Pizza Today - September 2018 - 62

* Check sanitizer and all cleaners for
proper potency.
* All cleaners must be clean and properly
labeled.
GENERAL NOTES

* Never eat in the kitchen.
* Keep all bins labeled and dated.
* Always practice FIFO -- first in, first
out.
* Keep all of your hair inside your hat.
FOOD STORAGE

staff at Andolini's. This is it, what we use
in addition to their health department
training, which is fairly rigorous in
Oklahoma. Here are all the basics any
pizzeria needs. If you or your staff doesn't
know this by heart, you MUST teach it
ASAP.
Here are the basics and then some for
pizzeria foodservice:
TEMPERATURE. Yes, The danger zone,
the range of temperature in which foodborne bacteria can grow. The danger zone
is between roughly 41 F and 140 F. That
means anything under or above that is
factually growing bacteria.

Time allowable in the "danger zone" as
you go from cold to properly hot:
HEATING FOOD

Food must go from under 41 F to
more than 165 F in under two hours.
Example: Meat sauce must go from
walk-in to ready to use more than 165 F
in under two hours.
The minimum temperature of cooked
meat: should be 165 F for chicken: 165 F
and 155 F for ground meat.
COLD PROCEDURES

* Cooling food times must go from under
140 F to under 70 F in under two hours.
Then food must go from under 70 F to
under 41 F in the next four hours, and
140 F to 41 F in less than six hours For
example: pasta cooked at 1 p.m. must be
70 F by 3 p.m., and 41 F by 7 p.m.
6 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 8

Tips for faster cool down include:
* Use metal bins instead of plastic bins.
* Keep the lid off so heat leaves product
and put on after a few hours.
* Use smaller bins to help heat leave
product quicker.
* Place metal bin in ice bath.
THAWING FOOD SAFELY

*
*
*
*

In the walk-in
Under running water
As you cook it
NEVER just left out in the open or left
out overnight
HYGIENE

* Washing hands. Yes that's obvious, but is
it obvious to your staff ? Wash:
* when you start your shift or come back
to the line from up front or outside.
* when you touch your face or any nonclean item or surface.
* after working with meat or chicken
* When you wash your hands, lather for
20 seconds. That means sing Happy
Birthday twice or the first verse in "Juicy"
by Notorious BIG. Starting from "It was
all a dream" right up until BIG says "It's
all good."
WHEN TO WEAR GLOVES.

* When you work on a ready-to-eat line
(salad station, appetizer station, expo).
* Gloves do not guarantee sanitation. They
need to be changed as often as hands
need to be washed.
DISH STATION SANITATION NOTES

* Never stack wet dishes.
* Remove all adhesives from bins.

All unpackaged food prepared or
unprepared should be kept in prep
containers and labeled legibly with the
following information (no exceptions!):
1. Item name
2. Date prepared
3. Initials of preparer
4. Time (if item is cooling)
IN ADDITION TO JUST PUTTING THIS INFO
IN FRONT OF YOUR TEAM, create a fill-in-

the-blank test so you know they know what
they're doing.
Not knowing these basics yourself
is careless and irresponsible. The same
goes for your store if your staff doesn't
know them either. Teach these items and
continue the education by doing par checks
on them to ensure these guidelines are
being followed.
Also, invest in solid probe thermometers
for each person in your kitchen to keep on
their person and use often. Always sanitize
them after use. A simple purchase like that,
for each kitchen member of your staff from
you, shows you take this seriously and so
should they.
Now that you have this info, go and
gather up your staff. Get just a few key
people together to ask some basic questions
like:
* How much time do they have to let pasta
cool down?
* What temperature is chicken safe to serve
at?
If you don't get a split-second reaction
with a correct answer then you know you
have work to do. n

MIKE BAUSCH is the owner of Andolini's
Pizzeria in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a
frequent speaker at the International Pizza
Expo family of tradeshows.
http://www.PIZZATODAY.COM
Pizza Today - September 2018

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