, and redo?) or can we simply make new batches as we run out... ? I told myself I shouldn't just waste so much popcorn, and only make it as needed... FATL never clarified this 🙁

 

[redeye58]

Sanitizer: make sure the cold water tap is turned before turning on the sanitizer (the 2 little knobs with hoses running into them over the middle of the sink - sanitizer is on the right). Turn it on & let it run until it turns white. Fill the bottle, screw on the spray top & slap a date label on (the green/yellow/red ones) the side. You can test it by sticking a piece of pH tape in it & counting for 10 seconds then comparing the color on the side of the tape spool. 200PPM is what you're aiming for. Label the bottle 200ppm, the day's date & times (opening to closing) for exp.
Hot dog roller: If your store has market, req some non-stick spray until you get your next order in. If you're using oven degreaser, not only should you be rinsing it thoroughly but you should be following up with sanitizer too.
Pizzas: You're right - keeping them is NOT BP. QMOS & toss.
Popcorn: fresh every 30. If it seems like you're tossing a lot, pop single batches & remake as you get LOW. Pace according to traffic. Don't ever keep it too long.

 

[buliSBI]

Sanitizer:

If you store is set up with the dish soap/sanitzer dispensing system. It should automatically add solution to the sink water as long as you have water turned on running through the system.

Sanitizer levels should be checked every day and every time you fill the sink.

Hot Dog rollers:
My store was told never use degreaser on the Hot Dog rollers. Basically on any area surfaces that come into direct contact with food. But if you do, wipe it off thoroughly and sanitize.

The one trick in cleaning the hot dog rollers I learned is to lay damp paper towels on the surface and spread some ice cubes over it. Make sure you have something to collect or absorb any excess water. After a couple minutes, the burnt hot dogs comes off pretty easily. Then sanitize.

Pizzas: All prepped pizzas must be thrown out. Once you put cheese, sauce, and toppings on them, they are only good till closing. The only thing that you should keep are the doughs for next day. Pizza Hut has very strict food safety guidelines. They have been known to pull out of stores for not following their guidelines.

Popcorn: Depends on your FA and popcorn case. If your popcorn case is front counter like mine was, I always a made a couple bags just for display. If its back counter you may not have to do it. But some FAs like all the popcorn bagged, some keep it unbagged.

The 30 min rule is a bit hard to follow as you can get fairly busy at times. But I made enough for the display bags and then another 1-2 runs to start in the morning. As it gets busier, I tried to keep 5-10 bags worth in the case. If I run out, it only takes about 2-3 minutes to pop. The last couple hours before closing, I would only pop on whats selling. Then last hour, I prepped a few bags before cleaning the machine. And would be done with the popcorn for the night. Yes you are going to have a lot of wasted popcorn.

I would throw the old popcorn and pop new popcorn every 30 min. Whenever I had down time, or whenever I was at the case. And always counted what was wasted and QMOSed it out. If you can figure up how many scoops can make a bag, you can get a good estimate of how much popcorn you are QMOSing out without filling the bags.

The more you make the more you have to throw away and clean up after. So adjust to what you are selling and whats being wasted.



There are a lot of short cuts you can do to close FA.
Ex. Just figure up whats not selling at the end of the night and close it down the last hour. Like coffee, as long as your FATL is ok with it. Prep for the next day at the start of your closing shift, so you can concentrate on cleaning and closing.

 

[SlapHappy]

I'm surprised no one mentioned this (maybe it's different in other stores) but as for the sanitizer, per Steritech, we have to wait until the bubbles are gone from the sink of sanitizer water and then test and use it, assuming the test is okay. If the test isn't okay, we have to fix the problem then wait for the bubbles to disappear again, test, and if it's okay, we're good to go.

Waiting is a PITA because ours takes 20 to 30 minutes for the bubbles to disappear.

 

[TargetGuy]

Once you put cheese, sauce, and toppings on them, they are only good till closing.

Actually, they are only good for four hours once you top them. The time topped and time of expiration should be written in the far right boxes on the MRD cards and placed on each stack of five pizzas.


