Kitchen hygiene issue (Cork city stall)

Dermighty

I was walking home through town earlier and saw there was a crepe stall on corn market street (stall name available via PM). I ordered one for myself and one for my girlfriend. There were three crepe irons (circular metal hobs) and to the side there was a flat cooker for sausages which had 1 cooked sausage and 2 very obviously raw sausages I assumed were cooked on it (no cooking noise or evidence the temperature was high).

When preparing one of the crepe pans he took a scraper (like a paint scraper) from beside the raw sausages and scraped the crepe iron and put it back beside the raw sausages. I said it to my girlfriend and walked away, my girlfriend said it to him and he just hung his head and didn't respond.

the beer revolu

what exactly is your issue?

So what if the scraper was "beside" raw sausages, the crepe plate is hot so will not harbour any bacteria.
If you were a strict vegetarian and the scraper was touching the sausages, then you would have cause for complaint, otherwise I see no issue.

Mr Simpson

Its a non issue, he was scraping a hot crepe plate, the heat will kill the bacteria.

Swiper the fox

So you came on here to try to ruin his business, I really can't see any other point to your thread(which should really be deleted by the way, is this what this forum is about?)

tricky D

It's 2 simple issues of cross contamination between raw and cooked meats, and meats and non-meats. Raw meats should always be separate and whether the crepe pan heat is enough is moot as temperature might be too low and cooking time too short. Issues are a valid concern.

Mr Simpson

tricky D wrote: »

It's 2 simple issues of cross contamination between raw and cooked meats, and meats and non-meats. Raw meats should always be separate and whether the crepe pan heat is enough is moot as temperature might be too low and cooking time too short. Issues are a valid concern.

The eho wouldnt have a concern imo. The temperatures would be sufficient. And its being used to scrape 2 cooking surfaces, happens in every kitchen with a flat top in the country and is included in mosts safety statements.

CorsendonkX

tricky D wrote: »

It's 2 simple issues of cross contamination between raw and cooked meats, and meats and non-meats. Raw meats should always be separate and whether the crepe pan heat is enough is moot as temperature might be too low and cooking time too short. Issues are a valid concern.

Valid but wouldn't it be better to report his concerns to the local EHO rather than start a thread on it.

vicwatson

Red tape gone mad !

CJhaughey

The OP probably has never seen the inside of a commercial kitchen, if they had they wouldn't be worried about this non-issue.
Every chipper has a hot plate with a scraper for cooking burgers.
Its the fact that a stall is on public show and that people that obviously don't know enough about cooking to know what is a real risk and what is normal practice.
Crepe plates will run at well over 100 deg C easily enough to kill any bacteria that may be hiding on the edge of a scraper in the time it takes to cook a Crepe.

duploelabs

I love it when people with no training presume to know how your job works

Mellor

tricky D wrote: »

It's 2 simple issues of cross contamination between raw and cooked meats, and meats and non-meats. Raw meats should always be separate and whether the crepe pan heat is enough is moot as temperature might be too low and cooking time too short. Issues are a valid concern.

There's no such thing as cross-contamination between meat and non-meat.
Only between raw meat and cooked food.

I find it strange that somebody could be concerned by a scraper on a hot plate, when its about to be used to cook a mix that contains raw egg.

Had he been serving it with the scraper after cooking, it's a different story.

rubadub

CJhaughey wrote: »

don't know enough about cooking to know what is a real risk and what is normal practice..

Normal practice might not necessarily be good practice though! The amount of cross contamination you see by TV chefs is amazing, it is common to see them handling things like pan handles, salt & pepper cellars or bottles of oil after meat, before washing their hands, which is often a token gesture, and not a proper wash at all, then wiping the half washed hands on a moist towel, textbook breeding ground. Or touching tap handles themselves, which is never shown in ads for those ridiculous dettol "no touch" soap dispenser things.

I like that ad where it showed a green hue around things after they were touched, its a good way to think about it.

Mellor wrote: »

There's no such thing as cross-contamination between meat and non-meat.

I guessed he was concerned about vegetarians/vegans.