kitchen-clean-msg – 3/7/10

Comments and suggestions on cleaning the kitchen after an SCA feast.

NOTE: See also the files: evnt-stewards-msg, headcooks-msg, feast-decor-msg, feast-serving-msg, tokens-msg, event-ideas-msg, camp-kitchens-msg.

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NOTICE -

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

Thank you,
    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous
                                          Stefan at florilegium.org
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Date: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 13:04:29 -0500
From: "Gedney, Jeff" <Gedney.J at phd.com>
Subject: RE: SC - "I lived... I've got to find out what to do now!"

kat wrote:
> btw, some advice, if anyone's got any to spare <g>...  Though it is sadly 
> normal in our area for the kitchen crew plus autocrat to be the core of the
> cleanup crew, the incidences of early hall-fleeing were much higher than 
> normal this year.  So much so, in fact, that not one of the kitchen crew were 
> able to make an early escape, and we didn't make it out of the hall quite by 
> the time we were supposed to.  I was wondering if anyone out there has ever 
> found a tactful yet successful way of remedying such a situation; and if so,
> would you be willing to share?

When ever I autocrat, I judge it MY responsibility to get commitments in
advance for both hall AND Kitchen cleanup crews. I maintain them as
separate requirements. It is also my job as autocrat to follow up on
these commitments and find replacements as needed BEFORE the particular
shifts requiring such replacements. I also make them aware of the shift
schedule Before the event, and remind them of it every time the event is
discussed. (Also how I staff Troll, and Hall Cleanup)That is how I
autocrat. Cleanup should NEVER be left to chance.
Here is a sample Kitchen crew shift schedule:

3:00 - 4:30  First Pot scrubbing shift - one Person (keeps used pots
cleaned and ready for re-use as needed)
5:00 - 6:00  (First remove served) - Second Pot scrubbing shift - one
Person (keeps used pots cleaned and ready for re-use as needed)
6:00 - 7:30  (during feast service) Dinner Crew - 3 persons ( Two at a
time - in remove rotations so they each get to sit part of the feast )
keep the serving dishes and pots ready as needed
7:30 - done (Kitchen Cleanup) 4 persons Final Cleanup

This way, the kitchen is generally done and the doors closed on it by
9:30, and they all get to play.

Feast cooks are not allowed to clean up. Cooks are the Feastocrats
Responsibility, Cleanup is mine.

I know that some kitchens are not conducive to this level of
organization, but I try always to have kitchen cleaning in process as
early as possible, and I never lump it in with the kitchen staff's
duties or hall cleanup.

Brandu


Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 23:45:13 -0500
From: Heitman <fiondel at fastrans.net>
Subject: SC - Finding a clean up crew

>Does anyone have any suggestions on getting such a wonderful, noble
>tradition as yours started out here?  Any suggestions would be greatly
>appreciated.
>
>       - kat

Well, my suggestion of asking the households has already been taken.  :/

The BEST way I've ever found to get people to jump at cleaning up is
to talk to most popular person around into doing it.  Whoever it is who
has the most friends, is the most fun to be around, whatever.  You talk
him/her into doing it, then gently suggest that a couple of his/her
friends would certainly be welcome.......instant clean up crew, and you
only have to convince one person.

I have also been known to give out sinfully good, hand made chocolate
truffles, but only to the people still around AFTER the kitchen is clean.  :)

Fiondel


Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 14:02:54 -0400
From: Christine A Seelye-King <mermayde at juno.com>
Subject: Re: Re: SC - After feast

>Inevitably, either nothing is done, or the people who volunteer for the
>committee have "other commitments" and you get one or two folks who
>sweep or wash dishes for about an hour and then have to go home.
>
>Does anyone have any suggestions on getting such a wonderful, noble
>tradition as yours started out here?  Any suggestions would be greatly
>appreciated.
>
>       - kat

Find folks to ask in advance for a few hours work after the feast.  Make
sure that they aren't folks who will have 'other commitments', like folks
that have only been in for 6 months to a year.  If they know in advance
that they will be doing grunt work for a while in the evening, they can
bring some older garb to work in.  Then, make it a treat.  Upbeat music
(some bawdy Irish drinking songs works well, instead of rock or something
[more] unperiod).  And then, have sodas, beer (if you're able), even
chocolates reserved for the clean-up crew.  I'll bet that pretty soon,
those 'other committments' will seem less important!  I have also
shamelessly asked a large Duke to be the 'Clean-up Crew Wrangler', I said
that I didn't need him to actually do the dishes, just help round up a
crew for the job.  That worked REALLY well.  ;)

And shame on the event planners for not following through with filling
out the committee they formed!  I know it is just one more thing to be
done, but in my experience, we have a lot of people who are more than
willing to help out, but they need to know what needs to be done, and
have someone who knows when and where things need doing.  (OK, maybe I
sound like a Pelican, but really, a little bit of advance planning and
someone who can direct the flow of work is all it takes!)

