Craig Giesecke
I went into work one day last week and was again reminded about just how much food we produce each day and how it has to be constantly renewed over and over as sales volume increases. Usually, it seems I’ve just made a big load of something when I have to make another one. Not that this is a bad thing – at all.
This is tough to translate when I get back home and try to replicate something for just two or three. Speaking honestly, I rarely cook at home much anymore and, when I do, it’s usually pretty simply stuff like pasta with some kind of sauce from a jar. I know that will soon change, with the holidays approaching. But it’s a sure bet I’m going to be overbuying some ingredients just because I’m now so accustomed to producing in bulk.
Not only is it an adjustment for number of servings, but often in how something is produced. A good example is plain ol’ white rice. Your average rule for making rice at home in your standard pot is two parts water to one part rice. Add a little salt and butter and there ya go. But when the volume increases, those rules no longer apply. Once you get up to around four cups of rice, the amount of water you need drops to about 50% more than the amount of rice instead of 100% more. Otherwise, you pop the lid once the rice is supposed to be done and you have a soupy mess. This means additional time is needed to boil out or otherwise find a way to let the rice continue to soak up the extra water. Major hassle, particularly when you’re usually doing two other things at the same time.
Producing things in smaller quantities can also be a pretty wasteful operation. In a commercial kitchen, things like onion ends and the like are kept for making stock or putting in soups or adding to other leftover items pretty quickly. You can also do this at home (and many do), but so often it turns the refrigerator into a hellhole of Rubbermaid containers, plastic bags and other storage units until one has the time to actually spend the day making stock and then, well, putting it in another plastic container. It’s one thing to have a junk drawer of leftover screws and other small items that can possibly be used later. But little metal and plastic doodads don’t turn green and begin to smell if left in there too long.
In Craig’s Perfect World, the kitchen would be a combination of the two worlds. There would be an extra drop-in freezer split into two sections: one for bulk items to be cooked later, such as meats and bags of vegetables, while the other would be the storage for all those little bags and bins of stuff for making stock and soups. This would keep the clutter out of the normal freezer in the refrigerator, allowing for convenience items like frozen pizzas or whatnot. The normal kitchen sink would also have one of those high-pressure, dangling sprayers instead of the namby-pamby, spit-on-the-plate things you usually get.
As mentioned in an earlier column, it’s usually a good idea for the home cook to stop by a decent restaurant supply operation. You’ll find higher quality materials and built for bulk use but also very adaptable to home use. The best storage containers are made of Lexan (we call them “Cambros” at work, because that’s who usually makes them). They have tight-fitting green or red plastic tops and come in a variety of sizes. They’re much more durable than your usual Rubbermaid or Tupperware, they’re stackable and you can use masking tape for tear-off labels. They freeze well and you can dump boiling liquid directly into them. Well worth the investment, which won’t be much.
While you’re at the restaurant supply place (I usually use Caire, up in Mid-City), pick up some decent sheet pans. Your standard residential oven won’t hold a full-sized one, so go for the half-pan size. The metal is thicker and, as long as you use Pam or other cooking spray, easier to grab hold of and clean once you’re done. Quarter-pan sizes are good too, for smaller things like roasting garlic. Again, you won’t spend much and the better quality will always make for a better investment.
We take so much for granted in the commercial kitchen and too often try to do without such items at home, but I don’t know why. Just like in the construction trade, your tools are everything and better tools mean better work with less effort, even if you spend only slightly more.
Next week I’ll continue this look at commercial equipment and what to look for when it comes to home use. The vice-versa is also true. We’ll talk about that too.
Craig Giesecke has been a broadcaster and journalist for over 30 years, including nearly two decades at the AP and UPI covering news, sports, politics, food and travel. He has been the owner of J’anita’s for five years, serving well-reviewed upscale bar food and other dishes. Comments are encouraged and welcomed.
