Food Pre-preparation: Part 16

How is the product prepared? The method of preparation will determine the ingredients needed; the equipment to be used; the techniques of preparation; the length of time required for preparation, and the order in which the various steps are taken. A recipe may provide these answers. A good setup will include assembling the ingredients needed and understanding how they are all going together.

How much is needed? The answer to this question will affect the amounts of ingredients to be prepared and the length of time required to prepare them. You must know what kind of equipment should be set up to complete the job, and whether the entire quantity can be prepared at one time with the equipment available or must be done in several batches. This in turn may require handling and storage.

When is it needed? This is a basic question. The answer to it will determine not only the end of the preparation timetable but also what prepreparation steps must be taken. When a product is needed, how much is needed will be major determinant in any plan of action.

What equipment is needed? The important thing is to have the equipment ready for the job before the job is started. This includes both large and small equipment. Large equipment will normally be ready for use, but don't take it for granted, check it out and allow for warm-up time. Check temperatures too: they may be set higher or lower than the temperatures you need. Check availability: planning is very important if one piece of equipment is to be involved in the production of two or more items. Assemble all small equipment ready to go.

What is the style of service? Service style can alter some routes to completion of the job. Whether the product or meal is to be a la carte, banquet, or buffet can drastically affect what equipment is needed and even at times what methods of cookery are best.

Setting up

Some of the answers to these basic questions will be given on the production work sheet. Others will be left to you. The production supervisor is not going to tell you, for example, what tools you need, or how you should set up your station, or what you should do first. The supervisor assumes you know how to go about your work. If you don't, there are ways of looking up information and figuring out answers. Recipes, diagrams of plate layouts, even menus-all these are your raw materials. If a piece of information is still missing, ask.

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