Proper food handling at a competition

Muddy River Boy · Jun 7, 2009

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask this or not, but here goes.

When you are at a competition and you are witness to BLATANT disregard for food handling, what should you do??? I was witness to some of the worst food handling I have ever witnessed this past weekend. These guys didnt have hot water, gloves, bleach, or any idea that meat should not sit out for 4 hours. In talking with these guys over the course of Friday night I offered to let them use our hot water and bleach bottle and even told them we had some extra gloves if they needed some. They declined all three. When one of the guys came over to offer me a taste of one of there ribs (which sat out for 4 hours) I politely made up an excuse and declined.

I guess my question is this: How do you go about telling someone that they are not doing the right thing without sounding like a know it all Jack A$%& ??? I am a chef for a living and have NO problem making sure that the people that work for me know what the heck they are doing, but this is a different beast.

Thanks for any input.

Clint

The worst part of this is these guys seved the public in the peoples choice.

nicerackbbqteam · Jun 9, 2009

WOW 62 people look at this post and NOone has nothing to say.. wow

if i saw all of that i would be very concerned..

AZScott · Jun 10, 2009

Was anyone at the competition going around making sure teams were somewhat following health department rules? I think I would recommend it to the organizer after describing what you saw.

Sometimes hints don't work for some and they need the threat of a penalty before taking any action.

timzcardz · Jun 10, 2009

All other concerns aside, I guess that if someone offered me something that had been sitting around for 4 hours, I would probably ask them why it took them 4 hours to offer it to me.

Depending on the response, if any, I may go on to explain that I prefer my food fresh, and sanitary.

Muddy River Boy · Jun 10, 2009

The ribs that sat out for 4 hours were still raw! I couldnt believe what I was seeing. Maybe we should add a quick food handling blurb at the cooks meeting??? Nothing big, but something about proper food handling techniques??????????

Rick's Tropical Delight · Jun 10, 2009

i would have told them about the 40-140, 4 hour rule. sometime you have to be an ass to get thru to people. don't worry about what they think, the person you saved from getting sick appreciates it.

if you feel uneasy about confronting them directly, tell the rep and they will (should) remind them about the rules.

Big Butt BBQ · Jun 10, 2009

Clint,

Was this a KCBS, MBN or some other sanctioned competition?

My last KCBS comp. I was inspected for Bleach, thermometer, wash/rinse/sanitizer facilities, fire extinguisher and meat holding.

Jeff Hughes · Jun 10, 2009

If you saw ribs that sat out four hours raw, you should have notified the contest rep, it's their job to handle situations like that...

McClung · Jun 10, 2009

You could always mention to them that the cooks gotta look out for the judges by adhering to food safety standards and explaining to them that at many comps they are inspected for things applicable to food safety and give them some pointers. Kinda of the mentor approach if you know what I mean.

Muddy River Boy · Jun 10, 2009

This was a KCBS sanctioned contest.

As far as the mentoring approach, these guys really didnt want to hear anything I had to say. They were the returning GC for this contest from the year before. It was not sanctioned last year and there were 8 teams. Anyway these guys "knew" what they were doing. In retrospect I guess I should have said something to the Rep. It just is hard to get into that kind of thing. I mean it really would have been my word against theres on the Time/Temperature abuse. I suppose the lack of gloves, hot water, and sanitizer could have been proven??? It is just a tough call to get the Rep involved. you know "nobody like a tattle tale," syndrome. I think if I see these guys again I will just be an ass and tell them like it is. Then if they have a problem we could get the rep then.

Jeff Hughes · Jun 10, 2009

I can tell you, the Reps I know would want to be aware of the situation.

Reps often eat food that is left over from judging...

McClung · Jun 10, 2009

Exactly, ^^^^^. Look how many folks the "extras" get around to.

bigdogphin · Jun 10, 2009

That is a tough one. If they are not receptive to begin with then confronting them yourself may just cause an escalated situation. Get the reps involved and take yourself out of it as much as possible.

On a side note: its hard to believe that there is not a meat, sanitization, and fire extinguisher inspection at the beginning of the event.

timzcardz · Jun 10, 2009

Muddy River Boy said:
The ribs that sat out for 4 hours were still raw! I couldnt believe what I was seeing. Maybe we should add a quick food handling blurb at the cooks meeting??? Nothing big, but something about proper food handling techniques??????????

[sarcasm]

Look, it's obviously YOU that is the problem!

They were the returning GC after all.

Who are you to tell that what to do?

You don't even know enough to know that the ribs weren't raw! That pink look is a little thing us seasoned BBQers call the smoke ring! It's supposed to look like that!

:mrgreen: :biggrin: :mrgreen: :biggrin: :mrgreen: :biggrin: :mrgreen: :biggrin:

[/sarcasm]

KevinD · Jun 11, 2009

I think I would have taken it up with the contest reps. The last thing I would want at my event is for some people to get sick.

smoke-n-my-i's · Jun 12, 2009

bigdogphin said:
On a side note: its hard to believe that there is not a meat, sanitization, and fire extinguisher inspection at the beginning of the event.

This is getting to be a joke.... the only inspection we get (from the KCBS reps) are to make sure the meat is sealed and cold. They never look for the fire extinguisher, the fire inspector does that....and they have NEVER checked to see if we have sanitation equipment (even though we do). And gloves, at least 3 boxes...

I was really concerned with meat temps when I first started... but after what I have seen over the years, it is the norm to season the meats and let them sit out for 3-4 hours to soak up the rub..... I don't do it, but I have also seen a LOT of teams do it. Mine turns out just as good to rub, wrap, back in the cooler, and then bring back out and "touch up season" before putting in the cooker.

I guess they think that in the 100 degree days, it is precooking by leaving it sit out like that..... :biggrin:

thillin · Jun 12, 2009

smoke-n-my-i's said:
..I guess they think that in the 100 degree days, it is precooking by leaving it sit out like that..... :biggrin:

That's how they start their low-n-slow.

Proper food handling at a competition

Muddy River Boy

Knows what a fatty is.

nicerackbbqteam

Knows what a fatty is.

AZScott

Take a breath!

timzcardz

Babbling Farker

Muddy River Boy

Knows what a fatty is.

Rick's Tropical Delight

Guest

Big Butt BBQ

Knows what a fatty is.

Jeff Hughes

is one Smokin' Farker

McClung

Guest

Muddy River Boy

Knows what a fatty is.

Jeff Hughes

is one Smokin' Farker

McClung

Guest

bigdogphin

is one Smokin' Farker

timzcardz

Babbling Farker

KevinD

Guest

smoke-n-my-i's

is Blowin Smoke!

thillin

somebody shut me the fark up.

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