Heard a dishwasher say 'I just put the sprayer in the soup'

Kid was rinsing pans and literally dipped the sprayer handle into a pot of chicken stock. Took me 10 minutes to explain why that's not okay. Now I check on new dishwashers during prep every shift.

4 comments

4 Comments

olivia6705d ago

Wait so @carr.abby you're saying the sprayer handle basically turns into a bacteria bomb because of the pressure shooting stuff into the crevices? That's honestly terrifying, I never thought about it that deep. Like I get the obvious "don't dip it in soup" part but now I'm wondering how often that bacteria transfer happens just from normal use. Do you think rinsing the handle with sanitizer between tasks actually helps or is it already too late once it's been used on dirty dishes? Because I've seen dishwashers literally toss the sprayer into the sink full of gross water and then grab it again without a thought. Seems like the whole design of those things is just asking for trouble if you ask me.

young.thomas5d ago

I read this article once about how restaurant kitchens basically have an invisible rulebook that nobody tells new people about until they mess up. It said the sprayer thing is actually super common because people don't realize how much bacteria gets trapped in those handles after hitting dirty dishes all night. One drop of that soapy sprayer water into a big batch of soup can ruin the whole thing and maybe make someone sick. So yeah, you gotta watch the new kids like a hawk during prep, I've seen way too many similar mistakes.

carr.abby5d ago

You saying "one drop of that soapy sprayer water into a big batch of soup can ruin the whole thing" really hits, but here's what gets me. Nobody ever talks about how those sprayer handles get flipped around so fast that the water pressure actually shoots bacteria deep into the handle crevices where you can't even see it. So even when you think you're just grabbing it to wash a pan, you're basically loading up a germ cannon that goes off right over the prep station.

the_alex5d ago

Friend of mine had a new guy on his line who thought it'd be smart to rinse a dirty colander over the salad station. Took them like an hour to realize why everyone was getting sick that night. Learning the hard way, I guess.