The post How to Clean an Air Fryer appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>Air fryers have soared in popularity over recent years thanks to their small size, efficient use of energy and the speed at which they can cook your favourite foods. You may own a simple model with just a basket and tray, or your air fryer may come with multiple accessories, including chip baskets and rotisserie baskets – all of which need to be cleaned thoroughly.
Proper care, maintenance and cleaning of your air fryer is essential for ensuring your appliance continues to work efficiently and safely. Not only that, cleaning your air fryer is important because it:
Cleaning your air fryer regularly is important to ensure it continues to work like new whilst also keeping your food safe from harmful food poisoning bacteria. It’s recommended that you give your air fryer a light clean after every use and a deeper clean every month, or every few uses if you regularly cook greasy foods.
A light clean after each use means removing small crumbs that may burn, wiping in and around the appliance with a damp cloth to remove surface dirt and hand washing the air fryer basket.
For a monthly deep clean, you’ll need to clean all the accessories and inside the appliance more thoroughly to remove burnt-on food, grease and odours. See our guidance on the best way to clean an air fryer below.
The best way to clean an air fryer is with washing up liquid, a soft cloth, an old toothbrush and some old-fashioned elbow grease. You don’t need fancy cleaning products or sponges to keep your air fryer looking and operating at its best.
To clean an air fryer, follow these simple steps:
To clean an air fryer basket or drawer:
To clean an air fryer tray:
To clean an air fryer heating element, found on the underside of the appliance:
To clean an air fryer filter:
Check out our top air fryer cleaning tips to help you get the most out of your appliance, minimise cleanup after use and make the cleaning process easier:
Knowing how to clean an air fryer is essential knowledge for anyone who owns this small appliance. Regular and thorough cleaning ensures food safety and proper hygiene, and helps to increase the longevity of your air fryer. By following our top tips for how to clean an air fryer, you’ll easily get the most out of your favourite kitchen appliance.
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]]>The post How to Become a Chef de Partie appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>A chef de partie (also known as a station chef or line cook) is a senior member of the kitchen team responsible for overseeing food preparation in a particular area, known as a station. They are experienced chefs in a middle-management role who have a wide range of responsibilities, including preparing and cooking food, supervising their specific section of the kitchen and managing junior staff members, such as commis chefs.
The station that a chef de partie is responsible for depends on their particular knowledge, experience and skills. For example:
Chefs de partie rank third in command below head chef and sous chef, following the traditional French Brigade de Cuisine hierarchy used in most professional kitchens.
They may work in hotels, restaurants, fine dining, gastropubs, members’ clubs or cruise ships, to name a few. Most chef de partie positions involve working fairly long shifts, structured around lunch and dinner service times, including weekends and holidays.
Chef de partie responsibilities are varied and numerous, and it can be quite a demanding role to undertake. Examples of chef de partie responsibilities include:
Not sure if the role of chef de partie is right for you? Take a look at our articles on Alternative Careers for Chefs and Careers in Hospitality and Catering to discover what other options are out there.
To become a chef de partie, it’s important to have as much experience of working in a professional kitchen as possible. Chefs de partie also need to be highly knowledgeable about their particular station and, whilst there are no specific qualifications to become a chef de partie, holding some sort of formal training or certification will be beneficial.
On-the-job training is essential if you want to become a chef de partie as you’ll need in-depth knowledge and experience of the industry, kitchen environment and chosen area of expertise. There are various certificates you can obtain that will help you pursue a career as a chef de partie. A few examples include:
The most common way to become a chef de partie is by doing an apprenticeship, whether you’re starting at a foundational level or are ready for something more advanced. An apprenticeship is a great way to learn practical cooking skills in a professional kitchen alongside your college classes and enables you to work in all types of kitchen environments.
Relevant apprenticeships include a Level 1 or Level 2 Food Preparation and Cooking course, or a Level 3 course in a more specialised topic. You’ll need at least two GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for an entry level apprenticeship or five GCSES at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for an advanced level.
UK law requires all food handlers to have completed a food hygiene course in order to work safely in a kitchen. Alongside this, there are various other health and safety training courses you may wish to consider that, with a certificate, will look great on your CV and give you valuable knowledge for working in a chef de partie role.
Relevant chef de partie training courses to consider include:
View our full range of Food Hygiene and Safety Training Courses to find more training relevant to your role as a chef de partie. All our courses can be completed online, in your own time and come with a certificate at the end.
As well as being able to carry out the practical, day-to-day tasks associated with being a chef de partie, such as preparing, cooking and serving high-quality food (your hard skills), a successful chef de partie also needs to possess a wide range of soft skills. Important soft skills for a chef de partie to have include:
Want to find out more about working in the hospitality industry? Take a look at our other articles on the Skills You Need to Be a Chef or the Top 8 Skills for a Successful Career in Hospitality to learn more.
Chefs de partie are an essential part of the kitchen hierarchy so, if you’re looking to use your kitchen experience and cooking skills to become a successful chef de partie, then it’s important to ensure you have the right abilities, training and attitude for the role. Then, you can take the next steps in pursuing your dream hospitality career and focus on getting your CV up-to-date, start searching for jobs as a chef de partie online or finding an apprenticeship near you.
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]]>The post 10 Ways to Reduce Food Waste in Your Restaurant appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>As the hospitality sector continues to contend with post-pandemic changes, the cost-of-living crisis and rising supply and energy prices, the cost of food waste is something they simply cannot afford. Whilst it can be difficult to know where to start when tackling food waste, the adoption of simple sustainable practices can drastically reduce the financial and environmental impact of food waste.
In this article we will outline why food waste is an issue for restaurants and why it is important to reduce the waste that you generate. We will also discuss common causes of food waste and provide tips to help you reduce food waste in your business.
Food waste can feel like an inevitable by product of working in the hospitality industry. Food waste is generated in hospitality much in the same way it is domestically and when you’re serving hundreds of people a day, vast amounts of food waste is to be expected. Nevertheless, despite its categorisation as an ‘unavoidable evil,’ food waste is in fact a significant problem for the hospitality sector; in terms of both the harmful greenhouse gases that it generates and its negative effect on profitability.
