WHEN we had wooden blocks, we scraped them every day, and we used salt, lots of it. We were required to wear white shirts and ties, but bow ties were not a requirement. So I used to tell my in-laws, who looked down on my trade, that I already had a white collar job, not blue collar. I almost always wore a plaid flannel shirt over my white shirt. Nothing in the contract said I could not.
Burgermeister wrote:
never worked on a wood floor, but used sawdust as recently as 2008, but not a lot. Just small amounts. We used a lot from 1978-1981.
I still work on wood blocks
We had a block brush in 78, but didn't use it a lot.
never heard of salting a block. possibly it's mentioned in my huge old Toledo School Of Meat Cutting binder?
Never wore a bow tie at work. I had one when I was 3 years old. Mom or Dad put it on me. Never since.
Most places want white shirts, right?
Hate hair nets. I've been required to wear it maybe twice while moonlighting
Still use peach paper 5 days per week.
Still have bone barrels
we had iced chickens, but in waxed boxes, not crates
yes, we had aluminum luggers
we had a "popper" to cut ground beef into 1 lb squares, or 1.5 rectangles. It was adjustable for many lengths, but I haven't found anyone here who remembers poppers/extruders
As fresh fish fillets begin to get an odor, the first step is to soak and rinse them in ice water. If that doesn't work, soak and rinse them in iced salt water. If THAT still does not do the trick, soak them in Borateam and ice water then rinse in ice water.
For old smoked hams getting moldy, scrub them in Borateam/ice water. Then rinse in ice water. Finally paint them up with Kitchen Bouquet!
(Disclaimer: I don't recommend any of this, just recounting what I was instructed to do when I was an apprentice or Journeyman at a chain of independents. Once I became Chief Journeyman (Meat Dept.Mgr.) it stopped.)
fdarn wrote:
So what is the worst practice you all seen or heard of? We could make a contest out of that.
I don't know if it's been mentioned. Don't want to read all the posts again.
How about grease pens? Before we had bar codes, or other sorts of price tags, we had to write the price on the package with grease pens Or were the called grease pencils? I forget. This was full service counters where you wrap the meat in paper.
Bikeshooter, how about this one. Disgusting as it is. Taking case pulled ground beef that turned dark opening it up and putting it in a aluminum tub. Then put a heavy weight on it after you pressed it down with the guide from the band saw. Putting it in the coldest part of the cooler. The middle of the pressed ground beef after a day or so and it would be bright red. Dump pan on flat cutting table then cutting into squares. You did have to trim the brown stuff of the surface. This would give you about 5 extra hours of selling time.
And nobody ever got sick!
-- Edited by Coalcracker on Friday 16th of September 2016 07:33:55 AM
I am glad I didn't practice those methods. I wouldn't want that on my conscience.
I did a lot of things I regret now. No doubt I made some folks sick. I sincerely hope I didn't kill anyone.
Bikeshooter, you must have worked for the A & P! Sounds like you worked in one of my stores. LOL> Boy do I remember those days. Thanks so much for sharing.
Did 15 years with Safeway. '72 to '87. Mom and pop for 2 years prior to that.
Bikeshooter, how about this one. Disgusting as it is. Taking case pulled ground beef that turned dark opening it up and putting it in a aluminum tub. Then put a heavy weight on it after you pressed it down with the guide from the band saw. Putting it in the coldest part of the cooler. The middle of the pressed ground beef after a day or so and it would be bright red. Dump pan on flat cutting table then cutting into squares. You did have to trim the brown stuff of the surface. This would give you about 5 extra hours of selling time.
And nobody ever got sick!
-- Edited by Coalcracker on Friday 16th of September 2016 07:33:55 AM
I only heard of this practice - never tried it. A large chain operation here in Florida did this at least into the late '80's.