“If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?”

- John Wooden

Last week, I was in a hospital cafeteria watching a cook schlep over to the self service coffee machine with two-third pans. One contained cooked chicken breasts; one contained cooked hamburgers. You know what happened next, don’t you? 

Hot water from the tap splashed on top the meat, initiating the time old tradition of shoemakers and hacks: sandbagging. So why does it happen in commercial foodservice? 

We know the alibis:

• We get slammed when we open the doors
• We don’t have a big enough grill
• Tradition (this is the way we’ve always done it)

Think about the John Wooden quote above. The only problem, in this case, is sometimes you don’t get to do it over. The customer walks away with a negative impression. But this is somewhat expected in the healthcare segment, is it not?

So why not implement these ideas:

• Use smaller portions and serve two pieces
• Pound meat flat for faster cooking times

But it comes down to managing, doesn’t it? Why is this behavior tolerated and not corrected?

If margins are tight, it doesn’t mean technique and flavor have to suffer. The best cooks in the world are the ones that had to make the worst parts of the animal taste delicious. All of this was birthed out of the poor, not the wealthy. They got the muscles of the animal. My point is that great food can be made from small budgets.

As I’ve posted before, there are facilities “getting it right,” and they are my proof of what can be accomplished. 

Learn more about improving hospitality and healthcare foodservice settings. Read the Bauscher Hepp Hospital & Care Catalog.