As for the hot dog roller, it isn't necessary to use the non-stick spray but it certainly helps when cleaning. You should NOT be using oven degreaser (Foam Free) on the hot dog roller, but rather the food safe "Kitchen Degreaser" which should be one of the bottles in the chemical spraybottle tote. Several stores in my area have a trick to make cleaning the hot dog roller easier. Use buliSBI's method but instead of ice cubes, use Sprite. It's so acidic it takes most of the burned on grease right off. After doing that, be sure to thoroughly clean with the Kitchen Degreaser, water and sanitizer in that order.

 

[buliSBI]

Sprite thats a new one. I can see the acid and carbonation helping.

 

[Snook]

Never tried sprite on the hot dog roller, but I was taught to lay down wet paper towels on the flat part right after I turn it off, and keep spraying it with sanitizer to keep it wet. Let it SOAK for a good ten minutes and the stuff slides off. That's the thing about the grease; it comes off super easy if you let it soak long enough! For the actual roller, I'd just throw it in the sink, a few minutes on each side and the stuff would just slide off.

 

[FoodieGaL]

First off all, I wanted to say Thank You to all of you. I did actually get the Sanitizer working 😀 I never thought I'd actually pull that off.

Now that I remember the password, I can respond, so Yay 🙂 Redeye & BullSbi, you guys are awesome 🙂

Sprite thats a new one. I can see the acid and carbonation helping.

If HS Chemistry serves me Right, the "Phosphoric Acid" basically Phosphates will act as a cleaner. I think that stuff is powerful, but don't quote me on it.

 

[FoodieGaL]

I forgot. I was speaking with a fellow foodie at another store (basically asking questions..) and she was telling me, something about taking the nossles or the drink spouts I guess on the Coke machine, and placing them in a solution. Um, anyone know what she was talking about? Is this something were supposed to be doing, everyday?

 

[TargetGuy]

I forget. I was speaking with a fellow foodie at another store (basically asking questions..) and she was telling me, something about taking the nossles or the drink spouts I guess on the Coke machine, and placing them in a solution. Um, anyone know what she was talking about? Is this something were supposed to be doing, everyday?

Yes! Every night after you close down and turn the lights off, lock up the soda machine. Then you twist off all of the nozzles (there are two parts to each but most of the time they come off as one) and then run them through the sinks. Soap, rinse, sanitize and dry. Then leave them off overnight.

This is a somewhat new practice as about six months ago Diversity changed it from leaving the nozzles soak in sanitizer overnight. So if your fellow team member says they should be soaking overnight, you may want to have a look though the cleaning task book and see what it says as best practice.

It can be a bit tricky to get the nozzles off but once you get the hang of it it's really easy!

 

[FoodieGaL]

I'm starting to wonder, just what else Am I supposed to be doing, but not.... 🙁

 

[FoodieGaL]

I forget. I was speaking with a fellow foodie at another store (basically asking questions..) and she was telling me, something about taking the nossles or the drink spouts I guess on the Coke machine, and placing them in a solution. Um, anyone know what she was talking about? Is this something were supposed to be doing, everyday?

Yes! Every night after you close down and turn the lights off, lock up the soda machine. Then you twist off all of the nozzles (there are two parts to each but most of the time they come off as one) and then run them through the sinks. Soap, rinse, sanitize and dry. Then leave them off overnight.

This is a somewhat new practice as about six months ago Diversity changed it from leaving the nozzles soak in sanitizer overnight. So if your fellow team member says they should be soaking overnight, you may want to have a look though the cleaning task book and see what it says as best practice.

It can be a bit tricky to get the nozzles off but once you get the hang of it it's really easy!

Super Thanks 🙂 Seriously, I wouldn't know what I was doing without you guys 😀

 

[buliSBI]

Just follow the listed daily and weekly cleaning duties. I always hated cleaning the pretzel machine and smoothie machine. It took too much time.


There should be a key for the soda fountain spots, or use a heavy duty cleaning cloth.

If Diversity, doesn't like them soaking in Sanitizer over night. Then run them through the Soap and Sanitizer, and let them soak in hot water. It will help get any excess syrup off.

 

[The Dude Abides]

For the hot dog roller, I can tell you from experience ice cubes are definitely the way to go. What I do is wrap a couple of them up in a paper towel and rub it all over the surface. After a while not only will the stuck on crud start coming off, but it will also cool down the surface so it's easier to wipe off.

The Dude

 

[FoodieGaL]

I wanted to ask... if a Guests asks for a water cup, and then walk over the the soda machine and get soda instead, are we allowed to say or do anything?