Washing Trays
The glamourous life of a bakerista (I dont know if that's even a word, actually) is not just mixing and kneading and baking and selling bread and coffee- oh no. There is an incredible amount of cleaning that goes on in a bakery, including a lot of mopping up, which I mentioned before.
Today, on Saturday, all the large metal trays are washed for the week. They are lined with parchement paper when they are being used, but by the end of a week, they really need scrubbing. I actually sort of like doing the trays, even though its kind of a bitch; you get wet and I use scalding hot water to soak them, so on Saturday night my hands feel all dry and awful and I slather them in lotion for the rest of the weekend.
The trays are stacked up on racks and then I put them into a big sink of hot soapy water to soak before I get down to actual cleaning- yes, I now have a METHOD for doing this, which is sort of sad, but hey, it works.
I wear a t shirt or tank top- its too sweaty otherwise, and put an apron over me, but I always end up all wet anyway.After I scrub and rinse each tray, I slide it upside down into the rack to dry off. There is always a pool of slightly scummy water around the drain in the floor where I stand, and the bottoms of my too-long jeans are soaked and icky.
The stickiest trays are the cinnamon swirl ones- the sugar sauce goes over and under the paper and makes it stick to the tray and it bakes into a crust that even soaking doesn't always get off. But I hate cheesey jalopeneo the worst- the steam smells like rotton old peppers and makes my eyes water and the cheese is all baked on... ick.
It is essential to have decent lively music for tray washing, because it's usually pretty isolated back in the kitchen by that time, and everyone else is up front bagging bread or waiting on customers. Sometimes one of the early baking crew will come and talk for a few minutes on their way out the back door, but you just have to get into a washing rythym and keep it up until you are done.
Needless to say, it can be difficult to find music that can be considered decent, lively AND bakery/customer friendly all at once. More on that later...
Today, on Saturday, all the large metal trays are washed for the week. They are lined with parchement paper when they are being used, but by the end of a week, they really need scrubbing. I actually sort of like doing the trays, even though its kind of a bitch; you get wet and I use scalding hot water to soak them, so on Saturday night my hands feel all dry and awful and I slather them in lotion for the rest of the weekend.
The trays are stacked up on racks and then I put them into a big sink of hot soapy water to soak before I get down to actual cleaning- yes, I now have a METHOD for doing this, which is sort of sad, but hey, it works.
I wear a t shirt or tank top- its too sweaty otherwise, and put an apron over me, but I always end up all wet anyway.After I scrub and rinse each tray, I slide it upside down into the rack to dry off. There is always a pool of slightly scummy water around the drain in the floor where I stand, and the bottoms of my too-long jeans are soaked and icky.
The stickiest trays are the cinnamon swirl ones- the sugar sauce goes over and under the paper and makes it stick to the tray and it bakes into a crust that even soaking doesn't always get off. But I hate cheesey jalopeneo the worst- the steam smells like rotton old peppers and makes my eyes water and the cheese is all baked on... ick.
It is essential to have decent lively music for tray washing, because it's usually pretty isolated back in the kitchen by that time, and everyone else is up front bagging bread or waiting on customers. Sometimes one of the early baking crew will come and talk for a few minutes on their way out the back door, but you just have to get into a washing rythym and keep it up until you are done.
Needless to say, it can be difficult to find music that can be considered decent, lively AND bakery/customer friendly all at once. More on that later...
posted by ReesieKitty at 1:22 AM
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