Food waste has a catastrophic impact on the environment. When food is left to rot in landfills it releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide and has 28 times the global warming potential. Moreover, when edible food is thrown away, the resources used to rear, grow, process and transport that food, such as water, energy and labour, are wasted. The water footprint of the total annual food waste in the UK is estimated to be around 5.4 billion cubic metres. A 2024 government report on food waste found that the hospitality and food service sector generated 10% of the total food wasted in 2021. This equates to 540 million cubic metres of water wasted by the hospitality and food service sector alone, roughly the same as 216,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
Food waste is also an avoidable financial burden for the sector. In 2019 the hospitality industry had an economic output of £59.3 billion, equating to roughly 3% of the total UK economic output. By 2020 that figure had fallen by 42% and though higher in 2021, it was still 21% lower than 2019. The hospitality sector was one of the hardest hit by covid due to socialising restrictions and lockdowns. Though the industry has fought tooth and nail to regain stability, it continues to battle with the fallout of covid, rising operating costs and a cost-of-living crisis that is impacting custom. Food waste can then be seen as an additional, yet avoidable, cost that many in the sector cannot afford.
WRAP estimates that food waste costs the hospitality industry £3.2 billion every year, an average of £10,000 per outlet, per year. It can be hard to imagine how this much money is wasted, especially in an industry in which finances are already so tight for many. However, when one remembers that waste is cumulative it becomes much easier to see how frequent instances of over-ordering, overproduction and human error can result in such vast amounts of waste, both in terms of food and lost profit.
As mentioned above, food waste in restaurants can be generated in similar ways to households and is often cumulative, meaning that seemingly insignificant waste such as the odd vegetable skin or some fat trimmings, add up to create vast amounts of waste. However, there are causes of food waste that are unique to restaurants and the hospitality industry.
Causes of food waste across the sector include:
The list above is not exhaustive and food waste in the hospitality sector is influenced by a wide variety of factors such as the type of establishment and the food served. However, identifying the ways in which the sector uniquely generates waste is the first step to reducing it. It is also important to remember that this waste is not exclusive to bricks and mortar businesses as mobile caterers also generate significant amounts of food waste. Whilst mobile businesses often have limited space, so may be less susceptible to over-ordering or overproduction, consumer plate waste and preparation waste still contribute to the generation of vast amounts of food waste.
Douglas McMaster, owner of the world’s first zero waste restaurant Silo argues that ‘waste is a failure of the imagination.’ The hospitality industry is undeniably one of creative innovation and avant-garde experimentation. This creativity has led to the development of awe-inspiring dishes and news worthy menus and can also be applied to the reduction of food waste. Tackling food waste can be an exciting and creative thought exercise, just like developing a new menu and shouldn’t be treated like an arduous, unimportant task.
Below you will find 10 ways to reduce food waste. Not every option will be viable for your business, however don’t be afraid to use your imagination and tweak and adapt suggestions to find what works best for you.
Food lasts longer when it is stored correctly. Ensure that your fridges and freezers are running at the right temperature and that food is stored in the right position, for example keeping high risk foods stored on lower shelves. Storing food in the right condition is vital to preserving quality and preventing the growth of pathogenic bacteria, both of which can quickly lead to food waste. You should also ensure that all food is labelled correctly, especially if it has been decanted into a different container for storage. Plastic tubs filled with nondescript food can sit unnoticed in the back of your walk-in for months, until an unsuspecting member of staff spots it during the lunch rush and it has to be thrown away. Instead, make sure you implement a clear labelling system that details all key information such as the expiration date, a product description and any relevant allergen labelling. This makes it easier to keep track of what you have and what needs using.
Using seasonal ingredients in menus can reduce food waste and the cost of supplies. Buying fruits and vegetables when they are in season tends to be cheaper as they are abundant and more readily available. They also have a lower carbon footprint as it is their natural growing season and they don’t require as much transportation. By using seasonal ingredients you are committing to using them within a certain time frame. Since this time frame is limited, it encourages you to find creative ways to make the most of the ingredients while you can, reducing the amount of food that is wasted since it will potentially not be readily available again for another year. A well planned menu is integral to reducing food waste and a smart menu enables you to have a more creative approach to this. You can make your menu ‘smart’ by developing dishes that use the same ingredients in similar ways. This ensures that should you over prepare ingredients, they can be used in different dishes rather than going to waste.
By law, all food handlers must be trained in food safety. Training staff on how to properly and safely handle, store and prepare food helps to reduce waste generated through human error. Preparation waste is one of the main causes of food waste in restaurants and the hospitality industry as a whole. Therefore, training staff in the importance of reducing food waste will enable them to prepare food in a way that creates as little waste as possible. Training staff is more than dictating to them what they should and shouldn’t do. It’s a chance to explain the rationale behind certain practices. If staff are made aware of why reducing food waste is so important and how their actions can directly affect its generation, they will be better able to make sustainable choices that reduce food waste.
Environmentalism is no longer just a buzz word intended to guilt people into walking more and driving less. Social awareness around the importance of protecting the planet continues to grow and has led to tangible changes in consumer behaviour. A 2024 YouGov report found that 60% of Britons agree that climate change is the biggest threat to civilisation. The report also found that 64% of British consumers are willing to pay up to 10% more for more sustainable options. By being open about your desire to reduce food waste, you can engage with these changes in attitudes and appeal to consumers who are making more sustainable choices. Moreover, you can then encourage those same customers to make environmentally friendly choices when visiting you, such as taking home leftovers, sharing larger meals to avoid plate waste or trying a sample before committing. Reducing food waste is just one way in which you can improve sustainability in your restaurant. However, regardless of which methods you choose to adopt, engaging your customers can help you to appeal to a broader range of people and grow your consumer base.
