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- Joined Dec 22, 2009
Hi,
I graduated from culinary school five years ago and started working again a few months ago as a cook in a military hospital. In the mornings, I prepare omelets and eggs to order on a flattop in the cafeteria. During service, we keep the fillings (minced ham, veggies, mushrooms) on one third of the flattop. The quarter pans are propped up in a 2" hotel pan containing a little water. One edge of each pan is on hotel pan edge, so the bottom isn't immersed. Over the three hour service period, I may cook a hundred or more orders by myself. There's no time to grill fillings on flattop for each order and it makes everything stick.
Before service, I roast the veggies and mushrooms in the oven. I leave the minced ham in the warmer to heat up a bit. End of service, I toss what's left.
Some cooks say the minced ham should be kept on ice all during service. (Same cooks also insert raw veggies into their omelets. Needless to say, customers sometime complain about cold, runny omelets.)
Obviously, my ham is at temps between 40 and 140 F for much of the three hours. I could bake the ham with the veggies, but the temp will drop during service. I don't know if it rises to 140F inside the cooking omelet. It may not. But if I'm using fresh ham each day, it's safe, isn't it?
I need to make sure my reasoning is correct to back myself up. Sanitation and safety is the one area I feel pretty confident about. If I'm wrong, they'll forever doubt me.
Thanks for your guidance!
I graduated from culinary school five years ago and started working again a few months ago as a cook in a military hospital. In the mornings, I prepare omelets and eggs to order on a flattop in the cafeteria. During service, we keep the fillings (minced ham, veggies, mushrooms) on one third of the flattop. The quarter pans are propped up in a 2" hotel pan containing a little water. One edge of each pan is on hotel pan edge, so the bottom isn't immersed. Over the three hour service period, I may cook a hundred or more orders by myself. There's no time to grill fillings on flattop for each order and it makes everything stick.
Before service, I roast the veggies and mushrooms in the oven. I leave the minced ham in the warmer to heat up a bit. End of service, I toss what's left.
Some cooks say the minced ham should be kept on ice all during service. (Same cooks also insert raw veggies into their omelets. Needless to say, customers sometime complain about cold, runny omelets.)
Obviously, my ham is at temps between 40 and 140 F for much of the three hours. I could bake the ham with the veggies, but the temp will drop during service. I don't know if it rises to 140F inside the cooking omelet. It may not. But if I'm using fresh ham each day, it's safe, isn't it?
I need to make sure my reasoning is correct to back myself up. Sanitation and safety is the one area I feel pretty confident about. If I'm wrong, they'll forever doubt me.
Thanks for your guidance!