r/Chefit • u/a_guys_account • 2d ago
Rate My Sauté Station
Been on Sauté 8 months, Tips and Questions appreciated. Ovens do not work FYI
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u/ForwardDeer2119 1d ago
Honestly, I don’t even want to nit pick because it’s clean, pretty well organised and all you’re labels are cut and straight. If you were in a fine dining restaurant I’d knock points off for a few things but definitely not necessary here
I’m sure you pump numbers out of there and grind that section so good job.
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u/a_guys_account 1d ago
Let me hear the fine dining shit, im really trying to improve i appreciate the feedback
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u/ForwardDeer2119 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oui chef,
Your 1/9 station on the first photo should be completely flat by using the same gastro shapes or not bothering with the second container at all, absolutely no spoons in the gastros, instead use 2 spoon bains for one dirty one clean instead of one empty one with no water.
Get rid of the gloves from your board unless it’s your restaurant policy, in that case keep them on the shelf to give yourself more room
Top your bottles up and just to be a dck keep them label forward and if possible all the same size bottles and a little smaller so you can have the right amount for service each day. Even a little tray for them to keep even is nice
Keep your utensil container closer to you and only have exactly what you need for your service in there. Also have a dirty clean Bain for this as well
Where are your bench towels and plate wipes? (unless pass chef/expediter cleans them for you)
Get that knife off of the shelf!!
I could be wrong here but the asparagus looks overly pre blanched? If it’s not then it should at least not be stuffed into the 1/6 and organised neatly
Second photo nicer, I don’t know how your line works so can’t comment on efficiency.
Like I said in my first comment, looks great that’s just what I would nit pick at. Keep it up
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u/MoleEnchiladas 1d ago
Leaving scallions room temp? Strike 1
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u/LegacyQuotient 2d ago
1/9th with salt needs a swap.
Asp looks a little over, could you swap it to a 1/3rd?
Would the salt and pepper be better served over by the burners? Or maybe dupes?
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u/a_guys_account 2d ago
I started standing Asp vertically saves space, lasts longer, and Looks Cleaner. I keep salt and pepper near proteins for mise. Dupes are a good idea for by the stove for sure
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u/LegacyQuotient 2d ago
Can you blanch the asp less? It seems like its browning.
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u/a_guys_account 1d ago
the ends are peeled so that may be impacting it ill certainly experiment with blanch time
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u/texnessa 1d ago
I hate seeing tools left in mise containers all day. Much prefer two bains for spoons. Also, no serving spoons on the line. Its worth investing in multiples of uniform spoons- yeah, can be expensive and FOH cutlery is free, but using the same tool over and over creates plating memory. Not a shill for Kunz but I know I've got 2.5 T's of product every time and only scoop once, rather than having to scoop multiple times to get the same amount of product with house spoons.
Personally, I am team cold cubed butter all the way because I almost always have mounted sauces on my menu.
No knives on shelves. But gloves do belong above, not on the board.
The asparagus pains me because that ain't gonna look good and uniform on a plate. Better to find a way to lay them uniformly all pointing the same way in a third. More efficient, not having the turn them all the same way while plating. Can the white stuff in the 1/3 get swapped into a deep square boy? Or cut them on the bias. All depends on how they need to be plated.
Would help to know your dishes to find ways to make your mise more efficient. For example, I have heavy volume of spinach sides and I blanch and shock to shorten the pick up.
Personal preference drives where to put the pasta pot. I'm a righty and prefer to have the pot on my left, pull and shake pasta into a saute on the front row and sauce from the right. I don't like it when the pasta water dribbles into the sauce.
In the end, how a station is arranged is how to make it most efficient for your workflow, to save time and energy, and prep in a way that makes pick ups as easy as possible.
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u/CarrotAntique4772 1d ago
This is a fun “find the thing” puzzle. Knife was the first thing I saw. But kudos to OP for seeking advice. To me that’s the sign of a growth minded cook.
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u/texnessa 1d ago
Agreed. Some kitchen people are agents of chaos and really benefit from the help of detail and organisation oriented paper people who happen to work in kitchens. I am an ex TV producer and the things you must be good at to succeed are making fucking lists, documentation and planning contingencies for when a generator blows or a tech director ends up on jail the night before the Super Bowl. Different game, same chaos.
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1d ago edited 1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/texnessa 1d ago
This woman does indeed fuck.
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u/raisedbytides 1d ago
My apologies, chef. Will edit
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u/texnessa 1d ago
No worries. Its the default gender assumption, I just like to clarify to remind everyone that women exist in professional kitchens ; )
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u/raisedbytides 1d ago edited 1d ago
Doesn't help that my bad hbbit is to call everyone regardless of gender "dude". I mean no harm it's just a bad habbit I can't shake..
