OT; Arfa's Burger Joint...

I've been in one when I was desperate for 'food' - had about 10km to ride across the Pennines and it was 11 pm. After suffering that experience, I went on and about 100m away, round a corner, was a pizza place still open. I did wonder about going back for a refund for full regurgitation.

But we're not talking about a medical clean room, we're talking about eating food off plates, ceramic or wood. I don't suppose you autoclave your plates and spoons at home do you?

Nick

Sympathy.

No point, autoclaves don't kill prions as in mad cow disease. Bleach does if its strong enough.

I didn't autoclave the clean room either. My dishwasher is probably more efficient at cleaning (although not at disinfecting) my crockery and cutlery than anything we did to the clean room. However, wood is not dishwasher proof, it does not have a smooth, easily cleaned, surface like metal or ceramic and it gets knife cuts with use. In short, it is a trap for contaminants that does not lend itself to proper cleaning.

Colin Bignell

They won't even get that from me. Incredulity perhaps.

Yes, "sympathy" was the wrong word. "Derision", perhaps?

"Steve Firth" wrote in message news:1k1pm4v.ftfd791eez52aN%%steve%@malloc.co.uk...

Thanks Steve. Your good wishes are well received. I think margins that are obtainable vary wildly with the product / service. We definitely did used to achieve those sorts of margins with our cafes, but that was not by buying everything in - even at cash and carry prices, which are often more than Tesco's. For instance, we used to make our own coleslaw, fresh, every morning before we opened. It was done using quality Helmans mayo, which was the most expensive ingredient in it, but absolutely worth the cost. The cost of the vegetables in it was negligible, and the labour, only a small amount. So, even with the mayo being quite expensive, it still allowed us to offer a vastly superior product to the commercially available stuff, at a fraction of the cost. However, we were then able to sell it on at the 'normal' retail level, thus making a good margin. Likewise, all salad was prepped fresh every day, from the actual vegetables. Contrast this with many cafes that just get a few leaves out of a bag, that's already a couple of days old before they even buy it. It's expensive, and not good quality, but the owners are too lazy to do the job properly. My wife also baked several quiches every morning. If you buy these from catering suppliers, they are like 12 quid a pop. We could make them for again, a fraction of that, and sell them for the same as people would pay elsewhere for an inferior factory product, hence making a good margin.

I think that it is about understanding your market, and not being afraid of hard work in order to make the margins that make it all worth while. And the customers do notice. We still see many of our old customers on our travels, and to a single one, they all bemoan the fact that we sold up, and are excitedly looking forward to being able to come back to us at the new venture.

Arfa

Why, a veggy burger, of course !

Arfa

LOL !!

Arfa

Cherry coke? Ewwwugh re-VOL-ting.

That's the worst of the effing lot. All these diet drinks taste like s**te.

Hershey's - the only time in my *life* I didn't finish a chocolate bar was a Hershey's.

Right. Really? I mean, really? Bugs build up a resistance to peracetic acid?!

Oh yeah, I forgot that they are the same thing with the same requirements as kitchens.

Well, being neighbours to aresholes... yes.

You would have to discuss that with the consultant microbiologist that laid down the rules we had to follow and what disinfectants were acceptable. I just know that we had to keep rotating them and were told that was to ensure they remained effective.

Not at all. Everything we made got a massive dose of ionizing radiation, so we did not have to be quite so stringent about the bioburden as a food preparation factory.

Colin Bignell

So you don't know then. OK.

So you agree that they are not the same things with the same requirements. OK.

Exactly, If you want a low calorie drink, try tap water.....

What are the names of the 3 disinfectants, Colin?

Dave

And since my mother moved within sniffing distance of Hershey, PA, I now know why - all the nice stuff goes up the chimney! Then Hershey sell whatever's left.