As it has been said....

There is one thing more exasperating than a wife who can cook and won't, and that's a wife who can't cook and will.

~ Robert Frost ~

Dr. CKP Fixit says..

Always drop the floor structure for entire kitchen footprints. (Recommended drop is 300mm). This enables indirect drainage execution and flexibility for adding waste connections without coring through the slab or disturbing the water proofing membrane. The situation also makes it easy in future to move or add coldrooms without requiring a ramp. Dropping the floor therefore adds tremendous flexibility for future kitchen renovations (dropping the slab includes dropping the beam grid as well); otherwise the floor drop is of little or no value….

Foodservice Trivia

   A full keg of beer is 15.5 gallons. Although in reality a barrel of beer is not available for sale, for measurement purposes, its capacity is 31 gallons.
        Beer is sold in half barrels and quarter barrels. The capacity of a half-barrel of beer is equivalent to a full keg of beer. There is another; the Pony keg which is more popular. This is half the capacity of a beer keg; it has the same diameter as a full beer keg, but is half its height.
        A full beer keg is 592mm high and 432mm in diameter and weighs 161lbs. A Pony Keg’s height is 476mm high and 432mm in diameter and weighs 81lbs. Most draft beer is not pasteurized so it must be kept between 36°F and 38°F until dispensed. There are 1984 ounces of draft beer in a full beer keg. That is approximately 160 glasses of beer in a full beer keg, and 80 in a Pony Keg .

Website Relevant to Foodservice Facilities Design

Smokeless Teppanyaki Unit

Teppanyaki refers to the Japanese cooking method which uses a flat hot grill plate. The word teppanyaki is derived from teppan, which means iron plate, and yaki, means grilled. Chefs maneuver to prepare and to cook food in front of patrons, tying in their flamboyant skills; often drawing the crowd’s attention whilst making up the whole teppanyaki experience.

Fancy Corporation has recently introduced a complete teppanyaki suite. This comprises of the main mechanical components (NSF and CE certified):

Suction aperture – effective frontal thermal and effluent sweep of up to 500mm.

Filtering element – stainless steel and welded construction, with high efficiency grease filters.

Electrostatic precipitator – filters remove residual oil/smoke particles and associated odors.

Grease collector – sump to collect grease drawn from both the filters above Air muffler – water-cooled sound dampener to minimize noise due to rotational suction fan.

The entire space saving design can be customized to cater for a particular number of patrons around the perimeter of the grill plate. There are obvious limitations to this (11-12 max) as the chef needs to extend and serve each guest personally. There are also a variety of wooden side panels and colored surrounding tops available to suit the theme of the restaurant outlet.

Customer behavior makes salad bar unsafe

A self serve salad bar is an attractive feature in most restaurants today. Those fresh healthy vegetables and fruits are displayed in such a way; its so tempting that one can’t resist the salad bar. But are these salads and fruits safe to consume. Restaurants try their level best to make their salad bar safe by following certain safety procedures. A recent study by the University of California showed that 60% of customers committed at least one unhygienic practice while serving themselves at the salad bars. To make a salad bar safe, the first consideration is to design the salad bar /buffet counters according to certain health codes. Some of the unhealthy habits are that customers tend to spill food around hard to reach corners and containers. The spill residue becomes contaminated and it’s difficult to clean.
Dipping fingers into salad dressing for a sample lick is another common habit and also eating and refilling their soiled plates while waiting in the serving line. Children ducking their heads underneath sneeze guards to access food and taking and replacing food from their plates to the buffet are some of the common habits. The salad bar should be designed properly to include signage to guide customers what to do and what not to at the salad bar.

Resource :
Nancy Napolilli, Program Manager
Environmental Sanitation and Food Safety
Department of Environmental Conservation

Meat Storage

Since meat is a highly perishable item, utmost care and attention is required in storage. Contamination mostly occurs during the cutting and processing stages. Bacteria thrives in three conditions namely: Low acidity (near neutral pH), presence of water supply or other moisture, (such as meat juices) and a warm temperature (between 45°F to 127°F). Safety measures to control these factors depend on the types of meat product. The 5 basic types of meat product are fresh meat, cooked meat, cured meat, canned meat and frozen meat.Fresh meat should be refrigerated at temperatures between 38°F to 40°F. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature at the location this meat is stored such as the walk-in cold room. Leave the meat in the original wrapping wherever possible. It is important to allow free air circulation around the meat. Meat should never be washed prior to storage. Cooked meat should be cooled as rapidly as possible in order to avoid food poisoning. Do not hold meat at a warm temperature (between 40°F to 140°F) for longer than an hour. Once cooled, the meat should be wrapped and refrigerated.For cured meat such as ham, bacon, smoked pork and sausages; the heat, smoking and processing inactivates most bacteria. Leave these items in the wrapping to prevent further contamination. Once opened, cured meat products would stay fresh for a week. Luncheon meats should not be refrigerated. Canned meat should never be frozen. Storage requirements are always stated on the label of the cans. Frozen meat can be stored at 0°F.
Freezer time should be limited to maintaining optimum quality and freshness. Freezing meat will not improve its quality, but will retain its natural color, flavor, texture and nutritional value. Frozen meat should be thawed slowly. Refreezing meat may result in a lower quality and the loss of it’s natural juices. It is recommended that fresh beef and veal is stored no more than 4 days in a refrigerator and 6 to 12 months in a freezer. Fresh pork and lamb no longer than 4 days in a refrigerator and 6 months in a freezer. Ground beef, veal and lamb, no longer than 2 days in a refrigerator and 4 months in a freezer. Bacon no longer than 7 days in a refrigerator and 1 month in a freezer. Ham slices no longer than 4 days in a refrigerator and 2 months in a freezer. Smoked sausage no longer than 3 to 7 days in a refrigerator, and dry and unsliced sausages no longer than 3 weeks in a refrigerator.

Resource :
A Study conducted by the University of Nebraska.