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Back Of House

  • Welcome Amigo! 

We would like to welcome you to our team and specially our very important kitchen team. We are looking forward to working alongside you as you will play a valuable and important role within our company. The information contained here is vital to your understanding of the operation and procedures of the kitchen that you will be working in. Having a good understanding of this information will allow you to be effective and efficient in your new role. 

In this guide you will learn how to: 

  • Open the kitchen
  • Cooking procedures
  • Food preparation procedures
  • Receiving and storing of stock deliveries
  • Change over from lunch to dinner service
  • Meal assembly and temperature checks
  • Closing the kitchen 
  • Cleaning and hygiene procedures 

You will be given a copy of the menu and build sheets so you can learn all the menu items. There will also be intensive on the job training where you will buddied up with a trainer and you will work side by side to develop your confidence and skills. 

ASK AS MANY QUESTION AS YOU LIKE. THERE ARE NO STUPID QUESTIONS

Zuus Clock and Computer recording system

  • Clocking in and clocking out. 

BBC Kitchen setup

It requires someone to be punctual, efficient, organised and fast. The kitchen needs to be fully set up by 11am, ready to go for service. Kitchen setup requires you to setup every area and section of the kitchen using the food from the night before and preparing fresh food for that day’s service.

Below is a useful schedule to use for your kitchen setup. The times are a guideline to help in the setup. Some of the procedures and the times will vary. Each of our restaurants is different so please use your initiative and work the set up for your own restaurant.

9:50am – Arrive at work. Get the prep list and read the notes from night before, Have a quick look on all Fridges temperature display and meant to be under 4°C. If not let your kitchen Manager know straightway.

10:00am – Sign in/Clock in. Turn on the Ban Marie/Hot section and Hot pot. Make sure both hot section and hot pot has enough water. Ban Marie water level 4cm over the elements and hot pot at least half full.

Bring all the use first food and or the food from the night before on to the bench. Food items that require to heat up is as follows

      • Chicken
      • Beef
      • Chilli-Con-Carne
      • Pork
      • Black beans
      • Smokey salsa
      • Cheese Sauce
      • Chocolate for Churros 

Put all the above items into the hot pot to heat up. It will take around 40-45 minutes to heat up on high flame.

Note: Cheese sauce and chocolate will take 15-20 minutes so put those two items at the end 20 minutes.

10:15am – Setup the cold section, Take off all the lids and place all products in the pans from the night before. Make sure that you check the quality. If it’s not acceptable throw it out and record it on the wastage sheet. If you’re not sure get a second opinion. Be sure to check for bookings and the prediction of the day’s trade. 

10:30am – Cook rice. For cooking rice see the rice recipe. Only cook enough for the lunch trade or cook double if your restaurant has a busy lunch trade. Turn the rice cooker on. 

10:40am – TURN ON THE DEEP FRYER TO 180°C AND TOASTERS/PRESS MACHINES TO 220°C. MAKE SURE YOU DO IT 15-20 MINUTES BEFORE THE SERVICE STARTS.

IF “COOK CHICKEN” IS IN THE PREP LIST TURN ON THE GRILLS ON HIGH AND OVEN TO 220 DEGREES. (Grill takes 20-30minutes to get ready). IF “COOK BEANS” IS IN THE PREP LIST TURN ON THE BEANS POT. FOR COOKING PROCEDURE SEE RECIPE.

10:45am – Check the temperatures of the meats and beans in the boiling hot pot. Using a thermometer probe, the temperature must be above 75°C before the food is ready/acceptable to serve.

10:50am – Take out all the meats from hot pot and place in the ban marie/hot section and cover with lids. Lid prevents the meat from dry out. 

11:55am – Set up two of 1/3 pans with half full soapy water for used cutlery and taco holders. And a bucket to store all dirty dishes to wash. 

11.00am – Opened and ready for service. Let the FOH know you are good to go for service.

 Start prepping all the required menu items/stock for the day. Prep the urgent or ASAP job first as you will need these food products for service. Follow the notes from prep. list.

The list below is the opening check list that will help you set up the kitchen in an efficient manner. This will help you remember what you need to do set up the kitchen ready for a busy service.

Kitchen Opening Check list

 

Day

 

Staff member

 

Required

KPI

Done

Notes

Check the cleaniness from the night before

Read

  

Read all notes and prep list from the night before.

Read

  

Turn on the grill and fryer.

Make sure it works

  

Switch on the hot section and make sure it’s element is covered by 4cm of water

Fill with water

  

Switch on the cold holding and make sure it is clean and free of water

Rack at bottom in, stops product freezing

  

Bring out all the meat from the night before.