Customer leftovers account for a significant proportion of the food waste generated by the hospitality industry. Offering different portion sizes helps to reduce the amount of food left to waste and allows customers to make better informed decisions regarding how much food they will be able to consume. There is also a cost implication that will appeal to many as smaller portions can be made cheaper which also enables consumers to try more items from your menu. Providing the option to have a side dish as a main, or change a main into a side, gives consumers more control over how much food they order and in turn, how much food is wasted. You can also apply this thinking to sides or garnishes and provide customers with the option to remove a side or garnish that they know they won’t eat. One way to reduce food waste is to reduce the number of items that you have on your menu. However, if this is not viable for your business or simply a change you do not want to make, adaptable or smaller portion sizes can help to reduce waste in a similar way without compromising the variety on your menu.
Over-ordering is another notable cause of food waste in the industry. As such, ordering ingredients in a more efficient manner is a good way to reduce waste. Whilst it can be tempting to stock up or buy in bulk if your supplier has a good deal on, doing so can leave you with more food than you need which inevitably ends up being wasted. Instead, ensure that you only purchase the ingredients that you know your business will use. Keep an inventory of stock so that you know exactly which ingredients you have ready to hand at all times. Having a detailed list of what ingredients you have stored where, as well as their expiration date helps to prevent food being forgotten and going to waste, or being ordered in excess and leaving you with more than you can use before it spoils. Another key part of efficient ordering is inspecting your deliveries when they arrive. When deliveries arrive it is important to check items, both for quality and signs of damage and to check that you are only accepting what you actually ordered and what you actually need. Rejecting anything that is visibly spoiled, damaged, or has been transported at the incorrect temperature, will ensure you do not accept food that will spoil quicker than you can use it.
Poor stock organisation can lead to food waste as it makes it harder to keep track of your stock. This can lead to over-ordering as you buy more stock than needed. Introducing a simple system such as First In, First Out (FIFO) allows you to rotate stock, ensuring that older items are kept at the front and are therefore used first. The process of rotating your stock enables you to keep track of what you have and strategically position ingredients so that those that will expire soon are used first.
When food is composted rather than being sent to a land fill, the organic matter is turned into valuable fertiliser. This fertiliser is nutrient rich and great for gardening and growing your own ingredients. This may not be a viable option for all businesses, however, composting food waste is a great way to divert it from landfills and give it a new lease on life. You may choose to set up a compost bin and use the compost produced to grow herbs for your restaurant, or get in touch with a local allotment and see if they have a communal compost bin that they would let you contribute to. Composting is more than leaving food to rot in the garden and you need to ensure that the conditions are suitable for the microorganisms to break down any organic material. However, once you have the basics mastered, composting can be a simple way to turn food waste into something useful.
Preparation leftovers include things such as animal bones, vegetable peels and fruit skins and these leftovers need not head straight for the bin once the main dish has been prepared. Animal bones and vegetable peels can be used to make flavourful stocks and soups which can then be used for other dishes. Conversely, fruit skins can easily be used as garnishes for desserts or cocktails. Getting creative with how you repurpose preparation leftovers encourages your staff to use food more efficiently and make the most out of the ingredients that they are preparing.
Donating or selling surplus food ensures that any leftover food goes to a good home, rather than to waste. Setting up connections with local charities or food banks enables you to donate leftover meals and ingredients to people in need. If this is not a financially viable option, apps such as Too Good to Go provide a good middle ground in which surplus food is rescued from the landfill and sold at a reduced price.
With the introduction of new food waste separation regulations, more onus is being put on businesses to act sustainably. As such, finding ways to reduce food waste will not only help you to run your business in a more sustainable and cost effective manner, it will also ensure that you are well prepared for compliance with the regulations.
Reducing food waste in the hospitality sector is undeniably difficult, but not impossible. When making steps to be more sustainable it is valuable to remember that you are aiming for progression, not perfection. Adopting a few seemingly small practices that you can consistently maintain, will lead to more tangible change than committing to producing no waste whatsoever and failing after a week. Lean into the inherent creativity of the industry and find new and exciting ways to reduce your food waste, protect the planet and save money.
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]]>The post How to Reduce Food Waste at Home appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>However, despite being one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, a few small tweaks is all it takes to drastically reduce your food waste and help protect the planet. In this article we will explore how food waste is generated in households, why it is a problem for the environment and provide 10 top tips to help you reduce food waste at home.
There is no legal or universally accepted definition of ‘food waste,’ however the UK charity Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) defines food waste as ‘food and inedible parts sent to one of several waste disposal destinations.’ Put simply, food waste is food that is wasted, lost or uneaten at any point in the supply chain. From farm to table, supermarkets to our homes, food can be wasted at any stage of the supply chain and this waste is harmful to both our planet and our pockets.
WRAP estimates that in 2021 the total amount of food wasted in the UK amounted to 10.7 million tonnes. 60% of this was generated from households and amounted to a staggering £17 billion worth of food; equivalent to £250 per person each year, or £1000 for a family of four. However, despite 10.7 million tonnes going to waste, somewhat paradoxically, food insecurity continues to rise in the UK. Food insecurity is when a person does not have reliable access to affordable, nutritious and healthy food. In January 2023, 17% of households faced food insecurity compared to 7.4% in January 2021. Food insecurity and food waste are intrinsically linked as food waste can lead to food scarcity and increased prices, making it harder for lower income households to afford food.
Food waste also has a negative impact on the environment and it contributes to climate change and environmental degradation in two ways; firstly through the release of greenhouse gases such as methane and secondly through the wasted energy and resources needed for initial production. The United Nations Environment Programmes food index report states that 8-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed. This is because when food is left to rot in a landfill it releases methane, a greenhouse gas that has 28 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide and is 84 times more potent.
The rearing of livestock also generates methane. In 2022, the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) reported that 47% of the UK’s methane emissions were generated by ruminant agriculture; the process of rearing ruminant livestock such as cattle, sheep and goats for their milk, meat and other products. When this food is thrown away, the resources used to grow the agriculture or rear the livestock are wasted and greenhouse gas emissions generated for no reason.
