# Mental mise en place, how can I be more "efficient" in the profesional kitchen



## renau04 (Jun 24, 2011)

I am a culinary student on my third year with one more year to go. I am fairly good with my mise in the kitchen ( Getting ready for service on time, making sure stations are set with everything that's needed and placed in strategic spots, etc). I have been particularly practicing my mise en place to achieve a single goal and that is to be more efficient in the kitchen, not make wasted movements on my station that just kills time. I am asking for some advice about this because I have a pretty serious cooking practical coming up and only have a certain amount of allotted time to make 2 portions of an entree and 2 portions of soup during the exam. What can I do to ensure that I do no miss the times that I have set for myself during prepping and cooking and not crash and burn or majorly screw up. Is the key prioritizing by cooking times as far as how long things take to cook and how long they might take me to prep? Just looking for some ideas or how other people set them self up. I'm kinda looking at it like a competition somewhat.

Thanks! Peace&love

"When we no longer have good cooking in the world, we will have no literature, nor high and sharp intelligence, nor friendly gathering, nor social harmony."

Marie-Antoine Careme


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## petemccracken (Sep 18, 2008)

Breathe!


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## renau04 (Jun 24, 2011)

lol yeah I guess that could help


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## renau04 (Jun 24, 2011)

Well I did great on the practical, almost hit a near perfect score! Im kind of pissed at myself because I was 3 min late on my time, which I have no clue what happened. I mean, I was ahead of time, way ahead of time throughout the 2hr 15min mark, my sation was immaculent, all my mise was there, and in the last five minutes as I was getting ready to pull my chicken out of the oven I looked at my watch and I was 2 min over my time and the chicken wasnt even on the plate...Luckily, I made sure I took my time to check/taste everything before it went on those plates, so I new it was perfect.

I aslo had a written practical which I did really good on!!

Right now im in an HVC kitchen, and its pretty intense so far.

URGENCY! URGENCY! URGENCY!

" Got time to lean, you got time to clean!"


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## rbandu (Apr 30, 2012)

It seems congratulations are in order.  In the grand scheme of things, 2 minutes isn't a huge deal for plating.  However bear in mind that in 2 minutes you can destroy the flavor profile you're looking for if you've still got heat on items.  When I work on the line I actually have a large-display digital clock on whichever station I'm manning.  I look at it constantly and it really helps me to stay on point.  I do the same thing with prep duties.  In time it helped me gauge how long certain tasks would take me (I've been doing it this way for years).  I actually got a raise many years ago in an upscale country club because the chef I was supporting gave me 3 light prep jobs to do with a time frame, and I told her "That'll only take me 12 minutes out of the 20 you gave me.  I can pick up something else."  At any rate, congratulations again.  Remember, OCD is a good thing in a kitchen.  Must...make...everything.......perfectly.....every time. *twitch*


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