Mistress Christianna
who is intimately familiar with the tools of cleaning up, but doesn't
necessarily want to have to use them all the time!


Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 07:40:27 -0700
From: Anne-Marie Rousseau <acrouss at gte.net>
Subject: Re: SC - Antibacterials

hi all from Anne-Marie

Melisande sez:
>A while back I saw a documentary on the telly (yes, sorry, it's probably
>pseudoscience) that said humans couldn't stand the amount of heat
>required to kill off bad bugs, so we are better off using cold water
>since that retards their growth and the temperature of hot water we like
>is what the bugs like too, thus causing them to multiply more
>prolificly(sp?).

actually, you're right that we cant wash our hands with temperatures high
enough to KILL bugs, but most tap temperatures are  more than high enough
to make them unhappy and make them fall off our hands, which is the point.
Its the soap that kills 'em. Manual scrubbing does a good job of removing
'em even without soap, too.

Most bugs are happiest at 36o celcius, ie body temperature (for the record,
that feels just slightly warm to the touch). That';s the temp they grow at,
though they do ok at slightly higher and slightly lower temps. They'll even
grow in the refrigerator (4o celsius) and no one washes their hands in that
cold of water (not on purpose :)). And most hot water is about 100o F or
higher. Proteins start to denature about 104o F, so even if it doesnt kill
them outright, they arent very happy about it.

The big thing about hot water is that it tends to make the bugs waxy outer
coats more liquid, so the soap does a better job.

I tell people in my food safety classes I teach:
1. soap and water are your friends, use them often. We will often have a
bucket of soapy water in our period camp so folks can wash their hands
frequently. Be sure there's clean towels so you dont pick up more bugs
drying your hands.
2. Scrub to knock off the bugs, etc
3. HOT water is great, especially when combined with bleach and used on
cutting boards, countertops, etc. We use boiling water whenever we can.
4. if you cant have access to soap and water to your satisfaction, use
something like diaperwipes or antibacterial hand gel. It'll taste gross but
it wont kill you, and it does a number of the bugs.
5. Nothing around us is sterile in the real world. Fortunately we all
should have a nice and happy normal flora who's job it is to fight off
foriegn nasty cooties. (yes, that's the official scientific term). Where we
get into trouble is when the balance of normal flora gets out of wack,
either through colonization by bad bugs (like E.Coli in hamburgers) or
through the ingestion of toxins (like in botulism).

wash your hands and your cookware so that you dont get enough bad bugs to
beat out your normal flora and cook and store your food correctly to avoid
the production of toxins, and you should be fine.

hope this helps some...
- --Anne-Marie, who feels a _serve it forth_ article coming on :)


Date: Wed, 25 Oct 2000 15:49:04 -0500
From: "Isha ArrowHawk" <ArianneShadowWalker at worldnet.att.net>
Subject: Re: SC - When planning a feast ....

From: Olwen the Odd <olwentheodd at hotmail.com>
> Get volunteers _in advance_ for clean up duty.  Often a passer-by during the
> day is very happy to stand and wash prep stuff so make (using the plastic
> bag method previously seen on the list) a plastic covering apron so the
> volunteer doesn't have to spend the day wet.

Something that I do when my beloved and I go camping, is to carry a few of
those paper thin garbage bags, the really long ones?  I cut holes in it for
head and arms, and just slip it on over my clothes until I'm done with the
clean-up chores, then it gets tossed in the trash.  Fast, simple, and easy.

