Question for ECH

[LMNO]

So, I was watching FoodTV last night.  Chopped was on (a 3-course cooking competition), and at one point, one of the chefs cut themselves, and kept prepping a salad.  It wasn't a bad cut, but it was noticable.  So, as it turns out, the judges refused to try it, due to "safety and health concerns."

I was just wondering how common it is for the food I order to be bloody.  I'm not really grossed out, because the vast majority of blood-borne pathogens can't survive outside the body; I'd be more concerned about any bacteria on the skin before I'd worry about blood.  I was just curious about kitchen injuries.

[Suu]

That's what bandaids and fingercots are for. If they don't know how to use them properly they shouldn't be professionals.

[Triple Zero]

Fingercots are like those finger condoms, right? I used them when I worked at the bar of my old students club.

[Cain]

Obviously not ECH, but in my experience, the most common kitchen injury are burns.  I can only recall two times that someone cut themselves.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

I saw that episode. Glad they chopped her for it.

I knew a lot of people who worked in kitchens. Even during bad lunch rushes if you cut yourself, you stop, clean it and bandage it up.
And these were short order cooks and scumbags who would deliberately "do stuff" to certain customers.
Makes no sense, I know.

Also what Cain said there

[East Coast Hustle]

Obviously not ECH, but in my experience, the most common kitchen injury are burns.  I can only recall two times that someone cut themselves.

this, for starters. I might cut myself a couple times a year but I manage to get a 2nd degree burn about once a week. Of course, it helps when you can make the eastern european slaves student workers use the slicer and chop the onions. Speaking for myself, I would NEVER continue to make anything after I had cut myself without first ensuring that there would be no blood-to-food contact, and I would throw away what I was making and start over if I had even a hint of uncertainty as to whether or not my blood had contaminated it. I suspect that most professional chefs feel the same way, but I also suspect that the highest probability of blood contacting food comes from the prep guys, not the people cooking and plating.

[LMNO]

Good to know.

I've seen chefs do the "pinky in the sauce to taste" and the drops of sweat hitting the sautee pan, and even the "oops, replate the spilled food".  I was wondering where the line was drawn.

[East Coast Hustle]

Good to know.

I've seen chefs do the "pinky in the sauce to taste" and the drops of sweat hitting the sautee pan, and even the "oops, replate the spilled food".  I was wondering where the line was drawn.

I do "pinky in the sauce to taste" all the time (unless I'm in an expo kitchen, obviously) and will replate spilled food that hit the counter (not the floor...usually). I wear a bandanna covering my head to keep sweat from getting anywhere but on me. Of course, I'm also religious about washing my hands and keeping my face clean and my hair (both head and beard) out of the food. Not everyone goes to those lengths, and probable more don't than do.

Of course, when my pinky hits that sauce, that sauce is still hot enough to kill anything that might be on my pinky, and on the rare occasions that I do decide to use something I dropped (usually if it's a prohibitively expensive piece of meat). I at least throw it back on the hot part of the grill for a few seconds.

I am, after all, nothing if not courteous.

[Triple Zero]

also some of those things are not really bad per se, except they would lessen one's enjoyment of the food if they knew about it, but if they don't ..

i mean, if I can trust it's hygienic, who cares if the food fell off something? just presentation counts for so much in food, so it's better if you dont know.

and the pinky in the sauce, I can trust a good cook to wash their hands right? and they wouldnt put the just-licked pinky back into the sauce, since saliva enzymes can totally fuck up a sauce, everybody knows that right?

and a drop of sweat ... I wouldnt want to know, but it's not like you'd taste it.

I know a friend of mine who spits into oil to check if it's hot enough (sizzles), says they do it like that in Italy. he never does it (afaik) except for when he cooks for just himself though.

[East Coast Hustle]

TBH, that's the first I've ever heard about saliva enzymes being able to fuck up a sauce. I'm not sure how that would be possible.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

TBH, that's the first I've ever heard about saliva enzymes being able to fuck up a sauce. I'm not sure how that would be possible.

Only dairy-based sauces, AFAIK. It's like how it makes yogurt or sour cream separate.

[East Coast Hustle]

I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that one. Maybe if you dumped a half-cup of spit into the sauce, but there's no way the amount of saliva left on your pinky after tasting a sauce is going to fuck up the emulsion.

I mean, if it would, I can't imagine I wouldn't know about it. I'm trained in French Cuisine, and I've made zillions of cream sauces, bechamels, newburgs, and veloutes and that has NEVER happened to me, not once, not ever. Nor has it ever happened to anyone I've ever know.

Now, I'm not saying it's utterly impossible, just that a whole lot of experiential first-hand evidence says otherwise.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm gonna have to call bullshit on that one. Maybe if you dumped a half-cup of spit into the sauce, but there's no way the amount of saliva left on your pinky after tasting a sauce is going to fuck up the emulsion.

I mean, if it would, I can't imagine I wouldn't know about it. I'm trained in French Cuisine, and I've made zillions of cream sauces, bechamels, newburgs, and veloutes and that has NEVER happened to me, not once, not ever. Nor has it ever happened to anyone I've ever know.

Now, I'm not saying it's utterly impossible, just that a whole lot of experiential first-hand evidence says otherwise.

I've had it happen dozens of times. Possibly hundreds. For it to happen, the sauce has to be cool enough to not decommission the enzymes. Cooler than the boiling point, but I'm not sure how much cooler. Enzymes in saliva essentially work to start "digesting" starchy or creamy sauces, making them curdled or watery over time.

[East Coast Hustle]

I've pinky-double-dipped cream sauces at every stage of temperature between 34 degrees (our walk-in temp) and whatever the boiling point of cream is, too many times to count.

again, it has NEVER happened to me or anyone I've ever worked with or anyone I've ever known (aside from you). Perhaps I just have special saliva?

as far as starchy sauces, again, never happened to me but if it's a problem for you try using a roux instead of just the starch by itself. The change in the starch's molecular properties after being cooked with fat should keep that from happening.

[Triple Zero]

it's starchy sauces yeah. I haven't had it happen to myself either, not that I try though, I also rinse off a spoon before I put it in a sauce again. But I read about it in many places.

But yes it probably depends on the saliva, how wet your finger is afterwards, and how hot the sauce is, cause the enzymes will probably break down at some point.