Cake Tester "Trick" Explained | Pro Chef Breaks Down Ep. 6 of The Bear

[@fierypandaofdoom]

At Au Pied du Cochon, as a cook if you got caught giving the dishwasher a container with green tape you got pulled off the line and you had to do the dishes for him the rest of the night.

[@joygernautm6641]

Oh my God. That is my favourite restaurant in the world!!!!

[@kirbyesque]

The dishwasher tape speech…it’s a lesson all cooks have to learn.

[@dpclerks09]

And a lot unfortunately never do...

[@Gingersnaps1978]

I gave the tape lecture TODAY

[@justinkhanna]

Every time the tape lecture happens, an angel gets its wings 👼 lol

[@feircy]

My favorite way to make people respect the dishwashers has been to make a shift there as part of training. Aint nobody to good to wash dishes, and if they think they are they're wrong. Now making the front of house appreciate them has proven more difficult

[@aleclynch6186]

Honestly think everyone should be forced to spend a few years as a dishwasher the way some countries have mandatory military service

[@henry3435]

Impossible!

[@raze667]

Two years in the pit before I moved onto to prep work. Saw three entire crews roll through (quit) and I stayed. I earned my position.

[@CraigJNewman]

@@raze667 Same! I started as a janitor at the AIC, then was "promoted" to the pit. Saw so many faces come in and leave, but I stayed. Helped with catering/service prep, then moved to full time pastry crew with part time line work. You damn right you earned your position. Mad respect.

[@koryhelm8515]

I've worked at places where everyone had to work a dishwashing shift every week, good idea if you're not in a particularly intensive restaurant.

[@DrewD9]

The dishwashers are then legit backbone of any succesfull spot😊

[@joygernautm6641]

I am not a chef I am a home cook. One thing that really changed the game in regards to creating, and following recipes, is measuring ingredients in grams as opposed to cups or tablespoons. Metric system all the way and weighted ingredients whenever possible has been a game changer for me.

[@Ghutchison128]

When I personally label any prep, i take an extra second to fold the tape ever so slightly to create a pull tab.

[@roguedruid3465]

As someone who works in a hotel kitchen, I'm probably in the outliers, but more than once if we have a 4-700 top event to cater, especially if it's really early or really late at night, members of the staff have gone and slept in the kitchen office or rented a room for 3 or 4 members to sleep over so they are fresh in the morning. But again- working in a hotel make that easier to justify.

[@tatianar9429]

Slept in the office quite often

[@jodyf8443]

Oh man that water shield trick got me!!!!! If you need to quickly grab something that came from a fryer.

[@joshray3855]

The one time that we stayed at work overnight was working at a college campus restaurant in the hospitality department. As the on campus students didn't really have a lot to make meals, the food court, dining halls, and restaurant had to be open. So in the event of a blizzard, folks working the next shift could opt to stay at work. We had actual rooms set aside for that though -- it wasn't folks stashing a sleeping bag in the kitchen and sleeping on the floor or in a booth or something. It's also funny that you mention food trading. Working in a pizza shop next to a drive-through convenience store back when I was a kid, we'd trade a pizza, or like a steak sandwich that had a mistake for energy drinks and stuff like that. Definitely not above board on any of our part, but I just didn't connect this scene to that memory until you mentioned it in the video

[@spookysimp]

you should review The Menu! it would be so interesting to watch you try to break down the kitchen and staff psychology

[@egvillaproductions4112]

Since he finished The Bear I definitely think that should be his next video! The menu has all those dishes I wonder what he’d say about em

[@silverthistle6763]

It's definitely interesting that the cake tester is for checking the temperature. As a home cook, I poke chicken with a toothpick to see if the juices run clear to make sure it's done, so I thought that's what Carmen did. But then it looked like he smelled the toothpick and I thought "what good does that do???" XD

[@Sirrunalot24]

He touches the cake tester to the area below his lip to check for temperature by slightly burning his skin, if it stings a little bit then it's done

[@sarahm.9200]

Just binged the show and now binging your react videos, thanks for these 🙌

[@justinkhanna]

You're so welcome! Thanks for watching

[@DrZoidbergMD100]

I've worked in places where I was trusted enough to sleep in the office, but also used to work at a restaurant that had a club downstairs and when I would do bar prep and work later that night I would nip down and sleep on one of the club sofas

[@leeyoungun]

The cake tester is probably one of my favorite tools. I always have one in my apron next to my sharpie!

