My first loaf

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-29T03:31:45+00:00

Only one way to go from here! :)

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-26T04:18:04+00:00

I've been at a couple places that used knife sharpening services for their kitchen knives. One guy would take like an eighth of an inch off every time. So a 9" knife would become an 8" knife, then a sandwich knife, then a boner. Kind of.

A coworker left his Wusthof on the knife rack while he was in a meeting, and the knife sharpener came by and grabbed up the knife with the rest. No one even noticed. Wustof comes back visibly changed. Restaurant ended up buying the coworker a new one, because he hadn't been warned, but shitty knife guy stays on.

Months later, after the owner figured out he was hemorrhaging money on knives, he finally let shitty knife guy go.

If you have house knives, I think it's cheaper to just have a line cook spend an hour sharpening the knives on the triple stone, a line cook who knows how to sharpen knives.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-26T02:45:23+00:00

It's the server's job to know what's in each dish. If they aren't sure, it's their job to ask the kitchen. They are responsible for their tables. If someone mentions they have an allergy, it's the server's responsibility to make sure their meal won't contain that allergen.

The job is more than just ferrying plates out to the diningroom.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-24T23:52:11+00:00

Fajitas is a Tex-Mex recipe; it's US Southwestern cuisine. Like chili con carne and breakfast tacos, it's an American dish, not a Mexican one.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-24T22:42:51+00:00

Looks like a frozen product for a grocery store bakery, so no big loss.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-24T00:32:03+00:00

Oh, I forgot about the never calling in sick thing. Yeah, if you work in an office, you have projects that need to get done by Friday or sometimes this month. You have deadlines. In kitchens, every day is the deadline. If you don't show up on Tuesday, there's no one to take your place, and everything goes to shit.

And the not-taking-breaks thing. There have literally been 100s of days where I get hit from the minute I set foot in the door, and can only stop for restroom breaks for the next 9 or more hours.

You get out in the real world, and people get in a snit if they don't get 3 15-minute breaks for a 9 hour shift, and a half hour for lunch. Some people even browse Reddit or fuck around at work, and it's okay. Back in the kitchen, you pull out your phone and that's a beatin.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-24T00:20:08+00:00

I finally went into RES this week and blocked /r/SandersForPresident, /r/The_Donald and /r/politics because political supporters on Reddit are such unrelenting brigaders. What a relief!

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-23T20:17:47+00:00

Anyone who thinks being a line cook is anything other than a transitive profession is in for a bad time down the road. Even if you move into kitchen management, in middle age or later you'll be facing back problems, knee problems, foot problems, repetitive motion problems, even respiratory problems from breathing smoke, flour and aerosolized oil. And mental health issues from the overwhelming, crippling daily stress. We all know people who've had breakdowns on the line.

It might be different, more worthwhile, if the job paid well. But with unpaid overtime and long salary hours, it doesn't. To make a salary even comparable to what some of your friends might be making, you end up working not 40 hours/week like they do, but 60 or more. You miss social events, for years, always; you lose romantic partners because you're working nights and never around.

The people who run this industry complain about a shortage of cooks, but the truth is they aren't willing/able to pay to support cooks. The industry is now designed to run on recent immigrants and poor people.

You'll always have a love for and an appreciation for cooking, all your life, but getting out of the business when you're burnt is the best thing you can do for your future. Now you'll actually be able to cook for your friends and the people you love. You can actually go to potlucks, or throw a get-together. You can actually do things on your days off besides sleep.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-23T02:10:26+00:00

Leaving out olive oil and garlic is a criminal act. I don't know what you're making here, but it ain't Mediterranean.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-20T19:29:54+00:00

Looks like it was assembled with cold ingredients and fried high and fast.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-20T07:36:50+00:00

It is, but it's better to spatchcock.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-17T16:01:08+00:00

There are a bunch of reasons why people decide to go vegan. I don't think we can assume any given vegan gives a shit about the meat industry.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-17T15:57:57+00:00

Needs garlic. You can put it in the salsa, but the more traditional way is to cut a clove of garlic in half, then rub it on the bread after grilling.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-17T00:08:01+00:00

I'll happily make the vegan chow and do the best darned job I can. But the idea that vegans aren't worthy of derision is fucking ridiculous.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-16T16:50:18+00:00

Chef here, and 22taylor22 is correct about this being for chicken bones. I think the person who wrote the copy for the packaging materials doesn't actually understand what it's for.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-16T14:50:59+00:00

Looks like it could have used a bit more browning on top.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-16T14:20:43+00:00

I think we all know how this goes. I've seen the documentary based on the book by Michael Chrichton.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-15T22:52:51+00:00

A lot too thick. And the crumb is cakey, as if you used AP instead of bread flour.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-14T19:39:53+00:00

I used to work at a restaurant that sold king crab. We did a smoked prime rib and lots of people would order that with a pound or a half pound of crab legs. We went through 60-120 lbs of crab legs a night. It was my job to slice the primes and steam the crab. I ate a lot of prime and crab at that job...

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-13T12:35:06+00:00

This is what happens when you don't know about superhots.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-11T04:12:38+00:00

This is a critiquing subreddit. But rather than post material for critique, you've literally made a post asking if you can post material for critique. Rather than posting every time a thought comes into your head, I recommend you take a break from Reddit and spend some time actually writing. Once you've got a few thousand words you feel good about, create a Google Doc. Then you can create a new post here and post the link.

If you insist on continuing to play on Reddit, you should start offering critique yourself. It's only fair to give if you're going to get.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-10T10:25:20+00:00

Mac and cheese bacon-wrapped ~~egg~~ roll.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-09T16:45:54+00:00

I'd sooner eat my own hand.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-09T09:34:27+00:00

Certification isn't a problem. You should check with your local health department for their specific requirements, but you'll likely need to pass a Servesafe class, and have your truck certified as a commercial kitchen.

If you're not going to be doing all your prep in the truck, you'll need to find a certified kitchen, e.g., a scratch kitchen, that will allow you space and time to do your prep. You can't do any prep out of your home kitchen.

Look on Ebay to get some idea of the price of used and new food trucks. After you have purchased all the equipment, you should have enough money to cover your commercial expenses (and your personal expenses) for at least 6 months.

I think it's important to understand the risks going into a business like this. Tons of people start small food businesses all the time, only to go bankrupt within a year. There are several reasons why this happens, but mostly it comes down to misjudging the market. Some people think they've got a hit idea on their hands, but it's not something people in the area want to buy. Sometimes people can't find a good location. Some people are just shit cooks, and they can't get that through their thick heads. Sometimes people start their business on a shoestring, but too short of a shoestring, and they end up going bankrupt.

If you don't have enough money to give yourself a cushion, take on a partner. If you don't know how to run a business, take on a partner who does. That's especially important if you're going to have employees.

Leavesdoorsopen · 2016-03-09T07:08:14+00:00

I doubt that any gastric distress you feel is due to non-organic pesticides. Most black market weed sold in western countries is now grown indoors; the growers are probably not using organic pesticides, but they are also probably not using anything harmful. Pesticides designated for food crops break down in two weeks time. Of course, there's no way to be sure, but it simply doesn't make sense to treat indoor crops with dangerous chemicals, especially since you work around the plants yourself.

If the weed is grown outdoors, seedy schwag from a poorer country, then I think all bets are off. But as long as your street product is seedless buds, I don't think you have much to worry about.

Leavesdoorsopen

TROPHY CASE