It can be hard to quantify 9.5 million tonnes of annual food waste and this often leads people to think that their own food wasting habits aren’t contributing to the larger problem. However, wasting food is often easier than you may think and households in the UK throw away, on average, 1.96kg of food per day, roughly equivalent to eight meals per week.
Seemingly innocent habits add up to significant amounts of food being wasted and it’s not just the odd spoiled banana that we throw away that contributes to this waste. Ways in which food is wasted in households includes:
Food waste behaviour is multifaceted and most people do not set out with the intention to waste food. In fact, in the face of rising prices and the cost of living crisis, many people are more aware than ever of the economic impact of wasting food. However, food waste can be a cumulative problem in which throwing away small amounts of food each day or week generates tonnes and tonnes of waste.
This can be seen in the foods that are most wasted in the UK. These foods are often seen as inexpensive household necessities and as such are bought in large quantities in order to have them ready to hand when needed. Nevertheless, this can lead to people buying more food than they could possibly eat before it spoils and the food going to waste.
The top five most wasted foods in the UK are:
It is estimated that approximately 900,000 tonnes of bread are wasted each year both at the production and consumer levels. At consumer level this is often caused by people buying larger loaves than they can eat and subsequently throwing away half finished loaves of bread.
Around 750,000 tonnes of potatoes are wasted each year often due to overbuying, spoilage or visual imperfections that lead people to throw away perfectly edible potatoes.
Surplus purchase similarly leads to milk being wasted and around 490,000 tonnes of milk are wasted annually in the UK. As milk is a highly perishable item, expiration and improper storage can often lead to it being wasted.
Bananas are one of the most wasted fruits in the UK with 1.4 million being thrown away every day, resulting in approximately 190,000 tonnes being discarded annually. Overripening or cosmetic imperfections are the main cause of banana waste and according to WRAP it takes 3,000 hectares of land just to produce the bananas we waste each year.
Lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and other leafy greens are significant contributors to food waste. Approximately 170,000 tonnes of salad and vegetables are wasted annually in the UK often due to spoilage, overbuying or improper storage. It is also worth nothing that fruits and vegetables are often transported and sold covered in large amounts of plastic. Even when this food isn’t wasted, tonnes of plastic waste is generated from the packaging and production.
As mentioned, these foods are often seen as household essentials, regularly finding themselves on the weekly shopping list. Nevertheless, they also serve as the perfect example of how food waste is unconsciously generated. Many consumers would not think of the few slices of bread they threw away last week as being ‘significant’ food waste. However, when we consider that it is in fact a few slices being thrown away every single week for years on end, the problem becomes much more obvious.
Whilst food waste is a significant issue, steps can be taken to help reduce the amount of waste generated and its impact on the environment. From adopting more sustainable food practices to making more effective use of your freezer, small tweaks to your food shopping and eating habits can make a huge difference to the amount of waste generated. Moreover, the government has shown a dedication to reducing food waste with steps such as adopting the Courtauld Commitment which seeks to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.
Whilst these initiatives are encouraging supermarkets and restaurants to generate less waste or consider sustainable alternatives for waste they still create, it is important to remember that household food waste remains a massive contributor to food waste as a whole. As such, it is important that we as individuals take steps to reduce our food waste.
Here are 10 top tips to help you reduce your food waste at home:
Planning ahead can save you both time and money and help to ensure that you aren’t buying more food than you can eat. Write a list before you go shopping and check your kitchen first. What do you actually need to buy and what do you have enough of till you next go shopping? Planning ahead can also involve meal prepping. Meal prepping is a cost-effective way to plan and prepare meals in advance, ensuring that you are only buying what you can eat. It can also save you time as all of your meals for the week are already prepared, meaning you are less likely to pop to the shops on your way home and buy more food than you need. Meal prepping can also help with portion size. A WRAP survey found that 25% of people asked, threw away food due to cooking and serving too much. Meal prepping enables you to pre-portion your food, stopping you from cooking more than you can eat.
Freezing food is a great way to preserve its freshness and prevent food waste. Freezing leftovers is probably what first comes to mind when thinking about how to best use the freezer and this is a great way to preserve leftovers for a handy lunch or a quick, low effort dinner. Freezing trimmed or peeling waste generated from food preparation is another great way to use your freezer and preserve what would have otherwise been wasted. You can also prep the necessary ingredients for a recipe ahead of time and freeze them so they are ready for when you need it. To make the most out of your freezer, it is important to know how to properly store food in the freezer. It’s also helpful to know how long you can freeze certain foods for. It can be very tempting to put something in the freezer and forget about it for months, or even years on end, but if you store food in the freezer longer than it should be, you run the risk of simply delaying the food waste that you were trying to avoid.
Composting may sound like a daunting prospect but it is actually relatively simple and a great way to give your food waste a second lease on life. Composting at home stops food from rotting in landfills and provides you with great compost that benefits your garden. Many councils collect household food waste and can provide compost bins that they will collect regularly. Conversely, you can learn how to compost at home and buy a large composting bin or designate an area of your garden to create a compost pile. There are lots of different ways to compost requiring varying degrees of input to suit your needs, your space and your schedule.
Preserving food is an effective way to extend its longevity and keep household staples to hand without having to repurchase items. There are various different food preservation methods such as freezing, canning, sugaring, salting and even vacuum packing, all of which help to maintain food quality and extend its shelf life. Proper food preservation can help retain the taste, texture and appearance of food as well as helping food last beyond its usual expiration date.
Having a well organised kitchen can significantly reduce the amount of food waste that you generate. Overstuffed cupboards and fridges hide what lurks beneath and can result in that horror stricken discovery of food that expired months ago and has since grown a new lifeform! Implementing habits such as a food audit before shopping or stock rotation where you move older items to the front and new items to the back, can help you to manage your kitchen and have a better idea of the food you have in your house and what needs to be used first.
