Walked into a restaurant kitchen from 2005 last week

I picked up a shift at an old-school Italian place downtown while their sous was out sick. First thing I noticed was the walk-in had no digital temp monitors, just a grease-stained clipboard with a thermometer on a string. The head chef was teaching a new kid how to tell if oil was hot enough by dropping a breadcrumb in it. It made me realize how much I rely on wifi probes and timers now. Do any of you still have those manual tricks that newer cooks just don't learn anymore?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_nathan28d ago

Calling it "not that big of a deal" is kinda missing the point, @craig.john. Sure, you can cook without all the gadgets, but when you're used to them and suddenly don't have them, it can throw your whole rhythm off for a service. Having a breadcrumb and a clipboard isn't bad, but it's a completely different game from guessing with wifi probes.

craig.john28d ago

Oh come on, it's not that big of a deal.

elliot_patel27d ago

Nathan's got a point, but I think he's being a little generous about that breadcrumb trick. @craig.john, I get where you're coming from, but it's not just about the gadgets being a crutch. That breadcrumb test works fine for a pot of oil on a home stove, but in a busy kitchen with a big fryer that's constantly dropping in cold food, you need a thermometer or you're guessing. I've seen too many half-cooked orders come from someone who thought they felt the right heat but the oil had dropped thirty degrees. The clipboard with a string thermometer is actually the bigger issue for me, because without a proper digital probe, how do you know your veal stock hit 165 on the nose?