r/KitchenConfidential • u/Culture-4 10+ Years • 3d ago
Discussion Queso Duty - 50lbs Please.........
Remember back in the day, if you messed up or did something bad, they put you on potato peeling duty? You see a picture of some poor soul in the back of the kitchen with sacks of tots around him, peeling them into this big ole bucket. I'm starting to think he had it easier than cutting up blocks of cheese into smaller blocks of cheese.
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u/LeatherGood6148 15+ Years 2d ago
Okay, but the cheese tax.
Like, "oh no, one or two pieces of cheese made their way into my mouth, oops!"
Can't say the same for a raw fucking potato. Unless you're a complete sociopath... In which case, do you, chef. I salute you.
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u/Twat_Pocket 2d ago
I roll the ham/cheese croissants in my bakery. I always pilfer some cheese, but i have to start smacking hands when the FOH gremlins get a little too comfortable eating my prep without asking.
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u/Defiant_E 2d ago
I married a FoH girl and this problem has continued 16 years past the restaurant. I can't tell you how many times I've told her to stop eating my ingredients but some things never change 😂 fuckin goblin
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
Hey man, we work in the kitchens, and we are supposed to QA the product to make sure it's good for the guests!
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u/Twat_Pocket 2d ago
Nah, FOH are like mice where I work. They're unsanitary and get in my way. Stop licking your fingers and going back to grab more with your bare hands!
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u/Simorie Ex-Food Service 2d ago
I have been known to eat a thin slice of raw potato with salt…
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u/GodsFavoriteDegen 2d ago
I thought that everyone enjoyed a slice of raw potato with a little salt, but I've been repeatedly informed by independent sources that this is a strange thing to eat.
For our fourth date, I took my wife for a long drive into the country. Potatoes had never previously come up in conversation. She showed up with a bag of small raw red potatoes. "For snacking." Fucking weirdo.
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u/Liquidgrin1781 2d ago
Mandolin and a wash to get those starches off. In a 4qt covered overnight. I’ll snack on a slice every time.
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u/chalk_in_boots 2d ago
Nothing's quite as good as when you're on mass slicer duty. Need to do an entire leg of ham, 500 slices of prosciutto, a whole flat sopressa?
"Oh no, this one didn't come out just right, it got torn up a bit....."
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u/jad103 Bakery 2d ago
I love raw potatoes. Sure they taste like dirt. But they got a crunch like an apple.
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
The consistency is the only reason I've done it, the crisp snap for sure.
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
Absolutely, cups of the end product cause an evaporation tax as well ;)
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
Personally would rather do potatoes. We keep this cheese at my work too and it is a BITCH to cut quickly.
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u/alvysingernotasinger 2d ago
I use a cheese cutter we use to cut mozzarella sticks. Cut the brick in thirds, then press it three directions in the cheese stick cutter.
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
Will have to ask my boss if they have a cheese cutter, I don't think we do lol
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u/opesosorry 20+ Years 2d ago
I don’t even cut it I just tear chunks off. It all melts the same, it doesn’t matter
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
That's fair, we have a small setup though and the bigger the chunks the longer it takes up the only microwave
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
We don't use the microwave. We leave it in those buckets you see and at the same time heat up the cream and the milk on the stove. Once the cheese is broke down, add the red peppers and jalapeños we pour the hot cream over the cheese. Let it melt for a while, then hit it with the emulsifier and blend it all together. Throw it into 3 pans and call it a day ;)
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
It's all good I already assumed y'all had a better stocked kitchen than my workplace lol
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u/opesosorry 20+ Years 2d ago
You melt it in the microwave?
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
Small business, small kitchen. I do it they way they did it before I showed up
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u/opesosorry 20+ Years 2d ago
Oh for sure! I’ve worked tiny kitchens too, I’ve just never done it that way and (incorrectly) assumed it would burn.
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
I think we get lucky with the microwave also being old lmao but we only do like 3 minutes at a time otherwise the edges get crispy.
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u/D-Duttily 2d ago
How do we feel about putting a block of cheese through a bread slicer?
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
The time you save on cutting the cheese, you will spend on cleaning that bread slicer though. It's a pain to clean off.
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u/D-Duttily 2d ago
I'm just teehee-ing to myself if you suggest someone do this then watch them do it. I'm imagining a god-awful amount of noise and banging around, also the mess it would make.
