INTRODUCTION TO EQUIPMENT

Chef's Uniform

Hat/Jacket/Pants/Apron/Proper shoes/Side towels.

Knives

• Pairing Knife; for small work and cleaning of products 
• Cook's Knife; for medium heavy work e.g., dicing and slicing of vegetables, cleaning of fish, trimming of meats.
• Chef's knife; for heavy duty work eg., chopping of root vegetables, cutting large blocks of cheese, slicing large pieces of meat.

Small Tools

• Vegetables peeleer; cleaning carrots, potatoes, celery, etc.
• Parisian scoop; melon balls, vegetables pearls.
• Channel knife; decorating cucumbers, lemons and limes.
• Ice cream scoop; scooping ice cream, Cole slaw, mashed potatoes.
• Metal spatula; turning hot foods like hamburger, eggs, pancakes.

Cutting Boards

- Plastic or hard finished wood:

Using unfinished plywood is dangerous because bacteria cannot be removed unfinished by washing and there is the danger of wood splinters entering the food because the wood is so soft.

- Make sure the board is clean, and be careful what combinations of items you cut on it e.g., onions and then fruit will give the fruit an onion flavor. To keep the board from sliding put a flat damp cloth under it.

Pots and Pans 

An introduction and demonstration of the various types of pots and pans and what they are used for:

- Stock Pot

Large, high sided pots with loop handles for easy moving on and off stove; used for boiling and simmering as in the making of soups and stocks; can range from 5 to 40 gallon capacity/sometimes come with drain spout which is especially good for the production of consommes.

- Sauce Pot

Similiar to stock pot but sides are lower to allow sitrring of the ingredients; range in capacity from 2 to 15 gallons.

- Braiser 

Similiar to the above but of smaller capacity and much lower walls; heavy duty to resist warping when searing meats; this is a very useful pot to have in the kitchen for stove-top cooking; capacity ranges from 12 qts to 30 qts.

- Saute pan

One handled with sloping sides, shallow, usually used for quick frying of small amounts of food;size ranges from 5" to 14".

- Egg pan

One of the smaller saute pans; prefrred to be Teflon coated for none stick.

- Roasting pan

Rectangular pan with medium high sides; fold down handles for easy movement in or out of ovens; is also very good to use on the stove top; comes with removable lid.

- Hotel pan

Also called food (transport) pan, chaffing dish insert, this pan comes in a variety of standardized sizes & depths; this pan is not used for cooking but for the heating & or holding of foods; this is the standart chaffing dish insert and steam table insert; one of the most used pans in the kitchen.

- Sauce pan

Smaller version of the sauce pot; has a single handle; used the same as larger version but for smaller "on line" quantities; capacity from 1 qt. to 12qts.

- Ladles, Spoons, Tongs and Spatulas

Introduction and demonstration of the various types of ladles spoons, tongs & spatulas that are used in the kitchen..... why the different sizes and what each is best used for. This section will familiarize the new assocaites to some of the numerous hand tools of the trade, and give them advice on how to use them.

- Spoons 

May be perforated or solid and are used accordingly; used to dish up food.

- Ladles 

May be slotted or solid/solid is most often used; comes in sizes ranging from .5 ozs. to 72 ozs; used for dishing up liquids/soups, sauces, etc., very important to use the proper size ladle for the type of function involved to control portions.

- Skimmers

Flat ladle with small hotels for removing scum from stocks or soups, or removing items from deep fryer or boiling water; come in all size and shapes. 

- Strainers/colanders

Used to drain items such as wash vegetables, cooked pastas, rice, etc; come in a variety of shapes/ with & without legs. 

- China Cap

Cone shaped perforated strainer with long handle and hook; very strong usually used to strain sacues or first "pass" for stocks; one of most often used kitchen utensils.

- Tongs come in lengths/spring action "V" shaped for the handling of food without hand contact and used to handle and turn hot food that is being sauteed or grilled. 

- Pastry bag

Usually nylon or plastic with removable tip; mainly used in pastry shop, but also used in hot and cold kitchen for "piping" mashed potatoes, purees, canapes and other form of decorations; comes in large variety of sizes.

- Whips

Flexible beater mades of stainless steel; come in variety of sizs; used to hand whip/beat item such as whip cream or to work and stir sauces when thickening.

- Whisks 

As Above, but stiff instead of used for the same purpose as above  but with heavier and thicker item that would not be workable with the lighter height whip.

- Gas Equipment

Introduction and demonstration of the various types of gas fired equipment in the kitchen . This Section will cover ovens, ranges, broilers, grills, salamanders, deep fryers, Chinesse wok ranges; how to use them, how to contrrol the temperature, how to light them up if needed, safety precautions to observe when using gas equipment.

- Electric Equipment 

Introduction and demonstration of the various types of small and large pieces of electrically drice kitchen. In this section the apprentices will be exposed to bar blenders, industrial sized blenders, mixers of all sizes, food  processors, vegetable  processors, juicer, slicer, grinders, butcher's table saw, dough sheeter, dough mixer.

More detailed instruction in the use of these pieces of equipment will come during the employee's rotation thru the specific department when the piece of equipment is located.

- Refrigeration Equipment 

Introduction to the various types of pieces of refrigeration equipment that exist in the kitchens, e.g. reach-ins, walk-in refrigerators and freezers, ice cream freezers, roll in refrigerators.

How to treat the equpment;

• Keeping doors closed, blocking air circulation
• Pack food loosely to allow circulation of cool air.
• Cover food to prevent dehydration or contamination, or flavor mixing.
• Discard items not needed or spoiled to avoid overcrowding
• Rotate stock and put new items to the rear/respect the rule of FIFO.
• Keep the box clean/inside, outside, mechanically.