Personal Hygiene Rules and the Reasons Behind Them
I’ve spent sixteen years walking into kitchens where the air is thick with the smell of industrial degreaser and the…
Author: Ottoline Achebe-Kirkwood
Almost every serious food safety incident I have investigated was preventable by something small and boring that nobody had time for. I write about the controls that actually reduce risk — allergen communication, temperature discipline, cleaning that follows a sequence — and I am honest that a kitchen serving four hundred meals on limited staffing cannot do everything. Tell me what you can realistically sustain, and I will tell you where to put it.
Cooking in Waves Rather Than All at Once
I’ve sat in too many humid, shouting kitchens to believe the nonsense that you need a complex, minute-by-minute spreadsheet to…
Combi Ovens and Whether You Need One
I’ve spent far too many Tuesday mornings standing in sweltering, cramped kitchens, watching a stressed-out cook struggle with a piece…
The Complete Guide to Pest Control
I once stood in a school kitchen at 6:30 AM, the air smelling of floor polish and stale bread, watching…
Building a Three-week Cycle That Complies
I remember standing in a school kitchen three years ago, watching a frantic prep cook try to cross-reference a handwritten…
The School Food Standards, Practically Applied
I remember standing in a kitchen back in 2014, watching a frantic midday service where the steam from a massive…
The Complete Guide to Cleaning and Sanitising
I’ve spent sixteen years walking into kitchens where the staff are staring at a stack of shiny, expensive manuals, looking…
Twenty Seconds and a Dedicated Basin
I remember standing in a school kitchen three years ago, the midday rush hitting like a tidal wave, watching a…
Legionella Risk in Little-used Outlets
I remember standing in a primary school kitchen three years ago, watching a frantic midday service, when I noticed the…
Planning Production Backwards From Service
I remember standing in a secondary school kitchen three years ago, the air thick with the smell of burnt gravy…