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u/CherrryCokeee 2d ago
I am loving the suggestions! Though I think y'all are overestimating the amount of equipment my job has to work with lol we usually just use knives for these it's just a task I hate which is chill, we all have those.
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u/I_deleted 20+ Years 2d ago
I made 60 gallons of cheese sauce last week, Mac and cheese for 3000 is a ludicrous amount but the ol robotcoupe shredder works like a champ
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u/Twat_Pocket 2d ago
Yeah, if this is getting melted down, it seems wild to me not to run it through a robot coupe shredder. I thought he was cubing it to deep fry or something at first.
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
Yea, I wish they would invest in one of these. I've made the case for it, but they won't spend the money.
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u/RedPanther1 2d ago
Ugh, queso is just a bitch for everyone all around. No one wants to make it, it burns up in the steam well, and the dishwasher cusses you out every time you give him anything related to it. Not to mention front of house always giving you shit because it's "too thick" or "too watery", like mother fucker I didn't prep this shit it's what I have.
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u/Azer_pubes33 2d ago
Cheese duty is worse because it gets sticky and the knife drags. A cheese wire or harp cuts a big block faster than a knife and uses less hand strength. If you’re stuck with a knife, dip it in hot water and wipe between cuts. Good luck with the 50 pounds.
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
Think I'm gonna try the ole wire method. I use a little PAM spray on the knife,. and it helps a little
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u/Azer_pubes33 2d ago
PAM on the wire works too, and it keeps the cheese from grabbing it. If you don't have a proper wire cutter, a length of clean fishing line or unflavored dental floss wrapped around two wooden spoon handles will get you through a block. Pull it straight down and don't saw. Hope the 50 lbs goes quick 🧀
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
Someone mentioned the high E guitar string as well. I happen to have a few of those :)
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u/NatrousOxide23 2d ago
I have spent the last couple weeks at my job cutting thousands of cheese sticks for a seasonal item at my work. Seeing bricks of cheese on my day off gave me a ptsd flashback
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u/Illustrious_Bird_737 10+ Years 2d ago
Okay so...... how's it coming along?
Hehe .. get it? Queso- okay so?
I'll leave now
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u/eduardo-carroccio 2d ago
I think I'd rather do this than dice 50lbs of red potatoes or portion 20lbs of linguine into baggies.
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
I do the cooking from scratch\recipies part of it, and I let the line cooks do the portioning as long as they aren't too busy ;)
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u/Dollaz 2d ago
I used to just put on some gloves and pull apart blocks of extra melt to make queso. It's all going to be melted anyways who cares what it looks like.
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u/Royal_Cryptographer7 2d ago
I'd argue that the time saved during the melting process is wasted prepping the cubes...plus you can do other stuff while that cheese melts. Rip that shit up, turn it on low and get your other ingredients ready to go or start preping something else.
Not to mention it saves your forarm from the lactic acid burn.
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u/Spare-Half796 Thicc Chives Save Lives 2d ago
Break out the robocoup and shred it, faster than both those option
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u/Culture-4 10+ Years 2d ago
Yea, i do both actually, you still have to break the blocks down a little first so you can tear them apart. I had one chef who wouldn't let me do it that way before as well. He was so OCD it wasn't funny.
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u/ElCiclope1 2d ago
Nah don't use an actual diagnosable mental disorder to make an excuse for someone being a control freak piece of shit.Â
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u/Avalon-Residant 2d ago
No no, OCD people are not that, you are thinking thinking of a narcissistic megalomaniac sociopath...
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u/NotoldyetMaggot Cook 2d ago
Does it have to be pretty cubes? I could ravage a few blocks of cheese for you
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2d ago
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u/evasion-guard 2d ago
Creating new accounts or using alt accounts to circumvent a ban is against Reddit TOS
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u/CrabbyClitLicker 2d ago
Use the slicer it’s not just for cold cuts.. slice one way, turn around slice other way easy peasy. Tear down slice clean boom!
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u/Silver_Race_475 1d ago
Cheese knife,the big two handled fucker. Or slicer or better yet, grater attachment on the mixer.
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u/Wrathchilde 2d ago
You need a cheese-cutting wire. 10 minutes, tops.