Use all meat from day before first or with use first sticker.

  

Put the Mexican rice in rice cooker and start cooking

Moist and not dry. Not burnt

  

Make sure all the bottles are filled with sauces ready to go for service.

Full, clean, lids on tight

  

Restock the service fridges from the main cool room/ Fridges.

Neat, tidy all labelled

  

Double check the prep list to make sure that everything has been checked and you don’t run out of stock for the day.

Comprehensive list, share the work load and get it done

  

Hot melted chocolate for churros

Smooth, no lumps.

 

 

Each opening checklist for each restaurant will vary slightly due to different setup and different cooking methods, however the fundamentals are the same and must be followed on a daily basis to ensure consistency amongst the restaurants. 

Change over

Change over means changing from lunch service to dinner service. This when we restock all fridges and ingredients in readiness for a busy dinner service.The goal is not to be running to the cool room to collect stock or preparing ingredients or menu items during the busy dinner service. Everything should be ready to go for dinner. In order to make this happen, We have a list that we use to collect and prepare everything that we need for dinner service. 

Kitchen Change Over Check list

Required

KPI

Clean the benches

Free of food

Sweep the floors and shake the mats

Free of food

Empty and re-line the bins

Clean no smell

All tubs taken to the dish washing area

Stacked neatly

Change all pans in hot section & replace with new pan savers

Fresh and clean

Check water level on the hot section, make sure 4cm above the element.

Full and hot

Check all the fridges and make a stock list

Neat and tidy

Check your meats volume levels 

Fresh & moist

Check all fresh ingredients – should have enough otherwise do more prep

Fresh 

Check squeeze bottles in service for refilling (Guac, Sour cream, Smokey, Aioli)

Full and clean

Check rice, Beans– cook & replace

Fresh and moist

Hot chocolate for churros – cook more as needed

Smooth no chunks

Tortillas – All sizes 

Unbroken moist

Pico de gallo, guacamole, corn salsa, blanco salsa, pickled vegetables – make/replace

Fresh not dry but no liquid 

Fresh cooked corn chips – Cook more as needed

Fresh not stale

Crispy salad bowls – cook more as needed

Fresh not stale

Chipotle Chicken – Marinate more for 24hrs ahead

Cook next day

This list is a guide that will help stock and prepare for dinner. It also gives you KPI (key point indicators). This helps you identify wether the current product you have in your service area or in the cool room is good enough quality for service or requires re-prepping.  Make a comprehensive list and everyone in the kitchen team during that shift can work together to check everything off quickly and efficiently.

Closing checklist

Closing checklist is the restocking and cleaning up. This is very important and pivotal part of the kitchen operation. Walking into dirty kitchen is not only a pain but also dangerous as well. 

You should always LEAVE THE KITCHEN THE WAY YOU WOULD LIKE TO FIND IT!!

When the rush has slowed at end of the shift, There are certain things that can be done in order to start your closing duties, This is called a “pre close”. This will help you work efficiently and get out earlier and also get a lot of the cleaning and change over jobs done before the close. 

Below is a check list that will help you do a pre close and final close. This is checklist is designed for our staff to make sure that they are doing the right thing and also for the Manager or Supervisor in charge of the venue to check the quality of work that has been done.

Kitchen Closing Check list

Day

 

Staff member

 

Required

Done

Notes

Pre Close (before the kitchen has shut down service)

Restock all the items in service fridge eg. Tofu & veg, Jackfruit, Fish, Prawns and Poppers. 

 

 

Make sure the service fridges are filled with fresh ingredients and Meats that will be needed tomorrow morning.

 

 

Clean the grill, Empty drip trays and reline with foil.

 

 

Prepare all the metal pans with pan saver bags for replacing the used one.

 

 

Wipe out/Clean the rice cooker

 

 

Wipe down the presses, remove all burnt cheese and crumbs. Clean underneath.

 

 

Tidy the cool room/Fridges

 

 

Dry storage areas clean and tidy, all opened products in air tight containers

 

 

After the kitchen is closed

Turn off the Stove burners and clean/change the drip tray foil.

 

 

Turn off the fryers and allow to cool down. Skim the oil, filter or change if required. Clean sides.

 

 

Change out all the hot pans into new Vacuum seal bags and blast chill them until cool down.

 

 

Empty the water from the hot Bain Marie and clean the side and back splash guard.

 

 

Make sure above the hot Bain Marie is clean and tidy

 

 

Clean the cold Bain Marie remove all food scraps and ice build up.

