Sometimes I get rushed and this causes me to be forgetful and I end up leaving cooked chicken out of the warmers on the counter for as long as a couple hrs. I put it right back in tho and sell it, do you think that's ok? No bodys comlained of getting sick
That is so not right. You have a 15 minute window. Which means if you are pulling chicken out of the oven or fryers and a customer walks up, you can serve them. Then you can put the chicken in the warmer. If more than one customer comes up you must ask them to wait until you put the chicken in the warmer. If you don't get the chicken in the warmer within 15 minutes it must be thrown away, it is no longer at a safe temperature to serve.
-- Edited by MyOpinion on Monday 26th of November 2018 11:47:14 AM
That is so not right. You have a 15 minute window. Which means if you are pulling chicken out of the oven or fryers and a customer walks up, you can serve them. Then you can put the chicken in the warmer. If more than one customer comes up you must ask them to wait until you put the chicken in the warmer. If you don't get the chicken in the warmer within 15 minutes it must be thrown away, it is no longer at a safe temperature to serve.
-- Edited by MyOpinion on Monday 26th of November 2018 11:47:14 AM
Absolutely WRONG!!! 15 minute window?? Get real. There is conflicting information and procedures in the restaurant / food industry, but in general all perishable food must be kept out of the "danger zone" (between 41 and 140 degrees) as much as possible . If they are left in the danger zone for more than an hour or so, bacteria will begin to grow and the food is subject to contamination and is generally considered to be "not safe to eat". However, in reality, such as in most ordinary homes, after a meal is served, food is usually left out to cool down awhile before being put back into the refrigerator. People rarely get sick just because some chicken was left to cool down before being put back in the refrigerator. An hour is about the limit. Above an hour, yes it can be dicey..... But not a mere 15 minutes. 15 minutes will not hurt anything.
When a deli is busy, it is very common and often almost unavoidable for fried, baked or "rotisserie" chicken to be on the work counter for a few minutes before being put into the warmer. Saying "15 minutes or it should be thrown out" is going WAY WAY OVERBOARD, and personally I think that "MyOpinion" does not work in the deli area, or is SORELY MISINFORMED.
The main thing is to get the chicken into the warmer as soon as possible, and keep it there, but sometimes reality intrudes, and so a few minutes will not be a problem. When you eat chicken at home, when you take it out of the oven or microwave, or whatever, if 15 minutes have passed before you actually start eating it, DO YOU THROW IT AWAY??? Of course not. What stupidity.
A very important thing is WHAT IS THE TEMP OF THE CHICKEN WHILE IN THE WARMER? Do the warmers work correctly? Is the heat lamp or under-pan hot enough to keep the food above 140 degrees?? A Chronic problem in most Kroger delis is this: the warmers do not keep the chicken above 140 for very long. Often the wrong kind of light bulbs are in place over the food (not infra-red as they should be, or else too weak). In addition, many temp logs are faked, because no one has the time to literally check the temp of the food every two hours or whatever. Often, some of the chicken items are not replaced every two hours as they are "supposed" to be, and that is because the deli cooks are severely rushed for time, and just cannot keep replenishing everything every two hours. these problems are really bad at larger stores and where the deli dept works on a skeleton crew.............which at my store is getting worse and worse.................. Sad.
That is so not right. You have a 15 minute window. Which means if you are pulling chicken out of the oven or fryers and a customer walks up, you can serve them. Then you can put the chicken in the warmer. If more than one customer comes up you must ask them to wait until you put the chicken in the warmer. If you don't get the chicken in the warmer within 15 minutes it must be thrown away, it is no longer at a safe temperature to serve.
-- Edited by MyOpinion on Monday 26th of November 2018 11:47:14 AM
Absolutely WRONG!!! 15 minute window?? Get real. There is conflicting information and procedures in the restaurant / food industry, but in general all perishable food must be kept out of the "danger zone" (between 41 and 140 degrees) as much as possible . If they are left in the danger zone for more than an hour or so, bacteria will begin to grow and the food is subject to contamination and is generally considered to be "not safe to eat". However, in reality, such as in most ordinary homes, after a meal is served, food is usually left out to cool down awhile before being put back into the refrigerator. People rarely get sick just because some chicken was left to cool down before being put back in the refrigerator. An hour is about the limit. Above an hour, yes it can be dicey..... But not a mere 15 minutes. 15 minutes will not hurt anything.
When a deli is busy, it is very common and often almost unavoidable for fried, baked or "rotisserie" chicken to be on the work counter for a few minutes before being put into the warmer. Saying "15 minutes or it should be thrown out" is going WAY WAY OVERBOARD, and personally I think that "MyOpinion" does not work in the deli area, or is SORELY MISINFORMED.
The main thing is to get the chicken into the warmer as soon as possible, and keep it there, but sometimes reality intrudes, and so a few minutes will not be a problem. When you eat chicken at home, when you take it out of the oven or microwave, or whatever, if 15 minutes have passed before you actually start eating it, DO YOU THROW IT AWAY??? Of course not. What stupidity.
A very important thing is WHAT IS THE TEMP OF THE CHICKEN WHILE IN THE WARMER? Do the warmers work correctly? Is the heat lamp or under-pan hot enough to keep the food above 140 degrees?? A Chronic problem in most Kroger delis is this: the warmers do not keep the chicken above 140 for very long. Often the wrong kind of light bulbs are in place over the food (not infra-red as they should be, or else too weak). In addition, many temp logs are faked, because no one has the time to literally check the temp of the food every two hours or whatever. Often, some of the chicken items are not replaced every two hours as they are "supposed" to be, and that is because the deli cooks are severely rushed for time, and just cannot keep replenishing everything every two hours. these problems are really bad at larger stores and where the deli dept works on a skeleton crew.............which at my store is getting worse and worse.................. Sad.
I do work in the Deli and my job is mostly hot foods. I can guarantee my food is freshened and tempt every 2 hours as I was trained to do. if the hot temps below 140 it is not to go into or has to be taken out of the hot case. You are right some don't freshen it up every 2 hours and some of the temp logs are faked, but not mine. There is a lot of waste, but it isn't my money being spent on that waste. My pay check doesn't lower because of the loss the store has. So, I just do my job. If they want me to fry, bake, freshen, and temp every 2-4 hours that is what I do. I would rather do my job, then lose my job or get someone sick because I didn't do my job. After 15 minutes the temp has dropped below 140. It is actually suppose to go straight from the fryers or ovens to their cases and warmer. Sometimes we get really busy and Hot foods has to help out with the customers, so it isn't always possible to get it done right away. I watched the videos and took all the classes, maybe you should. Thank you for your input though. It is appreciated.
Sometimes when we're cutting for grab and go in the deli the meat and cheese we cut up sits on the counter for over an hour. When I do it, I bag as I go and put the bags in the cooler, but not everyone is like that. The head of our department just likes to cut everything up and set it on the counter before making someone else bag it for her and sometimes she starts at 7 and no one else comes in until 9... so yeah.
