Cooks

Hours: 4

Time: Cooking Starts at 4PM, finish at 7PM

Pre-cook cleaning (3PM-4PM): Assistant cooks are expected to do either a pre-cooking kitchen clean shift or a pre-cooking dishes shift (focus on items you will be using like pots, cutting boards, knifes etc.). These are done to prepare the kitchen for the cooking that is about to be done.

Head cook gets an extra hour for meal planning.

Each regular dinner cooking shift is composed of one Head cook and two Assistant cooks.

HEAD COOKS: Be ready with a menu and a general idea of who will have which job to get it done.

A menu must be prepared which includes a complete and nutritious meal for people of each of the dietary restrictions: omnivore, vegetarian, vegan, Celiac's Disease, nut allergy. Talk to the KM if you need help figuring out how to do this.

Plan your menu in advance and give the Kitchen Manager any special shopping requests at least X days ahead of time (usually at least 1-2 weeks).

Variety is encouraged.

Check in with your assistants beforehand to make sure they'll be there, or if there's a replacement from the buy/sell sheet.

Assistant cooks are sometimes experienced in the kitchen, and sometimes not. You'll have the same crew throughout the semester, so it's well worth your time to train up your assistants into a crack commando cooking squad.

Check in with the KM at the beginning of the term to find out how often you should be cooking meat.

Follow food safe meat thawing procedures (ask your KM or WM if you are unsure what the rules are for doing this in our house).

Do not use single-serve food products to make house dinners. This includes items such as the frozen individual chicken breasts or sliced sandwich cheese, etc. Similarly, do not use collective foods made for the house (granola, fake meat, hummus) to make dinners.

Be conscientious about the food which you choose to prepare: Try use up items which will otherwise go bad soon, or things which we have a large quantity of. Try not to use up the items which people tend to like to use for other purposes/individual meals (avocados, strawberries, etc).

Ask your KM if you have any questions about what you can use!

ALL COOKS: Clean dishes/bowls/cutting boards/appliances/utensils used during the cooking shift just as you would when using them on your own time. This includes rinsing all items you put into the dish room. The kitchen should not be messier after you cook than it was before you started.

What to do if there are no clean dishes? If the pre-cook dish clean was not sufficient to clean dishes, you can also email the house (hip dot announce at lists dot berkeley dot edu) to ask for a house member to volunteer to do dishes. House members can get workshift credit for stepping up in this situation, provided they email the WS manager with relevant details.

Who can buy cook shifts? Everyone in the house is encouraged to buy assistant cook shifts when they are sold, even house members with no cooking experience. The head cook that you work with will be able how to do every aspect of the job to you. Be prepared to work at a brisk pace for the entire 3 hours. ONLY people who have done multiple assistant cook shifts may purchase head cook shifts.

SAFETY: All cooks must wear closed toed shoes at all times in the kitchen. Gloves should be worn as advised by the head cook. Report any injuries or accidents IMMEDIATELY to a manager. Know where the silver K-class fire extinguisher is (this works on grease fires, unlike the normal red ones): its in the corner by the door to the dining room.