Ari


Date: Tue, 18 Jan 2005 08:01:43 -0500
From: "Denise Wolff" <scadian at hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [Sca-cooks] Re: OOPS! 12th night feast
To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Mark S. Harris" <MarkSHarris at austin.rr.com>
>>>> 12 people or more. the clean up will kill you.
That certainly would have improved things. You are right on there not being
enough hot water. I'd forgotten that problem. More cloth towels would have
helped as well. Even if the kids hadn't soaked several of them playing in
the water, there still wouldn't have been enough. The paper towels didn't
quite seem sufficient, but maybe that is the answer. There were lots of pans
and trays and steam pans to dry off.<<<<

***Lesson learned years ago. when buying paper towels- don't scimp on cost.
What you save in pennies add up when you need more than you thought you
needed because they either fall apart or don't absorb well

_and_

Invest in a large amount of cheap drying cloths (just for this purpose). I
just fill a bag with the overused ones and throw them in the washer-with
bleach after the event is over. save them for the next event in the group
gear.

<<<By the way, no one answered my questions about what to do with pots of
bad food, leftover glop etc. What is supposed to go down the drains? What
gets put in the trash? And if the latter, how do you package it? Plastic
bags full of unsolidified pudding or whatever, seem to be rather unwieldy
and likely to burst at the wrong time. And even gallon cans of glop are
likely to be a mess in the dumpster, even if you have enough 
cans.
Stefan>>>

*** Drain off the liquids in the sink (unless especially greasy- then
disposing requires either alot of hot water and dishsoap, or reserve to a
fixed container- which can be put in the freezer- so it congeals. Dispose of
this when it does-not at the event most likely).
"Double bag" the semi solid remains and place in the can.

Hope this helps,
Andrea MacIntyre


Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 23:09:45 +0200
From: Volker Bach <carlton_bach at yahoo.de>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Ode to the Scullion
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>

Yo, any Kiplingheads here?

Points for guessing the original :) And feel free to post this in your 
Next feast kitchen.

The Scullions

After the sated feasters leave,
And the kitchen crew have fled,
The dutiful scullions come out at eve,
When their lordships are safely abed.

They wipe the tables and clear the plates,
'Till the feasthall stands silent and bare,
Then hie to the kitchens where still awaits,
Their labours' more arduous share:

In scalding water to plunge, unafraid,
Their hands, though the heat they feel,
For washing platters must not be delayed,
Lest the gravy and grease congeal.

They brave the knife in the shadowy murk,
Of the washing basin hid,
And sweep under cupboards where dust-mice lurk,
By their tireless conscience bid,

For they are resolute to preserve,
The good name that SCAdians bear,
And to leave the memories that well serve,
When we ask for the site next year.


It went down well with our crew, and I like to have the help feel 
appreciated

Giano


Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2007 22:54:54 -0500
From: "Nick Sasso" <grizly at mindspring.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] New Grits use OOP
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

I had necessity tonight that led to inspiration.  I had a pot of tomato
sauce simmering with less attention that it needed tonight, and it began to
scorch . . . a little scorching is my desired effect to add depth to my
sauce, but this get a little too far.  We did not have a complete layer of
carbonized sauce, but more than browned bits.  I removed the sauce and
immediately ran water to begin dissolving what I could with dish soap  
added.

When soaked for 3 hours or so, some of it softened to come off, the rest
adhered with some tenacity and resisted the plastic scrubby.  I reached for
salt to use as an abrasive.  No dice.  Only a 1/2 cup left for cooking.  So,
I reached for the stone ground grits.  I figured it would have some abrasive
property, and not scratch my stainless pan.  2 Tablespoons worked great.  If
you try it, I recommend going as dry as possible.  Damp sponge or rag at
most.  I had a little too much moiosture, and the grits tended to soften too
quickly for the duration of scouring I needed to do (about 10 to 15 minutes).

Sure, you could use steel wool or Brillo, but the natural grit is what I had
and it worked . . . safer on the hands, pan and environment as well!  You
might try coarse grain of any sort as well, but be sure it is a hard grain.
Also check your price per pound before dumping in some heirloom cracked
grain of some sort.

niccolo difrancesco


Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:31:42 -0500
From: "Audrey Bergeron-Morin" <audreybmorin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Blessed are the non-cooks
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> Anybody who is willing to come in and deal with things when I am
> brainfried and tired is SO BLESSED.

Well, thank you :-) The local cooks' guild must thinks so too since they
gave me an official apron and offered me to join...

It all started a few years ago. I started by being on the serving  team, then I ended up washing dishes a few times - I'm friends with a lot of our Barony's cooks - in awful conditions. The worst time was when all we  had was one sponge (given to us by one of the feasters) and two towels to  clean a whole feast's worth of dishes.