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u/texnessa 1d ago edited 1d ago
I figure 'dude' has pretty much become gender neutral in this day and age. My default is often 'hey mate' when I don't know how someone prefers to be addressed and don't want to make assumptions. Being well intentioned is all I ask of myself and others.
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u/raisedbytides 1d ago
What I wouldn't give to have people like you in my kitchen lol.
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u/texnessa 1d ago
Ah, thats so nice to hear.
I find most happy kitchens have a balance of genders, ages, and backgrounds who communicate well and find commonalities which lead to mutual respect.
The most unhappy ones in my experience are the ones where its a uniform bunch of young lads who make every day a perpetual dick measuring contest. I have a zero tolerance for that shit and thats when I use the 'if you kids don't stop fighting in the back seat, I am pulling over and you can walk the hell home' voice.
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u/thiiiiiiisguy 2d ago
Who is Joey and why are their rubbers in your station?
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u/a_guys_account 1d ago
We have Three Joeys in a 9 person kitchen, but its referring to Burnette Saute joey, and its a 40ft rubber band chain from asparagus bands
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u/EllaBean17 Lurking Line Cook 1d ago
Cut leafy greens are a TCS food. Get those scallions below 40F before the health inspector knocks you for it
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u/Moon_chile 1d ago
It much to point out that wouldn’t be nitpicking. Everything is clean. Asparagus looks way over the fill line. Don’t love the rubber spat living in that baine vs being kept separately. Glad to see another member of the cut tape club.
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u/tater36 1d ago
Well since the oven doors never open it’s a great place the hang tongs. I do the same on our busted oven. Tape is good for labels but if you could have different color tape or tongs of a different color like the black one (we have the same ones in green and purple too) it might make you a little more automatic when reaching and still avoiding cross contamination. You could even just wrap bands around the tongs with tape e.g. 1 band for pasta, 2 for shellfish, 3 for meat
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u/katebandit 2d ago
I’m not one to criticize. The only concern I have is there are several pans on the cutting board outside of refrigeration.
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u/Fun-Definition6053 2d ago
Salt, pepper, tasting spoons. Butter and scallions, the only slightly questionable item
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u/ScientistEuphoric809 1d ago
Use that day and I don’t see a huge issue. Especially if it’s getting cooked. Garnish is another convo
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u/a_guys_account 2d ago
I like Softened Butter for service, if i could keep it spoon-able under refrigeration i would. As far as i know Health department only cares that we don't store butter at room temp. Scallions should Probably be refrigerated.
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u/smack_dope 1d ago
Well storing and using for service are two separate things, if you temper what butter you need and dispose of what was temperature abused at the end of service there is no issue
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u/terrordactylUSA 1d ago
Im against the blue tape, it leaves a sticky residue behind when you pull it off and drives me crazy. Green tape guy here.
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u/Redsnapper1202 1d ago
I never needed a cutting board that large and I hate using plastic. So I would always replace it with a smaller wooden one. Free's up space to set the hot pan down while I was plating.
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u/texnessa 1d ago
Wood in a professional kitchen is an open invitation for the Dept of Health to ding you to oblivion.
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u/Redsnapper1202 1d ago
I have never seen a wooden butcher block get even come close to how nasty plastic cutting boards get. On top of that in the ten years I have been cooking at high end restaurants in Charleston Sc never had dhec say anything.
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u/texnessa 1d ago
NYC fine dining, in over a decade have never not gotten bitched out by the inspector over wooden charcuterie boards. Local rules are local. And Europe has far stricter guidelines for board use, I don't even store wooden presentation blocks in the kitchen. Properly maintained HDPE is way less high maintenance than wood and is anti-microbial.
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u/Redsnapper1202 1d ago
Damn, they are really by the books. Every new restaurant seems to put everything on boards in Charleston.
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u/texnessa 1d ago
Its a trend like anything else- hell, a couple years back idiots were plating on fucking shovel heads and serving fries in mini metal shopping carts.
I run banquet at a very fancy hotel near Windsor Castle and we do huge spreads of cheese and charcuterie during the cocktail hour[s] on multi-levels of tree stumps that the gardeners cut for me from the forest on site. We decorate with herbs and flowers from the kitchen garden, and a fresh bay tree by the back door to my kitchen. They look rich people rustic.
The stumps are always thoroughly wiped down and kept meticulously dry.
But I still put down parchment before using them because I am still damaged by NYC health inspectors lol.
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u/Comprehensive_Job378 1d ago
listen. as a chef of 248 years in ultra fine dining and multiple michelin asterioids. i can tell you through these blurry photos that everything you do is wrong. if i were to do it, you would see how smart i am. even though i have no idea what youre cooking, its all over cooked, and based on my town, the health inspector will come and shut you down immediately. im the best, youre the worst. did i mention how much experience i have at 7 star michelin restaurants?