 

 

Make sure above the cold Bain Marie is clean and tidy.

 

 

Clean the oven and shelves under the equipment.

 

 

All prep surfaces and benches are clean and tidy

 

 

All equipment is clean and stored correctly including all attachments’. (mixers, Robot coupe)

 

 

Sweep the floors

 

 

Empty the bin and reline bin for the next day

 

 

Check the cool room and freezer make sure that its clean and tidy.

 

 

CHECK OUT WITH THE MANAGER OR SUPERVIOR BEFORE YOU LEAVE AND CLOCK OUT.

 

 

Kitchen hand closing

Dishwasher machine emptied, Drained and cleaned. No pink build up.

 

 

All strainers and jets in the machine cleaned.

 

 

All equipment packed away and pots and pans.

 

 

All storage neatly stacked on the shelves

 

 

All bines removed and cleaned.

 

 

All kitchen tiles are cleaned/ Moped.

 

 

Black beans and rice bin corner is cleaned.

 

 

Shelves are cleaned and tidy in the prep kitchen.

 

 

There are some procedures that must be followed before you leave the premises for the day.

  • All temperatures and check lists must be completed, signed and filed for the day.
  • A prep list must be completed for the next day to give your morning crew a head-start for the day.
  • The close of the kitchen must be determined by the Supervisor or Restaurant Manager/Shift manager. This is not done by the kitchen staff.
  • The Supervisor or Manager must check and sign off the close before allowing the kitchen staff to leave.

This has been implemented in order to create a clean and consistent environment for our staff to work in. this will help the progress of the store and allow for an easier and better work environment. 

Receiving and storing

Receiving and storing of deliveries is a very important job that is completed by all staff in the restaurant. When we receive food deliveries, procedures must be followed at all times to ensure that the food we receive is at the legal temperature upon delivery and also stored according to the food safety requirements.

Failure to follow these procedures can cause the food to spoil, loss of product, loss of money for the business and most important loss of consumer confidence with our brand. 

There are tools that you need ,which are supplied to each restaurant in order to make sure that all our food products are delivered to our customers safely and free of contaminants. 

Tools and equipment required

  • Calibrated probe thermometer
  • Laser thermometer
  • Pen
  • Current day prep list

Upon receiving your delivery you must check the following:

  • Condition on the truck storage. (is clean with separate hold for freezer, chilled and dry foods)
  • Check the temperature of the truck using the laser thermometer. If the truck has multiply holds such a freezer and chilled, check all the holds for correct delivery temperature.
  • When the delivery is getting un-loaded choose three (3) random items from each hold, freezer, chilled and dry storage. 
  • Using a probe thermometer open the box that was delivered and place the probe thermometer between the bags delivered and check the temperature. DON’T PIERCE OR PUNCTURE THE BAGS TO GET A TEMPERATURE READ.
  • Record the item and the temperatures on you prep daily prep sheet and your initials.

Delivery Temperature log

Item

Temperature

Item

Temperature

Item

Temperature

Two Providores/Galipo

      

Morco Fresh

      

M&J chickens

      

Karella Grocer

      

Temperature range for deliveries

Frozen – below -18 degrees Celsius

Chilled – between 1-4 degrees Celsius

Dry – between 5-18 degrees Celsius

What happens if some or all of your delivery is out of the delivery temperature range? 

Firstly, You must get a Supervisor or Manager to assist you. Any or all product that is out of the range must be sent back to supplier and delivered back to the store same day and in correct temperature range. A credit note or return slip must be filled in by the driver for the following:

        • Product name
        • Amount
        • Price
        • Reason for delivery
        • Signed by driver and printed name
        • Signed by person receiving with printed name 
        • $ Amount if possible.

This will help us know how much stock went back to the supplier and wether we need to find alternative supplies for the day. You must make sure that the credit or return is stapled to the invoice and filed with the rest of the invoices. This will allow accounts to correctly pay our accounts. 

Storing:

Once the delivery has been checked off and received in good condition it must be stored in the correct places in order to maintain correct temperature.

When we start packing food away we need to rotate the food first in first out (FIFO).  Move the older food to the side and place the new food items towards the back of the shelf and then place the older food items to the front.  If you have USE FIRST STICKERS place them on the older food products. This practice should be implemented on all deliveries even the dry store. It is good practice to date the deliveries as they come into the restaurant. You can use a permeant marker or a date gun. This will help in rotating your stock and make it easier for ordering.

Storing food products is fundamental to our business and must be followed all the times. FAILURE TO FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS MAY LEAD TO WARNINGS OR DISMISSAL.