Fruits and vegetables are often sold in large quantities covered in plastic. This often leads to waste as you end up buying more food than you need and throwing away the surplus. Buying fruit and vegetables loose enables you to buy solely what you need. For example, that recipe you are determined to get right this time might only require 2 carrots, not a 1kg bag that you tell yourself you’ll chop up for a healthy snack throughout the week but inevitably end up throwing away. Moreover, buying loose fruit and vegetables lets you pick the quality, shape, size and colour that you want, rather than hedging your bets with a bunch or large bag. Love Food, Hate Waste, an initiative launched by WRAP, estimates that if all apples, bananas and potatoes were sold loose instead of in bags sold by weight, 60,000 tonnes of food waste would be saved each year; that’s 8.2 million shopping baskets worth of food.
Donating surplus food helps to ensure that your excess food is put to good use and benefits those in need rather than wasting away in a landfill. Research local food banks, shelters or charities that accept food donations and donate surplus food.
As mentioned, date labels can be confusing and cause people to throw away perfectly edible food. In an attempt to combat this, in 2023 supermarkets such as Marks & Spencers, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s switched the labels on their milk to ‘best before.’ This was heralded as a big win for reducing food waste as it enables people to use their personal judgement on whether milk is still good to use, rather than throwing away perfectly consumable milk. The sniff test is an appropriate method for foods with a ‘best before’ date as this date denotes food quality not safety. If you’re unsure about the ‘best before’ foods in your fridge, give them a sniff and use sensory cues such as signs of visible mould or smell to determine if the food is still okay to eat.
Knowing what to do with your leftovers can be the difference between them living to see another day or ending up in the bin because you can’t stomach yet another portion of Shepard’s Pie. Get creative with your leftovers and adapt simple dishes or side dishes into something new, quick and tasty. Leftovers aren’t just the bits and pieces left on your plate after a meal, they can also include vegetable scraps, leftover bread or those last few drops of mustard in the jar. These odds and ends can be bundled together to make a soup, or used to make salad dressing. The more imaginative you are with your leftovers the less daunting it will become and you will soon find yourself making use of food you may otherwise have thrown away.
As mentioned, cosmetic imperfections can lead people to throw away perfectly edible food. Not only does this stop us from picking up that three eyed potato at the supermarket, it can make us quick to throw away fruit and vegetables at home once they ‘turn ugly.’ However, these cosmetic imperfections are not necessarily reflective of the food’s safety or quality and do not automatically render the food dangerous to eat. Buying ‘wonky veg’ from supermarkets is often cheaper than the more aesthetically pleasing options and helps to stop those wobbly carrots ending up in a landfill.
There are various different ways to reduce your food waste at any and every stage of the meal preparation journey. When adopting these changes, ensure that they are suitable and sustainable for your lifestyle, as consistency is what makes these changes impactful and beneficial for our pockets and our planet.
Food waste feeds climate change. From the degradation of the land used to grow food that is then thrown away, to the billions upon billions of cubic metres of water that is wasted, food production draws resources from our planet at every stage of its life cycle. Making small, sustainable changes to our shopping and eating habits helps ensure that no good food ends up in the bin, thereby reducing our carbon footprint and helping to tackle climate change.
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]]>The post Deep Fat Fryer Safety appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>A deep fat fryer is a type of electrical kitchen appliance that is used to cook foods by submerging them in very hot oil. They are used in both commercial and domestic (at home) kitchens.
Deep fat fryers help to create foods that are soft on the inside and crunchy on the outside, like fried chicken, chips, hash browns, battered fish, Tempura and doughnuts.
Using a deep fat fryer is safer than using a pan full of hot oil to fry foods, which can be incredibly hazardous. Despite this, deep fat fryers still present a significant level of risk due to the presence of hot oil that has the potential to cause serious burns or fires. For this reason, deep fat fryers must be used safely and properly.
Follow these easy step-by-step instructions for how to use a deep fat fryer safely:
The oil inside a deep fat fryer can reach incredibly hot temperatures, meaning there’s a high risk of getting a serious burn. Whilst the oil takes just 6-7 minutes to heat up, remember that it can take several hours to cool down again after use, so always take care when handling used oil from your deep fat fryer. Our guide on how to treat burns and scalds is essential reading for anyone who owns a deep fat fryer at home.
The following guidance, provided by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), explains how to clean a deep fat fryer safely whether you own one at home or operate one in a commercial premises. To clean your deep fat fryer:
Both at home and in commercial premises, deep fat fryers present a number of hazards so they must be used correctly and safely. If used inappropriately or without care, deep fat fryers can easily cause fires, burns and injuries to the user and other people around them. Follow our deep fat fryer safety tips below to ensure you’re using your appliance with safety in mind, whether in your own personal kitchen or in a catering establishment.
If you use a deep fat fryer in your workplace, then your employer has a duty under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 to ensure you are able to use it safely. This means ensuring the deep fat fryer is used correctly, maintained properly and that a sufficient risk assessment is carried out. This applies whether the deep fat fryer you use is manual, automated or semi-automated.
In the first instance, all members of staff that use deep fat fryers must be properly trained in how to use the appliance safely, including how to empty and clean it, what protective equipment to use/wear, how to report any problems and what to do in case of fire.
Filtering the oil and cleaning the deep fat fryer should be daily tasks that occur in your premises and usually as one of the first tasks of the morning. Employers must ensure a risk assessment for filtering, emptying and cleaning the deep fat fryer has been conducted, as this will ensure all hazards have been identified and suitable control measures are in place. Our article on How to Do a Risk Assessment provides more information on this topic.
Below are more deep fat fryer safety tips for use in commercial kitchens:
Deep fat fryers are an appliance used in many commercial and domestic kitchens to produce a range of crispy fried foods that consumers love. However, hot oil must be used safely and can present a serious risk of fire and burns if not used correctly. Follow our deep fat fryer safety tips to ensure you remain safe from harm and get the most out of your appliance.
