[Northkeep] Waterbearing Supplies and other such business....

Zubeydah Jamilla al-Badawiyya zubeydah at northkeep.org
Wed May 24 16:15:18 PDT 2006


Honorable Laird Ian:

I have not bought, nor have I advocated buying, new utensils, bowls, etc 
each event.  Bowls, plates, and knives are easy to clean on site : toss them 
in a 5 gallon bucket containing a 10% bleach solution, do some light 
scrubbing and rinsing, and you're good to go (which we do, much to the peril 
of our garb). After each event, I wash everything I've supplied for use in 
my dishwasher, which has a sterilization cycle. Before every event, I wash 
and sterilize them a second time, to make sure nothing has accumulated on 
them in the weeks between events, while they're sitting in totes in my 
storage unit.

With a plastic or wood cutting board, it's harder to make sure it's truly 
clean _*during the event*_, because of the scores/grooves caused by the 
action of the knives on the surface of the board. When you're dealing with a 
clean surface each time you're cutting a different ingredient, it's easier 
to keep down any contamination. You aren't dealing with the same piece of 
plastic that's been out in the dust and dirt  which floats through the air 
due to the constant foot traffic, with the inevitable bugs flitting about, 
multiple people using the same piece of equipment, etc...  Cutting boards 
are in use practically all day long at the waterbearing station, because 
we're constantly preparing items to keep things as fresh as possible.

Disposable cutting sheets also weigh less to transport, and take up less 
room to store. They're easily portable. They can be picked up and curved, to 
form a funnel, to dump the newly chopped contents into a container.  For the 
last three years, I have provided my own waterbearing supplies for use by 
the Barony at all baronial (and sometimes regional) events. I've generally 
paid for (at least, if not more) half of the supplies out of my own pocket, 
or gratefully accepted supplies purchased and donated by House Halfiras - 
since I or they were who was paying for it, I/they bought what I/we 
preferred to use: Disposable cutting sheets.

Now that the Barony is putting together it's own waterbearing supplies, I am 
certain the Baronial waterbearer, Montega, will purchase or collect those 
supplies she sees fit.  It really is an issue of personal preference;  I've 
simply been expressing mine --  not trying to impose my preference on anyone 
else.  :-)

- Zubeydah




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ian Dun Gillan" <ian1550 at sbcglobal.net>
> Hmmm...
> Not to disagree but from a different perspective I would think cross
> contamination could be an issue during the working of the water-bearing.
> Separate knives, separate trays, etc.. Do you buy new knives and trays 
> each
> time too?  If so why? Would it not work to have a dish pan with bleach 
> water
> in it?  Would the bleach water if properly mixed and maintained clean and
> purify any surface?
> In most cases I have encountered bleach water is used to clean for such
> possible contamination. So the investment in a bottle of bleach and a tub 
> to
> keep the bleach water in might over time save money verses purchasing
> cutting boards, utensils and trays each time.
> Just my two cents worth.
> Ian





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