I decided then and there that I would take over the washing part so we would never, ever be stuck like that again. So, as soon as the last course goes out on the tables, I grab a mouthful and leave the putting away to my Lord, and sneak into the kitchen. I put the leftovers out on the serving tables with assorted ziplock bags and plastic containers (I collect margarine, yoghurt and other pots that would otherwise go into the recycling bin), put out a big pot of soapy water for people to wash their dishes when there's no sink for that purpose, grab a good voice to tell everybody to get what they want, and start washing. Usually somebody shows up and takes care of the putting away of the leftovers. By that time I'm usually deep into the washing part :-)

I have put together a wonderful kitchen cleanup box. Plastic bags (including heavy-duty extra-large trash bags), sponge towels, assorted sponges and scrubbies, steel wool, dish soap, dry bleach tablets (never got to use them because we never have an extra sink for the rinsing), bottle brush (handy for washing strainers), kitchen gloves (don't use them but I have them just in case), about 25 dish cloths that I take out ONE AT A TIME (I know if I take them out all at the same time they'll all be wet within 10  minutes), even rope, scissors, elastics, hand moisturizer, nail clipper, pen and paper, bandages, and many other things... and the lid of the box is concave, so I use it as a drip mat.

And the cooks know I have the box with me, so they can ask for specific items during the day...

I guess I just found a niche that needed to be filled and I decided to do a decent job of it :-)

It just kills me to see the cooks who've put in work for months before the event, have often not slept much the whole week before and sometimes not at all the previous night, and cooked all day and all evening, and often not even eaten during the cooking part, sitting in the kitchen just watching the piles of dirty dishes... The best part is when I have enough hands and can simply shoo them out of the kitchen because they're "in the way" :-)


Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:28:29 +1200
From: Antonia Calvo <ladyadele at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] health dept. and coolers RE:  kitchen tips
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

otsisto wrote:
<<< Side note/a tip: I have a box the contains 2 types of dish soap, sm. bottle of bleach, various sponges, metal scrubber, rubber gloves and a spray bottle with sanitizer for sanitizing surfaces, basically a washer's kit. You can not always rely on there being these items in the kitchen. >>>

Our group has a bucket of cleaning supplies that goes to events.
-- 
Antonia di Benedetto Calvo


Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:33:37 -0400
From: james of the vayle <jamesofthevayle at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Potentially dumb food safety question
To: Cooks within the SCA <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

Just a note if using clorox wipes, from the clorox website:
"For surfaces that may come in contact with food, a potable water rinse 
is required"

euriol wrote:
<<< I just want to add when I go in a kitchen to cook a feast, I thoroughly
wipe down all the surfaces with clorox wipes, even if it looks clean before
bringing any food into those kitchen. >>>


Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:38:55 -0500
From: Stefan li Rous <StefanliRous at austin.rr.com>
Subject: [Sca-cooks] dish washing
To: SCA-Cooks maillist SCA-Cooks <SCA-Cooks at Ansteorra.org>

Audrey commented:

<<< Welcome to the club ;-) I'm something of a semi-official dishwasher -
but only *after* feast. I want to eat sitting down, but as soon as the
last course is served, I'll rush to the kitchen for cleanup. Cleanup
shouldn't be the cook's job... they deserve a break after all that
cooking...>>>

Yes, my lady wife, Alina, would rather be in the kitchen scrubbing  
the dishes than sitting through court in the hall.

And while the cook's deserve a break, they should have someone  
available to answer questions and give directions.  There was a  
recent event, not in our barony, where all the cooks disappeared and  
there was no one to tell the dishwasher(s) which pots had food to be  
kept, which were to be dumped, which pots were owned by the hosting  
barony or individuals or were the site's. It was also interesting  
that none of the clean-up staff was from the hosting barony.

Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas           


Date: Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:59:02 -0400
From: "Audrey Bergeron-Morin" <audreybmorin at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] dish washing
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at lists.ansteorra.org>

> dishwasher(s) which pots had food to be kept, which were to be dumped,

Our strategy is usually to put all leftover food out on a big table
with ziploc bags and plastic containers, and have a herald announce
that all food is free to grab. Cooks who wanted to keep something
already have done so before they left the kitchen. Anything left over
after that is either dumped or given away to people staying for
cleanup. We've had a few events held at churches where they would keep
the food for charity.

> which pots were owned by the hosting barony or individuals or were the site's.

We've never had site pots - not in the few years we've done cleanup
anyway. We have our own, and expect individuals to claim their own
pots, or they're packed with the Barony's things!

<the end>
Edited by Mark S. Harris	kitchen-clean-msg	Page 9 of 9