# Bleach Formula?



## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

H, Just came back from visiting a friend and she was cleaning her chix prep board with vinegar water. OOPs! So I told her the :lol: health dept super should not come today. She does not have the sanitation system that the prof kitchens have. I cant remember the formula of Bleach to water which would clean her cutting board and still not dangerour to future uses. You :blush::blush:know, enough and not too much. Is there anyone here not that could give me the formula? Thanks


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## montelago (Nov 19, 2007)

200 PPM or about 1/2 ounce of bleach per gallon of water.


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## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

Thanks. You know---I wonder why homeowners dont get the education about food safety in their own kitchens. All these cleaners for household kitchens, and they dont really have the correct sanitizer, hummm, according to the Health Dept. In fact, some of the products out there are, or could be, darn right dangerous!! Wiz


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## montelago (Nov 19, 2007)

True, but if you think about it what venue is there for disseminating the information. The food network should do some shows about food borne illness and sanitation. Or maybe Oprah, then the sales of bleach would go through the roof.


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## cat man (May 7, 2007)

Guys
200 PPM is the solution for quatenary ammonia sanitizer.

Chlorine Bleach is 50 PPM

The standards are set based on residue. Bleach at 200 ppm will leave a residue that's considered an adulterant at that level, because the product you put on that 'sanitized' cutting board will be picked up and detectable at that high level on the food.

You can buy chlorine test strips, usually in the pharmacy section at many retailers

Cat Man


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## montelago (Nov 19, 2007)

Check your facts partner. 200ppm is the maximum recommended concentration when you are sanitizing without rinsing. Concentrations over 200ppm require post rinsing with potable water. Check Federal regulation 21 CFR Part 178. In fact 21 CFR Part 173 states that you can use bleach concentrations of up to 200ppm to sanitize raw fruits and vegetables. The CDC recommends a minimum concentration for sanitizing hard surfaces of 66ppm with 30 minutes of exposure. I don't know of any restaurant that lets their dishes soak in bleach solution for 30 minutes or wipes down prep tables for 30 minutes before use. Do some research before commenting.


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## cat man (May 7, 2007)

200 is the max, 201 is too much, w/out rinsing..
50 PPM is standard minimum in most states and more and more states are recommending not using chlorine for sanitizing at all because there are too many variables, including evaporation and water temp, not to mention Listeria in drains are more resiliant to chrinic chlorine use.
Many industrial plants will rotate amongst chlorine, quat and iodine based sanitizers on a weekly or monthly basis.

Last time I had Prime Rib in Vegas, is tasted like my swimming pool.


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## jim berman (Oct 28, 1999)

Tread lightly, fellas! We are here to exchange ideas and knowledge for the sake of education. We do not jump up and down on each other. We all have varied backgrounds with varied experiences... that's what makes us valuable to each other. Let's post in peace!


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Bleach? Well, yes that's one way to sanitize, mind you I only use bleach --straight up- to remove stains and odours.

What I suggest to the homeowner who has a dishwasher is to buy several cutting boards, they are pretty cheap. After use, rise it off and wash with the dishes in the dishwasher, the high heat will sanitize just as well.


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## Chef W.G (Nov 8, 2001)

I have seen several "old school" butchers who insisted on sanitizing with white vinegar, including the one that taught at my culinary school. I am not a chemist, and do not have any intention of throwing out my quat sanitizer any time soon, but isn't straight white vinegar acidic enough to sanitize?


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## m brown (May 29, 1999)

many dishwashing detergents contain bleach as well as the high temp action.

I use a product that's natural from melaleuca it smells of tyme.

Trying to keep away from bleach at home except for my white jackets and sanitizing a few key areas. 
:bounce:

At the office I use 1/4 cap of bleach to 2 quarts HOT water to clean off my tables.


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## risque cakes (Apr 20, 2007)

Vinegar rinse is also a great way to deter ants


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## montelago (Nov 19, 2007)

Funny guy.


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## tsblo (Jan 19, 2007)

We learned about this in our classes. Yes, vinegar does have sanitizing properties. It will kill up to 80% of bacteria on a surface. However, that 20% that is remaining, can be staph, salmonella, ecoli 0157 H7... And all those other food bourne illnesses that send a shiver down our spines. So much rather than play Russian roulette, the health standards are set that you have to destroy at minimum 95% of the bacteria on the surface.


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## wizcat3 (Jun 4, 2003)

What do you think about this one. In school a chef had us clean/sanitize a very old free standing butcher block with Kosher Salt and a very hard brush. How would you take care in that situation? I often think about that. The othe situation is---- the Health Dept did not have a problem with Formica work stations ?? He said if they are not "broken" they are just fine. The original surface had long gone. Humm. I had to use bleach to get the marks off.


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

We did that in school too, with the meat-cutting and baking tables. We would wipe them down with a bleach solution and then pour salt over the entire surface. This would stay on over night and the wire brush scrubbing would come in the morning. The idea was that the salt would draw out any oils in the wood that could turn rancid. This was in the good old days before someone decided that eating plexiglass chips was better for us than eating wood chips. Butcher and baker block tables were cleaned this way for years and nobody seemed to get sick. There was an article some years ago in one of the food magazines, Bon Apeptit, I think about someone doing a study and finding that wood contains an enzyme that acts as an antibacterial agent. I personally hate the plexiglass boards we have to use now as I consider them filthy dirt-catchers that can't really be cleaned. At home I use oly wood.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

A free standing butcher's block is a massive hunk of wood, usually weighing over 300 lbs. It was designed to withstand the heavy pounding and thumping and not to wiggle and squirm all over the place like a cheap prep table, but it wasn't really designed to act as a cutting surface. The best thing to do with butcher blocks is to have a nylon cutting board with a cleat running around underneath it to sit on the top of the block. Chop and cut away on the nylon board and toss in the d/washer. In this way the surface of the block is saved from heavy cuts and gashes that harbour bacteria, meat juices, grunge, etc., but you still get the use of the massive hunk of wood.

In my bakery I have over 12' of maple topped tables as prep surfaces. I repeat: as PREP SURFACES not as a f'ing cutting board, I have plenty of nylon cutting boards for cutting. The tables get sprayed with sanitizer every night. During the day they are cleaned with a woodworkers's card scraper, which works extremely well, and once a week get treated with beeswax polish. The table tops are still as smooth as a baby's bottom, with no rough spots, hollows or scratches.

Forget all about the arguement of whether wood has enzymes that kill bacteria. What health inspectors are after is if ANY surface has deep cuts or gashes. Both wood and nylon will accumulate these, and all kinds of juices and grunge can lodge in the cuts. Cuts can be thinner than 1/64 of an inch, but bacteria is even smaller..... Both wood and nylon boards can be run through a woodworker's thickness planer, giving the board a perfectly new surface, and I've heard of some guys using a clothes iron to iron off the cuts on their nylon boards


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