Wash/Sanitizing Station

["Bone to Bark" BBQ]

I know that the rules require 3 separate wash tubs... soapy water, rinse and bleach/water for sanitizing. Here's the question- Is there a minimum temp. requirement for the water in your wash station? We're doing a comp very close to home and I was thinking of boiling a few gallons of water and keeping it in a Coleman drink cooler. It should maintain temp for the better part of the comp day. What do you think?

[SeaDogBBQ]

I dont think there is a published minimum temp from KCBS but the first tub with dish washing soap should be over 110 degrees. Dont heat the bleach/sanitizing solution.

[SirPorkaLot]

I use plastic tubs. Boil water on camp stove to heat.
When I'm done, rinse the tubs out and pack my stuff back in them.

Doesn't have to be sinks or running water.

[djqualls]

I don't think heat is an issue, the last stage bleach rinse substitutes for heat sanatizing. You obviously want warm water in the soap stage to help dilute the soap and cut grease. and rinse can be any temp because that is just that a rinse to remove deteregent and then sanitizing for final process.

I'm basing this on what I know about Oklahoma health codes when I had a small deli and our requirements for our restaurants we have now.

[AZScott]

We always try to keep the hand washing station as hot as we can without burning our hands.

[MAP]

If you are using an R.V. do you have to have a wash station since you have hot running water?

[Ford]

The rule is 3 sinks. RV usually has 2 sinks so technically they need a sanitizing bus tub beside it. I've never seen anybody check this out at a contest.

[BC Squared]

We did this for our first comp, but stopped after that. A lot of teams don't bother. We constantly glove up, reducing the need for hand washing. We don't do dishes on site, we minimize our dishes usage and bag them up and wash them at home. We've never had a rep ask to see our three sink setup.

[nthole]

We use 3 bus tubs and then when done they double as storage bins. We used to wash a lot, but if you watch a lot of teams you'll notice they glove up a LOT and they use as much disposable as possible, including cutting boards. We found this saves a lot of time and washing (used to change the bins 3 times throughout the contest, now only the change the wash once on Sat morning just to freshen it up).

[Ford]

We did this for our first comp, but stopped after that. A lot of teams don't bother. We constantly glove up, reducing the need for hand washing. We don't do dishes on site, we minimize our dishes usage and bag them up and wash them at home. We've never had a rep ask to see our three sink setup.

Servsafe training says you MUST wash your hands before putting on every pair of gloves. HD's doing an inspection of a facility will look for this. KCBS does not require it but there's a reason for doing it. Put on gloves using dirty hands transfers germs, etc to the gloves. It's certainly better than no gloves but it's not as safe as most think.

Disposable stuff to minimize washing is an excellent idea. Do it myself even though I have an HD approved trailer.

[NS Mike D]

KCBS dos not have a temp requirement, but as a Scout dad, we follow BSA with warm in the middle pan and hot in the sanitizing pan (with a capful of chlorine bleach). It helps clean grease. They use a large stock pot with a spigot on a propane burner. If you have electric, a coffee pot works great.

We use hand sanitizer and gloves - cuts down on water use, and keep our hands clean.

[lbmksu]

Heat is not an issue if you chemically sanitize. It is the sanitizing agent in some dish machines. Heat in the three sink method is best used in the wash.

[NRA4Life]

KCBS dos not have a temp requirement, but as a Scout dad, we follow BSA with warm in the middle pan and hot in the sanitizing pan (with a capful of chlorine bleach). It helps clean grease.

I don't know, maybe it is just me...but if your counting on the hot water in the sanitizing pan to clean grease, it sounds like you didn't do a very good job of washing in pan #1 (soapy water). By the time you get to pan #3 (sanitizing), you should only be doing that...sanitizing.

[lbmksu]

Exactly. Thanks Kevin.

[NS Mike D]

I don't know, maybe it is just me...but if your counting on the hot water in the sanitizing pan to clean grease, it sounds like you didn't do a very good job of washing in pan #1 (soapy water). By the time you get to pan #3 (sanitizing), you should only be doing that...sanitizing.


sorry if I wasn't clear, I was referring to the warm water in the middle pan, not the hot water in the sanitizing pan.


The hot pan is recognized overkill, I just have a hang up using cold water in the final stage.

[SeaDogBBQ]

The hot pan is recognized overkill, I just have a hang up using cold water in the final stage.

only go as high as warm water in the sanitizing pan. If you are using bleach the USDA says sanitization might not occur above 120 degrees.

I got fussed at from the army base health folks when i was doing an event on base:shocked:

[CBQ]

We've never had a rep ask to see our three sink setup.

In the northeast they ask at every single contest.

[Gowan]

Nobody checks this at contests in the South unless you are vending. That said, It's always a good idea to do something that makes common sense. A 5 gallon water thermos filled with very hot water can work as a hot water supply for several hours and is convenient. A 40 cup coffee maker works too if you have electric.

After several years of experimenting with different setups, we now use a portable sink with a propane instant hot water heater for convenience, but we occasionally revert to bus tubs and a turkey fryer when no running water is provided to the cooksite.