Chefs and the ever present dirty rag. (meats, kitchen, fish)
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This is why I use paper towels. I agree a little dirt never hurt anyone; however, I now do a lot of cooking for my elderly parents who have compromised immune systems so I am fanatical about avoiding contamination.
The wet dish towel used to wipe down the counters and then draped over the faucet has always skeeved me and I just told my parents and my sister who cooks for them also they are forbidden from that practice anymore lol.
You can decon that dish towel by cooking it in a pot on boiling for 15 minutes. It will kill any mold, mildew, bacteria, germs. Just do that after every cooking session. You can do the same for your sponges.
Agreed, if they're going to use towels like that, they should replace them every hour or so. Otherwise the guests at the later services are eating the germs off of that towel. As for hands, some hands on food on TV are grubby and disgusting looking. And that's on TV. Gloves are good as long as they realize that if they touch something dirty with gloved hands, they need to replace them. The gloves are to protect the food from contamination, not to protect their hands.
Agreed, if they're going to use towels like that, they should replace them every hour or so. Otherwise the guests at the later services are eating the germs off of that towel. As for hands, some hands on food on TV are grubby and disgusting looking. And that's on TV. Gloves are good as long as they realize that if they touch something dirty with gloved hands, they need to replace them. The gloves are to protect the food from contamination, not to protect their hands.
Gloves as well as hairnets aren't required like people think anyway. Gloves in fact are worse to use then bare dirty hands when handling cooked food or meats due to contamination aspects as well as the latex potentially melting and getting in the food.
Usually when you see gloves unless it's the person doing salads as the law requires and in a place like a soup kitchen where people have not undergone food safety courses and health checks to make sure they don't have typhoid, you may want to stay away because it's a sign that the chefs don't care about their hygiene practices and are just using the gloves to look less nasty to the uneducated.
If you ever worked in a restaurant kitchen, you would see a lot of things like dirty rags, vegetable with mold, meat which is on the verge of spoiling, cooks messing with their hair or nose, smoking, coughing, spitting, etc. Not to mention the tactics of some cooks/chefs when someone sends their food back for additional cooking or other problem. Some of you would never want to eat at a restaurant again. So, the dirty rag is just one small item of concern in my book.
Even worse is when I see towels draped over the cook's shoulder. ewwww gross unless he is completely bald headed. I thought hairnets were required when food is prepared for public consumption. It should be.
Even worse is when I see towels draped over the cook's shoulder. ewwww gross unless he is completely bald headed. I thought hairnets were required when food is prepared for public consumption. It should be.
No it's not. Hairnets are only required when once again food preppers, chefs etc have not taken food safety courses and been tested for certain diseases such as typhoid, salmonella etc.
Hairnets are a sign of a place you should stay away from if it's not a soup kitchen were it's staffed by volunteers.Meaning not paid employees who are supposed to be trained and supervised by the state health dept.
........ Hairnets are only required when once again food preppers, chefs etc have not taken food safety courses and been tested for certain diseases such as typhoid, salmonella etc.
...........
How does a food safety course and disease testing prevent hair from falling off your head and onto the food?
According to the FoodSafe course I took, that rag is..
Quote:
Originally Posted by jambo101
Cooking shows are my favorite viewing on tv, one idiosyncrasy/observation i see is just about all chefs have a rag hanging off their belt line, i see them constantly using the rag to clean their hands,clean small spills,wipe off cutting boards and then use the rag to wipe the edges of plates of food before delivery to the customer , seems a rather unsanitary practice..
That rag is a big no-no, no matter what Emeril Lagase is doing with it.
How does a food safety course and disease testing prevent hair from falling off your head and onto the food?
Simple you learn how to comb your hair properly so you don't have loose hair. Women tie their hair into pony tails or other hair cuts for the male and female. You also learn to wear hats and caps. Chefs hats exist for a reason. Keeps hair from falling into the food and keeps sweat off the face.
The facial hair is trimmed and often run through with an appropriate comb so any loose hairs are removed before service.
99% of the time it's a customer's hair in the food. Not the chef or the servers.
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According to the FoodSafe course I took, that rag is..
