MSCC Phase Two
Food Preparation workflow
As we have already established in our MSCC introduction, food preparation on board is still done on a day-to-day basis: every day the food for that same day and for that same day alone is prepared.
In this system however, some procedures that we will explore below are already in play:
Desserts for the evening will be made in the morning as they need time, for example, to set or to freeze.
A messman will clean and cut a string of garlic for the chief cook so he has it for the taking whenever he needs it.
However, there is quite a bit more potential in the above applied procedures of working in advance which is currently not applied.
In order for you to follow our reasoning, please download the three documents below:
The first document is a 3-day menu sample. We start from a 3-day menu for the simple reason that, when stored correctly, all ingredients that have been processed, will remain in good condition for at least three days. How to correctly apply these 3-day menus will be discussed in the chapter Menu Composition.
The second document, regular workflow, is an overview on the workflow as applied currently by most chief cooks when handling this menu. Within this document you will find a total of 129 singular actions. Singular actions normally include the following stages:
Haul the products needed from the stores, freezers or cold room
Take the necessary equipment to process the products
Process the products (and optionally store them correctly)
Clean your equipment and put back in the correct storage place
Clean your workstation for the next singular action
Where the actual processing time of the products will vary according to quantity and procedure, the other tasks involved can be more or less assessed:
Hauling products: Around 5 minutes, depending upon location and correct storage sorting
Take equipment: Around 30 seconds
Clean equipment: Around 1 minute
Clean workstation: Around 1 minute
In theory, every singular action will take the actual processing time plus 7,5 minutes. This is of course theoretical. In practice, several products will be hauled at the same time, which basically cuts that time in half. Still, every singular action involves around 5 minutes of extra time in preparation.
Even if we reduce the actual singular actions within this document to only the most essential actions and thereby reduce them theoretically to about 90 singular actions, we still spend about 7,5 hours every three days merely on transition time between singular actions.
Besides this, workflow is evenly spread over three days. This may seem okay, but then again, as we have already established, the function of the chief cook nowadays consists of way more than only executive cooking.
Within the 3rd document, the streamlined workflow, we tackle a few challenges at the same time:
Components: we no longer look at dishes being composed of ingredients but rather of components. For example, the pasta carbonara is composed of pasta, cheese sauce, baked bacon, egg yolk, rather than pasta, cream, cheese, garlic, onion, bacon, egg yolk. As soon as we start looking at dishes this way we can easily find shared components left and right. Specific examples of multi use components are within the Moussaka, for which the cheese sauce, ground beef, onion, potato and egg plant all were found in prior preparations.
Derivatory preparations: often, certain components or even full preparations can be derived from others by simply adapting them accordingly. Specific examples in this menu are the tomato soup, tomato sauce and pumpkin legumaise.
Streamlined prepwork: by prepping ingredients that are used several times over the course of the menu at the same time, the number of singular actions is drastically reduced, which results in a considerable improvement towards time management. Specific examples: pealing and cutting of onions, potatoes, tomatoes, etc.
Waste reduction: often, leftovers will find no other applications. This is unfortunate, most certainly within a limited budget. Within this system we aim to reduce this as much as possible. Specific example: the leg of lamb will have nice slices for about 70% of the meat. The other 30% here are recovered for the lamb durum.
Decreasing workflow: The worklflow decreases gradually, with a peak on day 1 (50%) and day 2 (40%) and a massive drop on day 3 (10%). This decreasing workflow creates time for other duties, such as administration, general maintenance, inventory, menu sourcing, etc.
Workflow vs Workload: Whereas the workflow is focused on day 1 and 2, the workload is still reduced, as many singular actions serve a double purpose. For example, cleaning all onions will still take the same time as is, while making the cheese sauce will take the same time whether it is to make 2 L or 3 L. Workload for this specific item is therefor reduced to 50%.
Food quality: by streamlining processes, more focus can be put on essentials such as actual taste and quality of the food. Also, certain dishes, such as stews and soup, benefit from being prepared in advance.
In all, with this system, we aim to give you all the means to streamline your actions and activities for a less stressful and better organized life on the vessel where focus can be put on all tasks at hand without compromising food quality, food safety and HACCP-regulations.