[@zalizine2153]

What you said about the dishwasher 💯 Dishwasher is the worst job in the building. If servers and kitchen staff can help take some pressure off that position the restaurant will be better for it.

[@oAPXo]

Oh god I'm impatiently waiting for ep.7!

[@noncthibodeaux1834]

My coworkers just blast proteins on the flat top until there’s no way they’re undercooked, without regard for them being over cooked. On top of that, their method for testing the doneness of chicken is to cut it open. The owner has told everyone not to do that, and I give everyone my thermometer to use, but they just insist that it is the only way to “know”. I used to work in fine dining until the restaurant burned down, and I really just miss working with people who give a shit.

[@uk7769]

funny, i feel the same way in different industry. its a global burn out and hopelessness of the working class. the rat race is over. idk what happens next.

[@chatterbox1337]

Definitely slept on the couches of my restaurant three times when I worked in Malibu. Twice because of clopens, once because I partied too hard and thought the best course of action to not miss my opening shift was to just wake up at the restaurant.

[@darbyburbidge8976]

Just wanted to say thanks for the review. It ultimately led to me watching the show myself.

[@justinkhanna]

You're so welcome, Darby - What was your favorite episode?

[@logruszed]

I'd say a caveat to customer sampling is chef already kind of shut her down. Right or wrong she's rolling the dice with a dish she was told "no" on that's not super low labor value. Now the fact that her place is struggling can be liberating. If your future is already uncertain then "why the hell not?" has inspired a lot of people.

[@GrinningHalcyon]

Hey man, love your videos, they're really interesting and informative! Kinda same vein as the tape, my own pet peeve at my former bakery was people just leaving knives in the murky dishwater, sometimes between heavy stacks of platters so you get a nice surprise while washing dishes. I mentioned it multiple times, but I was too shy at the time to put my foot down especially because I was the newest person there. Everyone except the take-no-shit cake decorator did it I'm pretty sure. Today I would NOT let that fly lol

[@ColboltKey1313]

I started as a dishwasher so I know how important it is to take the tape off. Yet so many people coming in the kitchen don't get it

[@tyghe_bright]

When I was a chef I slept at the restaurant (on a big sofa in the office) a few times. We were usually short staffed around the holidays, and the owner wanted big celebration meals--so that would end up being a 36+ hour push with a couple of naps. And also, I got kicked out of my apartment unexpectedly (I was in another country, and not on an "official" lease--the landlord figured out they could get more money.) Ended up sleeping there a few nights while we found a new home.

[@billybobtexas]

Thee was a sleeping quarters for the head baker of a restaurant, he would get there at an ungodly hour to start so , nap time came after then stock up the bakery case with all of us. man he would yell at us if we walked in to the bakery (a basement bakery where he made the goods) and we didn't greet him and ask him how his day was.

[@spookysimp]

also loving the show review content- you could pop off doing this stuff

[@bill5921]

I was an ice sculptor for years. I definitely slept on top of the freezer at night. And made food with a hot plate. 😂I lived on that freezer for two years. I eventually installed a futon . I could have rented a house at any time. But we were so busy and I was so obsessed I just lived there. 😂

[@ashleydonniehanson8953]

More of these!

[@justinkhanna]

2 more episodes to go!

[@bradykelley4244]

I work only cake tester on roast stations. I don’t need a thermometer, I am the thermometer, chef

[@TurntoGod7]

Never heard of this show. And Lip is in it! But to be honest, I’m not certain it will be something I could get in to. As a professional Chef, I find that most movies/shows about chefs aren’t very good. My favorite was Burnt. I also liked Chef because if the overall story.

[@lawrenceragnarok1186]

What i do for r&d is I use a VIP to try new dishes out on. For an example every time i make pizza dough there is like a 7 ounce ball of dough left and i use that small ball of dough to make either a unique stromboli, a mini calzone, zeppoli, or whatever i feel like for when an old employee or a parent of an employee comes in and take their feedback on the free dish and go from there

[@duncandisorderly9445]

Didn’t use the cake tester on beef. Indispensable on chicken and fish, but for beef, I prefer testing doneness with my fingertips.