Cleaning and Hygenical duties. 

In order to ensure the upkeep of our restaurants is excellent for both Back of house and Front of house; we have jobs and duties that we must complete on a daily and weekly basis. A weekly deep clean checklist has been made in order to make sure our equipment and store areas are clean and tidy at all times.  This will be delegated by the Manager or Supervisor on duty.  Each store has a weekly cleaning chart that covers equipment and store areas. We have provided equipment and chemicals that can be used to aid the cleaning of these areas. 

Listed below are some of the chemicals and equipment used to clean certain equipment that we use on a daily basis.

  • Hot and cold holding equipment, all purpose cleaner, yellow and green sponge scourers and chux/wiping blue cloths.
  • Grill, stoves and fryers, heavy duty cleaners such as oven and grill cleaner and chux cloths. 
  • Personal protection equipment used
  • Rubber gloves
  • Face mask
  • Protective eye wear
  • PVC apron.
  • Head wear protection (hat or skull cap)
  • Shelves, tiles ceilings, all purpose cleaner, yellow and green sponge scourers and chux cloths
  • Floors – floor cleaner mixed with hot water, deck scrubber, and floor squeegee.
  • Food preparation areas, spray on sanitiser and chux cloths.

If you are unsure on what to use or how to use it please consult your supervisor or manager on duty for help. 

SOME CHECICALS CAN DAMAGE EQUIPMENT AND OR WORK SURFACES. IN CORRECT USE OF CHEMICALS OR USE CHECMICALS NOT INTENTED FOR A PARTICULAR JOB MAY CAUSE YOU HARM TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS.

DIETARY DEFINITIONS

Celiac (Gluten Free)

 Is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and other foods containing wheat, barley or rye. Oats may contain gluten as well. When a person with celiac disease eats foods containing gluten, an immune reaction occurs in the small intestine, resulting in damage to the surface of the small intestine and an inability to absorb certain nutrients from food.

Vegetarian

For the purpose of membership of IVU, vegetarianism includes veganism and is defined as the practice of not eating meat, poultry or fish or their by-products, with or without the use of dairy products or eggs. Often broken down further into OVO-LACTO, and LACTO. Vegetarians may or may not try and minimize their non food use of animals like vegans.

Vegan

Excludes animal flesh (meat, poultry, fish and seafood), animal products (eggs and dairy), and usually excludes honey and the wearing and use of animal products (leather, silk, wool, lanolin, gelatine…). The major vegan societies all disallow honey, but some “vegans” still use it. Some “vegans” also refuse to eat yeast products.

Lacto Vegetarian

Same as VEGAN, but also eats milk products. Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian- Lacto-ovo-vegetarians are vegetarians who eat eggs and dairy products — such as milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, cream and kefir — along with plant foods. “Lacto” comes from the Latin word fork and “ovo from the Latin word for egg.

Dietary Vegan

Follows a vegan diet, but doesn’t necessarily try and exclude non-food uses of animals.

Nut Allergy 

Tree nut allergy is a type of food allergy. It is a hypersensitivity to dietary substances from tree nuts causing an overreaction of the immune system which may lead to severe physical symptoms for millions of people. Nut allergy is slightly different than peanut allergy in as much as the type of nuts that cause the allergic reactions are not the same. Peanuts are considered legumes whereas tree nuts are considered dry fruits. The symptoms of peanut allergy and nut allergy are the same, but a person with peanut allergies may not necessarily also be allergic to tree nuts, and vice versa. Tree nut allergies occur mainly, but not exclusively, in children. They are usually treated with an exclusion diet and vigilant avoidance of foods that may be contaminated with tree nuts or nut particles and/or oils. The most severe nut allergy reaction is called anaphylaxis  and is an emergency situation requiring immediate attention and treatment with epinephrine

Kosher

Kosher is Jewish law, meat that is the flesh of animals that both chew the cud and have cloven hoofs (as the cow and sheep); the animal must have been slaughtered with by a specially trained Jew; inspected, and unless cooked by broiling, it must be salted and soaked to remove all traces of blood. Kosher fish must have scales and fins. The rules that apply to the slaughter and preparation of animals are the same. The cooking and eating of milk products with, or immediately after, meat products is non kosher; even the use of the same kitchen and table utensils and towels is forbidden. We order in the kosher steaks but it gets cooked on the same grill as all other meat.

Halal

‘Halal’ is an Arabic term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law and custom (opposed to haram). It is the way of slaughtering the cow according to the Islamic law.  All our chicken is certified Halal.