Biggest Cowboy Tricks

[wellminded1]

I fired a guy for washing the cheese of a cheese burger then sold the burger and left the hand washing sink clogged with cheese.

We must of worked with the same guy???? Same kitchen I seen a guy spill beef jus on the line , then proceed to take the mop and use it to wipe the line.

[Mrmnms]

I was a student manager at a huge dining commons in college. Late one night, I went back in, trying to get my stuff for writing schedules, and caught the manager and his protege assistant, Betsy, a charming 250+ pound young lady, trying to figure out (failing)how to use our biggest steam kettle as a bubble bath. I kept mouth shut. My friends and I ate like kings that semester.

[jbl]

Great stuff!

[jai]

ive seen a chef wipe raw fish juice up and use the same cloth for wiping a dessert plate..

[Dusty]

Mash postato in a Hobart is common, but makes me sad when i see it.

A la minúte cauliflower purée by dumping a head of cauli into a thermomix

No creme fraiche? Just hang some sour cream...

This frittata needs more flour so it won't break.

All of those were the same chef too.

[Geo87]

Yeah, mash potato in Hobart seems common. The worst part is the looks these people give when they see you passing mash through a drum seive . Or roasting the potatoes on a bed of rock salt. Almost like, is this guy stupid or what? Hmmm lumpy watery mash anyone? Or smooth & creamy. Sigh

The weirdest and somewhat controversial thing I've seen that I'm 90% sure is dodgey but some otherwise good cooks swear by this method: custard cooked till its a big disgusting scrambled eggie mess, then purée in a blender and pass . Smooth shiney custard. Still sets my cowboy dectector off like crazy.

Dogeyist things I've witnessed. Braised meat "refreshed" in a pot of dirty boiling water .

Deep frying chippolatas . Washing the wrong sauce off meat & re sausing.
The list goes on.... But it's just too disturbing

[NO ChoP!]

How about rinsing and patting dry smelly meat and fish....

Adding bachemel to broken hollandaise...

Adding sugar to something that's been over salted...

Had a chef touch a resting steak, proclaim it was under, and proceeded to squeeze the daylights out of it, in his hands as juices dripped from it...

[Lefty]

Not so much a cowboy trick, but it's still one that makes me cringe/laugh whenever I think about it: The owner of a nice chophouse I worked at would occasionally lose it on anyone who dropped a plate (if the owner was, at the time, coming down from his last line of blow). We'd hear crashing in the distance, and we'd peek through the windows to see a 250 Greek man throwing dinner plate after dinner plate, like a frisbee, towards the feet of the offender. As he would do this, we'd hear, "4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24...should I keep going? 28, 32...oh hell, 36. Now we're up to $40 with the plate you dropped. You drop another one today and you're fired!"

The funny thing is, he was a great guy to work for 90% of the time and I considered working or him again when he opened up his second butcher shop/deli.

[Lefty]

Not so much a cowboy trick, but it's still one that makes me cringe/laugh whenever I think about it: The owner of a nice chophouse I worked at would occasionally lose it on anyone who dropped a plate (if the owner was, at the time, coming down from his last line of blow). We'd hear crashing in the distance, and we'd peek through the windows to see a 250lb Greek man throwing dinner plate after dinner plate, like a frisbee, towards the feet of the offender. As he would do this, we'd hear, "4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24...should I keep going? 28, 32...oh hell, 36. Now we're up to $40 with the plate you dropped. You drop another one today and you're fired!"

The funny thing is, he was a great guy to work for 90% of the time and I considered working or him again when he opened up his second butcher shop/deli.

[berko]

he tried clingfilming every surface so he wouldn't have to clean down after service

i know this guy