[Sca-cooks] Safety in the Kitchen

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

Also sprach UlfR:
>Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius <adamantius at verizon.net> [2004.01.12] wrote:
>>  >1.  What do you do to protect yourself in the kitchen from injuries?
>>
>>  I generally wear a cook's cote, designed with some of the features of
>>  a modern chef's white coat, in an essentially period design. My
>
>I've been thinking about this, and will try to make -- out of linen -- a
>caftan style coat, with most of the added features you list. Mostly I've
>been using a "scratch" tunic, but as times goes by making someothing
>dedicated is more and more appealing.

I now (finally) have the capacity to get decent digital photos; maybe 
within the next couple of days  I can get some shots of this cote (or 
rather, gown), if someone would like to host them someplace.

>Same here, except at home these days (16 month old girl who gould grab
>the shiny toy).

I wasn't aware of the 16-month-old. Congratulations!

>  > And finally, leaping headfirst into hot convection ovens is work for
>>  trained professional cooks in a closed kitchen. Kids, don't try this
>>  one at home!
>
>Never had the oppourtunity. Does being very fast with grabbing things
>out of campfires count?

I can't hurt! But bear in mind that my purpose for leaping headfirst 
into that convection oven was to keep a motor from blowing.

>  > or untickle your nose, wipe sweat off your brow, scratch your tuchus,
>>  and any of a billion different ways to transmit germs to food unless
>>  you then, immediately, wash your hands before touching food or
>>  equipment. Honestly, make a little tick-off chart in your head, the
>
>You've never worked in a cell culture-type lab? The real pros there have
>two hands, which never touch the same set of things. Which incidentally
>is how somempeople I see butcher game; the knife hand never releases the
>knife, thus never gets coated with slippery blood and *then* picks up
>the knife.

Good methods. Hey, it worked for the Romans and the various Arabic 
cultures to have a clean hand and a dirty hand, and cooks today are 
taught to have a wet hand and a dry hand (specifically when applying 
egg wash and flour/crumbs as a coating before frying or sauteing).

>  > wash your hands. You'll find that you do it a lot less. And remember
>>  that sanitizing gels, while effective, can be toxic if not rinsed
>>  away.
>
>Hot water and soap is all you need under anything remotely sane for
>cooking conditions.

I agree. Some (note I said "some") people who are... well... 
extremely confident in the antiseptic powers of the sanitizing gels, 
appear to be using them as a crutch in lieu of soap and water and 
consciously sanitary hygienic practice, for which there is no 
substitute. It's just every so often you see someone doing something 
absolutely horrifying... but at least they brought antibacterial gel, 
and it's hard to make them understand, when they do that, that no 
amount of antibacterial gel can compensate for dripping the raw 
chicken juice into the cooling custard.

Adamantius