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]]>The post What You Need to Know About the SALSA Standards appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>SALSA stands for Safe and Local Supplier Approval. SALSA accreditation has been developed by experienced food safety experts as a certification scheme to support small food and drink businesses and suppliers in the UK.
Over recent years, the popularity of locally and regionally sourced foods has increased, as has the number of small businesses that create them. Whilst sourcing food and drink locally has many benefits – for the environment, for consumers and for the economy – the legal requirements and safety procedures need to be just as robust as those of their larger, multinational counterparts.
SALSA certification enables small UK food businesses to achieve a certificate that proves their food hygiene and food safety management credentials. The scheme is designed to encourage small and micro businesses to ensure the food and drink they produce is consistently safe through effective practices and controls.
The SALSA standard aims to ensure food businesses are meeting legal requirements and achieving best practice in all aspects of their organisation. It was created by experienced food safety experts, including The Food & Drink Federation, NFU and UK Hospitality.
SALSA offers four different Standards to meet the different needs of the UK food industry:
The food and drink standard is for small UK food and drink businesses that operate from a commercial kitchen. The Standard covers the legal requirements of food producers and ensures organisations meet the expectations of professional buyers.
The food brokers, storage and distribution (BSD) standard is for small businesses that put products on the market but which they haven’t manufactured themselves. For example, wholesales, specialty food distributors and brands that outsource their manufacturing.
The SALSA beer standard was created in association with Cask Marque and includes a special module on brewing. The ‘plus Beer’ Standard is ideal for small and micro breweries in the UK, as the requirements are tailored to small-scale operations.
The SALSA cheese standard was created in association with the Specialist Cheesemakers Association and includes a special module on cheesemaking. The ‘plus Cheese’ standard is designed especially for small and micro cheesemakers in the UK.
In order to achieve SALSA accreditation, your business must be based in the UK, operate from a commercial (not domestic) premises and have between 1-50 full-time employees. Businesses that fall outside of this remit cannot obtain SALSA certification.
To achieve SALSA certification, you’ll need to:
Food and drink businesses are only able to obtain SALSA certification if they can demonstrate to the auditor that they are committed to meeting the requirements of the relevant SALSA Standard. Suppliers must be able to prove that they can produce safe and legal food and drink products.
A large part of the SALSA certification requirements is ensuring everyone in your food business has received relevant and up-to-date training. Running a successful, safe and legal food business requires members of staff to have robust knowledge on relevant processes and procedures, including:
As a starting point for all food and drink businesses, it’s recommended that you take a training course in food hygiene and safety to learn the basics and ensure your knowledge of food safety procedures remains up-to-date. To find out what food hygiene certificate you need, take a look at our Food Hygiene Certificate Guide, or view our full range of online Food Hygiene Certificates here.
During a SALSA audit, a nominated person will need to accompany the auditor whilst they inspect all areas of your HACCP food safety management system, checking each aspect of the premises and production process against the relevant SALSA Standard. The SALSA audit process takes around 5-6 hours.
Use the SALSA audit checklist below to learn which key areas of your business the auditors will look at:
SALSA certification is a great way for small and micro-sized food and drink suppliers to prove to their buyers that they have a robust food safety management system in place. Meeting the SALSA standard shows that your food business complies with the law and takes food safety seriously, and can consistently create safe and legal food and drink products.
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]]>The post Turkey Food Safety: Tips for Christmas Food Safety appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>Whether you’re buying a fresh raw turkey or a frozen one, choosing the right moment to buy your Christmas turkey is key for a successful festive lunch. Frozen turkeys can be bought well in advance of the big day as they can be stored for much longer than fresh ones, so are a good choice if you like to plan ahead. If you’re planning to buy a fresh Christmas turkey, then you’ll want to wait until as last minute as possible for optimum freshness.
If you’re intending to keep your raw turkey in the fridge before Christmas dinner, then ensure you take a close look at the use by date on the turkey’s wrapper. Both whole turkeys and turkey crowns will last in the fridge up to and including the use by date indicated on their packaging. Depending on where you buy your fresh turkey from, the use by date is likely to be anywhere from 2 to 7 days after the date of purchase.
To ensure your turkey lasts in the fridge and to prevent food poisoning bacteria from developing:
If you’re buying a frozen raw turkey ahead of the Christmas period, then it should be stored in the freezer until you are ready to thaw and cook it. Whole turkeys and turkey crowns can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months. After this time, the texture or quality of the meat may not remain at its best.
To ensure your turkey lasts in the freezer, check that the temperature is set to -18 °C or below.
When the time comes to prepare your turkey for Christmas dinner, you’ll first need to ensure it’s fully defrosted if you’ve stored it in the freezer or simply take it out the fridge if you have a fresh bird. Then you can start to add your chosen flavours, seasonings, fats or oils ready for roasting.
Before you can prepare a frozen turkey, it must be fully defrosted. If the turkey is still partially frozen when you try to cook it, then it won’t cook all the way through and harmful food poisoning bacteria may remain. See our tips on how to defrost a turkey safely in the next section below.
It’s also important that you prepare your turkey in a way which avoids cross-contamination (the transfer of harmful bacteria from one surface to another). This means preparing your raw turkey away from other foods, especially ready-cooked ones, and remaining clean and hygienic throughout.
Top tips for preparing a Christmas turkey to prevent cross-contamination are as follows:
If you’ve bought a frozen turkey or have put a fresh turkey in the freezer ahead of Christmas day, then you’ll need to defrost it fully before you can cook it. If your turkey is not fully defrosted when you put it in the oven, it’s likely to cook unevenly and may cause food poisoning.
Check the turkey’s packaging for guidance on how long the defrosting process will take, as large birds can take several days to thaw out fully. A whole frozen turkey can take up to 5 days to defrost all the way to the middle. A turkey crown is a much smaller joint of meat and is likely to be defrosted within 24 hours.
As a general guide, allow 10-12 hours of defrosting time per kg of turkey.
You should always defrost a turkey in the fridge and not at room temperature. Whilst this may make the thawing process slower, it helps to keep the meat cold and prevents it from entering the temperature danger zone – between 8 ºC and 63 ºC – where harmful bacteria can rapidly develop.
