The Summer Camp kitchen never sleeps. When you are producing 3 meals per day and a healthy snack for upwards of 500 campers and staff, the impact of efficiency in the Camp kitchen is easily visible.
An efficiently run kitchen will prepare and cook the right amount of food for the required number of people, on time, by the most effective use of staff, ingredients and equipment. Sound easy….? Not so much. The limit of 24 hours in a day and the importance of details can be a bit overwhelming.
Even the smallest of details matter, and finding ways to improve your kitchen’s dynamic will help streamline productivity at your camp.
Through updated layouts and workstations, you can make changes that upgrade your commercial kitchen’s organization and structure for the better.
Here are a few things that you can do to run a more efficient kitchen at Summer Camp:
LISTEN TO EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
Feeling as if “your way” is the best way is a pitfall that many of us get caught in. A good leader listens to their staff by really paying attention to what they are saying, seeing the process through their perspective and being open to their recommendations.
Stand back and watch the process in order to get a larger picture of the workflow and speak to kitchen staff about things that can be done in a more efficient way. Especially when you have domestic or foreign staff who have never been in a kitchen before.
CREATE AN EFFICIENT MENU
While you may want to throw out a plethora of creative and amazing dishes, you may not always have the right kitchen setup, equipment, or skilled enough staff to do so. Be practical in streamlining your menu to play to the strengths of your kitchen and its staff. The menu should not put extra burden on your staff. Choose recipes that fit into the budget. Remember, at Camp good food is about taste more than presentation!
CREATE SOP MANUALS
This may seem to be tedious and many may not see the value in it but it comes with a huge upside. It is important to have a well thought out and established standard operating procedures. This drives consistency throughout the kitchen. Make sure that your staff know what these procedures by reviewing them throughout the season and do spot checks to ensure that they are being followed. Remember to update the SOP’s any time you find a better way of doing things or if new laws or regulations impact the operation.
INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
Running out of ingredients in the middle of preparation and/or cooking can really slow down the production train. Keep a good inventory system in order to know when you need to restock items. This will also help with waste management and ensuring that you are keeping it to a minimum.
CREATE EFFICIENT WORK STATIONS
Your camp kitchen’s workstations are where back-of-the-house staff spends most of their time working. Dividing a kitchen into designated workstations is an effective way to keep your kitchen running smoothly.
An efficient kitchen features 5 different workstations:
- Preparation
- Cooking
- Cleaning
- Food Storage
- Non-Food Storage
Each workstation should be placed in an area of your kitchen that corresponds to its specific purpose. For example, your cleaning station should be placed near your sink and dishwasher, your preparation station placed near your fridge or inventory area, and your cooking station should be placed near stovetops or larger kitchen appliances.
Properly set up each station by equipping each area with all the inventory, tools, and equipment needed. Countertops should be as clutter-free as possible, to provide employees with room to work. By organizing each workstation before use, your staff will be able to maintain an easy flow of preparation, cooking, and plating to streamline meal service and maintain efficiency. If you find yourself not having enough space to store certain items, make the most of empty wall space by installing shelves and hooks to hang up pots, pans, spatulas, or any other cooking equipment.
PREP, PREP, PREP
Prep what you can ahead of time. This is such an integral part of keeping ahead of the eight ball and I really hold this at a high priority. While freshness is vital in any kitchen, there are always many preparations that should be done ahead of time to increase efficiency. For example potatoes can be peeled and cut much in advance to mashed potato day, taco meat can be cooked the day before and reheated with no effect on taste and chicken can even be marked on the grill and finished off the next day before the meal.
None of this will happen overnight, but if you start making small improvements every day, you will be amazed at how much more efficient your kitchen will run and you will have happier campers and staff to prove it. Being open to change and willing to work hard a long side your staff will keep your moral in the kitchen high and promote a respectable and efficient atmosphere.
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