[@justinkhanna]

Yeah I get that - especially if it's tempered well and a thicker cut, the cake tester can only tell you if it's not rare lol

[@pottytheparrot310]

@@justinkhanna Someone on Hell’s Kitchen used a Cake Tester to check meat temps

[@phirdhozqureshi2768]

Atleast 10% of my day is trying to get ppl to respect the dishwasher. I'm the head chef now at the place n it's impossible. Servers not clearing plates, kitchen staff dumping bins mixed with thing all tape still on everything. Wrangling wild animals

[@16wilco92]

Honest question, is using a cake tester in this manner against health regulations? I feel like this is a good way to get dinged if the health inspector walks by? Do you wipe it after each use with sanitizer? What’s the proper procedure with this? Asking so I can practice and use this technique properly and safely

[@justinkhanna]

Exact same method as thermometers! Most health departments recommend soap and water but sanitizer is way more convenient if you have one on your station.

[@Chefdelamaison1]

I've crashed at my restaurant because I was the manager, had keys, and I was homeless

[@Unmassiosare]

I didn’t gave the talk, i asked the chef to buy paper labels because the spray in the sink washes that away, it destroys the paper first and the glue layer after, so it basically melts away. Pro tip.

[@TheYeahRobert]

In my early 20’s I had a drinking problem and would find myself sleeping in the locker room of the country club I worked at way too regularly

[@Guest-wr4bj]

Never had someone sleep at the restaurant long term, just drunken nights where they were safer at the restaurant rather than trying to travel home.

[@Angelzgate]

When I was first starting out my chef accidentally ordered 10 bags of flour instead of 1 so he told me to store it In the hot water heater room which had a trapdoor to the ceiling in the hot water heater room was a small cot and an alarm clock I told the chef and he said it was his during that time we had 2 months to open and we’re doing dry runs for lunch and dinner to get both day and night staff trained so chef just slept at work since he was doing open closes

[@justinkhanna]

That's wild

[@StellarLlama]

nice one 👍

[@vincetblaz]

What does it mean when they say “all day?”

[@trackerfiend]

Confirmation for a total number of particular orders that still need to be cooked and go out. Ex- there's 15 tickets hanging, 6 steaks, 4 pork chops, 3 burgers and 2 chickens. Kitchen receives a call back from the Chef who receives the order from the window for the tickets. Chef calls out-" I need 6 steaks ( @ said temps for whichever cut) 4 pork chops, 3 burgers( @ whichever temp) and 2 chickens All Day) That let's the line know, what orders not only still have to go out, but that afterwards, there aren't any additional ticket orders remaining ATM after.

[@magnus_cockstrong]

no cook worth their salt disrespects their dishtanker.

[@roems6396]

Did Cousin call the cops because he didn’t like seeing Sidney take control of the situation, that he thought he already controlled with a past relationship with the corner guys?

[@cavemanzach9475]

But this is episode 7!

[@justinkhanna]

6, no?

[@Jacksonbanan]

Nah, episode 7 is that entire one-shot episode

[@cavemanzach9475]

@@justinkhanna i just noticed a 7 on the bottom when you were pausing but that could have been the next episode prompt

[@justinkhanna]

When’s the last time you learned something cool from a new environment/dish?

[@Ceb773]

If this show were *really* accurate they'd have a cook explaining a recipe to a stagier that has some ingredients measured in cups, grams, ounces, and liters, all in the same recipe. Makes me want to blow my brains out just use GRAMS ok rant over

[@MrMaxitaxi1]

its pretty based tho

[@JeffONeill-w1v]

Bravo on the cake tester fish ‘resistence’ technique. Not very common knowledge.

[@rustyobra3552]

Cake testers. #iykyk

[@cestmon8475]

For the algo

[@herbivorehomestead5717]

Who else is here bcuz of hell's kitchen?

[@SeansLawnCare]

Gotta work on those voice cracks man

[@Yzyenthusiast]

I was just thinking about your last the bear video before I slept and this was in my notifs this morning, thanks man!!

[@justinkhanna]

Hope you enjoyed it!