To defrost your turkey safely, keep it in its original packaging and put it in a tray or oven dish, before placing it on the bottom shelf of the fridge to thaw out. You can check whether the turkey is fully defrosted by making sure there are no ice crystals inside the cavity. Once defrosted, cook the turkey within 24 hours.
Cooking the turkey for Christmas dinner is often seen as one of the most important parts of the day, so it’s important that you get it right for both maximum flavour and maximum safety.
Check the instructions on the turkey’s packaging for guidance on how long to cook the turkey for but, as a general guide, allow 45 minutes per kg for a small turkey and 35 minutes per kg for a large turkey at an oven set to 180 °C.
Follow our top tips on how to cook a turkey for Christmas for a successful and safe festive feast:
It’s inevitable that you’ll have turkey leftovers after your Christmas dinner, as well as leftover vegetables, sides and desserts. To store your leftovers to enjoy later, it’s best to get them in the fridge or freezer as soon as possible.
Ideally, turkey leftovers should be refrigerated within 2 hours of being cooked to prevent them from remaining at room temperature for too long. After 2 hours at room temperature, food poisoning bacteria may begin to develop on the food.
Put any turkey leftovers in a sealed container or cover with foil, pop them in the fridge and then eat them within the next 2-3 days. After this time, leftovers should be discarded as they may not be safe to consume.
Almost all leftover Christmas food can be frozen, provided it’s cooled down and stored in a sealed, labelled container as soon as possible. Freezing will ensure your turkey leftovers last for much longer, as they can remain frozen for up to 6 months. Our guides on How to Store Food in the Freezer and How Long Food Can Be Frozen For provide further tips if you want to learn more.
If you’re planning to reheat turkey or other Christmas leftovers, it’s vital that you do so safely and properly.
Reheated food must be steaming hot all the way through in order to kill any harmful bacteria that may have developed. This means reheating it to a core temperature of at least 75 °C for 30 seconds. It’s best to use a probe thermometer to check this, as all foods will take different times to reheat to the right temperature.
For optimum food safety, you should avoid reheating leftover turkey and other foods more than once. Our article on How Many Times Can You Reheat Food Safely? provides more guidance on reheating leftovers safely.
Turkey food safety is an essential yet often overlooked part of the Christmas holidays. We all want our Christmas dinner to be a success, and storing and cooking your turkey correctly is vital for ensuring food poisoning is avoided during the festive season.
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]]>The post What is ISO 22000 – Food Safety Management? appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>ISO 22000 is an internationally-recognised standard that sets out the requirements for an effective food safety management system. All businesses that handle food, whether manufacturers, caterers or retailers, have a legal responsibility to ensure the food they produce is safe for consumers to eat.
Having an ISO 22000 food safety management system (FSMS) in place means you can always ensure this is the case and can reassure consumers that your food products are always safe and hygienic.
ISO 22000 explains what businesses need to do to demonstrate their ability to control food safety hazards at all points of the food supply chain. This includes having thorough procedures in place to control all types of food safety hazards:
Need to implement a HACCP food safety management system in your food business? Our full range of online HACCP training courses are suitable for all food businesses in all industries and will teach you everything you need to know about creating an effective food safety management system that can be used as the basis of your ISO 22000 application.
Implementing an ISO 22000 food safety management system helps your organisation to improve its overall performance when it comes to food safety.
All food businesses must look to improve food safety by reducing risks and following the Codex HACCP Principles. HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point – is the basis for a food safety management system that enables you to comply with food hygiene law and ensure that the food you produce is safe for consumers to eat.
The Codex HACCP principles are an internationally-recognised series of guidelines that provide the foundation for most national food safety laws. ISO 22000 is based on the Codex principles for food hygiene and their prerequisite programmes, so it ensures that your business is meeting all the criteria for food safety expected by the government and local authorities. Find out more about the basics of HACCP in our HACCP FAQ.
Other benefits of having an ISO 22000 FSMS include:
ISO 22000 certification can be obtained by any type of food organisation at any point of the food chain. All food businesses – whether manufacturers, caterers or retailers – need a robust food safety management system in place, regardless of their size or type of food produced or handled.
The ISO 22000 requirements are designed to be integrated into your existing HACCP food safety management system, so you should already be able to tick off many of the requirements straight away. An ISO 22000 FSMS can be created as a stand-alone system but it works much better when integrated into your existing food safety processes.
If you’re new to HACCP and need to understand the basics of what it involves and how to implement a HACCP-based food safety system, take a look at the online courses below that are tailored to each type of food business:
Whilst certification gives your FSMS credibility and international recognition, getting ISO 22000 certification is not always necessary for all food businesses. Your business can still benefit from using the principles of ISO 22200 – and use them to create a robust food safety management system – but not go on to seek official certification.
If you do wish to obtain ISO 22000 certification for your organisation’s food safety management system, then you’ll need to follow a series of thorough steps:
It’s important to familiarise yourself with the requirements and expectations of the ISO 22000 standard. To create an ISO 22000-compliant FSMS, you’ll need to understand how the standard applies to you and your operations. You’ll also need a good understanding of HACCP and general food hygiene and safety practices. You can purchase a copy of the ISO 22000 standard here.
A stage 1 assessment is done to check whether your food safety management system meets the requirements of the ISO 22000 standard or whether improvements are needed. After the assessment, you’ll receive an audit report that highlights the actions needed in order to achieve certification. You must action these changes in order to move onto stage 2.
A stage 2 assessment is a more in-depth review of your food safety management system by an official auditor. The auditor will look at all your operations, procedures and processes to check whether they meet the ISO 22000 requirements or if more is needed. Again, advisory notes will be given if changes are needed in order to obtain certification and these must be actioned.
If your organisation’s FSMS passes the stage 2 assessment, and no further remedial actions are required, then you’ll be awarded the ISO 22000 certification. The ISO 22000 certification is valid for 3 years (like all ISO certifications) and requires regular audits in order to be maintained.
An ISO 22000 food safety management system is an internationally-recognised set of principles for ensuring your food business has effective HACCP food safety procedures in place. When the ISO 22000 requirements are followed – and if certification is obtained – your food business will be able to prove that it takes all reasonable steps to ensure food hygiene and safety for consumers and can ensure the products it makes or handles remain continually safe to eat.
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]]>The post Cake Care Instructions: Free Template appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>In this article, we’ll explain more about how to transport cakes safely, how to store cakes at home and how to serve and cut a cake effectively. We’ll also provide cake business owners with a free cake care instructions template that you can download and use for your own cake making business.
If you own a cake or cupcake making business, then you’ll know that your cakes are delicate items and need to be handled with care. Cakes are handmade products and sometimes hours of work can go into decorating them, especially if it’s a cake for a special event like a wedding.
To ensure your customers enjoy their cakes at their best – and reduce the chances of damage on the way home – it’s important that they know how to transport, store and serve their cake once they’ve bought it from you.
A cake care instructions card can be used as a handy guide to help your customers easily recognise how to look after their purchase – all you need to do is download and print the cake care guide template and attach one to each cake purchased. Your customers will then have all the information they need in one location to ensure their cake remains good enough to eat. You can download a free cake care template later in the article.
Handling and transporting a cake safely from the point of purchase to the customer’s home is a delicate process and essential for preserving its appearance. A mishandled cake box can lead to a squashed cake, decorations falling off or the icing melting.
The following cake handling and cake transport tips will ensure your cake reaches its destination unharmed:
Storing baked goods correctly is essential for preserving their shelf life and maintaining food safety. If cakes aren’t stored properly once the customer gets them home, then they might melt, change texture or become unsafe to eat because they’ve spent too long in the temperature danger zone.
Best practice for cake storage at home is as follows:
As someone who makes and sells food products to consumers, you must be able to name all of the ingredients used in everything you bake and have knowledge of which products contain which food allergens. In fact, cake makers have a legal responsibility to ensure all of their baked goods are labelled accurately with which allergens they contain.
To ensure cake allergen information is labelled correctly:
Cutting and serving a cake is the moment your customers have been waiting for, so it’s important that the cake looks and tastes its best after being transported and stored. All cakes taste best on the day of purchase, so remind your customers to collect their cake as near to their event as possible.
Cake cutting instructions are as follows:
Now that you understand all of the information that customers need to know post-purchase, why not include a handy guide with each cake you sell?
Our free cake care card can be downloaded at the link below, printed off (we have provided two cards per sheet) and included alongside each cake you sell. Customers will then have all the cake care instructions they need right away, meaning your cakes will be transported, stored and served as they should be.
For cake makers, home bakers and cupcake businesses, helping your customers to get the most out of their purchase is an important part of the customer satisfaction journey. By including cake care instructions with each cake you sell, customers will have access to all the information they need to ensure their cake is transported, stored and served safely, ensuring they get the most out of their cake and it continues to look and taste its best right up to the special event.
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]]>The post How to Reduce Waste at Christmas appeared first on The Hub | High Speed Training.
]]>Christmas in the U.K. generates staggering amounts of waste with approximately 270,000 tonnes of food being thrown away each year despite being totally edible. But it’s not just the sprouts that are ending up in landfills. Approximately 108 million rolls of wrapping paper are binned each Christmas; that’s around 227,000 miles of paper, almost enough for a quick trip to the moon!
It’s not all doom and gloom though! By making a few small changes, it’s perfectly possible to enjoy the festive fun whilst making greener choices and reducing your waste. In this article we will provide some tips on how you can reduce waste and have a more sustainable Christmas.
According to climate campaign group WRAP, enough potatoes are thrown away each year to make roasties for Christmas Day for the whole country for 48 years. That’s more than just a few bags of Aunt Bessie’s! It is estimated that we generate around 30% more waste at Christmas than we do the rest of the year. This includes two million turkeys, 74 million mince pies and 17 million Brussels sprouts that end up in the bin every year.
Not only is this waste a huge problem for landfill sites and our wallets, the production and packing of these items produces vast amounts of carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, as well as creating tonnes of packaging rubbish which also ends up in landfills. This time of year is riddled with sales promotions intended to encourage you to purchase every Christmas treat you could possibly imagine. This often leads to overspending and many people admit to buying more than they need at this time of year, for fear of running out. However, this inevitably leads to an increase in food waste as we buy more food than we could possibly eat and end up stuck with leftovers we don’t know what to do with.
5 Ways to Reduce Food Waste at Christmas
Though we might all be guilty of immediately tearing them open in a frantic rush to see what we got, nicely wrapped gifts adorned with ribbons and bows are a notable part of the ceremony of gift giving. However, the glitter and plastic used to make our presents presentable are the very things that render most wrapping paper unrecyclable. The average U.K. household uses four rolls of wrapping paper to wrap their presents and it’s estimated that around 50,000 trees are chopped down each year to meet these demands. And it’s not just the wrapping paper! Around 8 billion Christmas cards are sent each year with an eye watering 30,000 tonnes worth of them being thrown away; that equates to around £2.8 million worth of rubbish.
5 Ways to Reduce Paper Waste at Christmas
By making small changes to your festive habits you can reduce waste and have a more sustainable Christmas. These changes don’t need to be big nor do they need to be expensive; they simply require a little bit more time and input. Instead of viewing these changes as an inconvenient chore, turn them into a part of your seasonal celebrations. Invite friends and family round to make decorations together, set up a group chat where people can share unused items for regifting, involve everyone in your efforts to have a more sustainable season.
Here are 5 ways you can have a more sustainable Christmas:
By making sustainable choices and reducing our environmental impact, we can ensure that Christmas stays the most wonderful time of the year rather than the most wasteful time of the year. Small tweaks can make a world of difference, saving both the planet and your pocket and bringing the spirit of sustainability to your festivities.
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