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ServSafe? Coursebook
The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing educational and training solutions that serve the needs of the entire restaurant and hospitality corporations, associations, schools, independent operators, and trainers. Established in 1987 through a merger between the National Restaurant Association's educational department and the National Institute for the Foodservice Industry (NIFI), the Foundation has since become the primary source for career development---from high school student to manager and beyond.
496 pages, Paperback
First published May 17, 2001
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 10, 2017
Wish more people would wash their hands more frequently and more thorough than what I witness in my day to day life using public restrooms.
Often times in the men's bathroom I'll witness (peripheral vision) grown men doing their business at the urinal and then walking right out of there without washing their hands.
In one instance, I heard the flushing of the stall (gross!) and the prompt exit of the men's room sans soap and water. Lets just say I opened the door with my foot when I exited that men's room....after washing my hands with soap and water of course ;)
The "proper way" to wash one's hands (according to the book) includes soap and water at 100F for 15 seconds with a 5 second rinse and greater attention to fingernails and any cuts or scrapes. Now I'm not the king of 20 second hand scrubbing, but just about 100% of the time I will always wash my hands with soap after using the 'potty.' Hey, why not? Let's take it back to infancy where some grown ass men still reside when it comes to these habits. And when it comes to the food industry, and food preparation...well, I've personally witnessed grown men SMOKING cigarettes in the kitchen WHERE THE PIZZA IS MADE after the restaurant has closed for the evening (as they are counting out the registers). NOT COOL! (let's not even think about whether or not they practice proper hygiene by washing their damn hands after touching their dicks. lets get real here, it doesn't always come out in a straight stream, and it doesn't always stop without dripping, and yes its okay to play with it by shaking more than 2 times...as long as you wash your hands with soap and water before resuming your existence in the public world). Ladies, am I wrong? Tell me I'm wrong here ladies...
Without going into microscopic depth, one of the main points of this book I'd like to highlight is the fact that life exists, and lives at a certain "Goldilocks" zone. Not too hot, not too cold, and just like us humans, pathogens thrive between 41F and 155F (alright, maybe that's a little on the hot side). It behooves you to know that salmonella can exist in 164 F making it easy to contract (and especially if they haven't washed their hands-see above-or have cross contaminated the utensils used to prepare the food.
Some final key points:
~4 hours. That's the time limit in a nutshell of about how long you can leave TCS (temperature controlled for safety food) out in room temperature before you have to throw it away.
~Bacteria doubles every 20 minutes, resulting in 1 billion after 10 hours.
~FAT TOM: Food, Acidity, Temperature, Time, Oxygen, Moisture. FAT TOM is a handy acronym to remember the 6 conditions that bacteria need to grow.
Other than that, someone in the restaurant needs to be certified in proper food handling techniques in every restaurant, and re-certified every 5 years. Someone who washes their hands with soap, and someone who DOESN'T SMOKE IN THE KITCHEN! (check your local pizzeria after hours, "A!" ;)
[UPDATE] I didn't pass the test which is not all that surprising given the fact that I read only 2/3 of the book in the 7 days before the test was administered. Although our instructor D. Fee took us through the book in 4 hours the first night, it was still a bit of a cram session before the second night a week later. I mean really, 7 days to cram 15 chapters of textbook info? I am confident I could have passed it if we had another week (or if I take the test again). I was however able to read the first 10/15 chapters, plus the summaries of all the chapters, but I was not able to score the required 75% minimum having scored only 70% instead. In retrospect I think my downfall was not knowing enough about the regulatory authority and legal procedures and structure of power when it comes to regulation.
And while we're on the subject I think it's important to be honest with yourself and others about your short comings. If not for the virtue of being honest, or for legal reasons, then to alleviate the liability you may incur by leading other on to think that you are capable when you are not. I'm not quite so sold on the old "Fake it till you make it" adage when greater levels of responsibility and penalties may be incurred.
I took this class to add depth to some of the noncredit cooking classes that I took over the years at the local community college. I was intrigued by the fact that you get to eat what you make, and any leftovers are yours to keep (so bring a container). Under the supervision of a professional chef, you are practically guaranteed to make something tasty for the feast at the end of the class. So this ServSafe class was a bit of a reach for me (especially for having long curly hair that inevitably sheds at some point) but again I had taken some of these cooking classes and I did have some experience in the restaurant business so it did add another dimension to the mechanics or technical side of food preparation (cleanliness and safety!).
Often times in the men's bathroom I'll witness (peripheral vision) grown men doing their business at the urinal and then walking right out of there without washing their hands.
In one instance, I heard the flushing of the stall (gross!) and the prompt exit of the men's room sans soap and water. Lets just say I opened the door with my foot when I exited that men's room....after washing my hands with soap and water of course ;)
The "proper way" to wash one's hands (according to the book) includes soap and water at 100F for 15 seconds with a 5 second rinse and greater attention to fingernails and any cuts or scrapes. Now I'm not the king of 20 second hand scrubbing, but just about 100% of the time I will always wash my hands with soap after using the 'potty.' Hey, why not? Let's take it back to infancy where some grown ass men still reside when it comes to these habits. And when it comes to the food industry, and food preparation...well, I've personally witnessed grown men SMOKING cigarettes in the kitchen WHERE THE PIZZA IS MADE after the restaurant has closed for the evening (as they are counting out the registers). NOT COOL! (let's not even think about whether or not they practice proper hygiene by washing their damn hands after touching their dicks. lets get real here, it doesn't always come out in a straight stream, and it doesn't always stop without dripping, and yes its okay to play with it by shaking more than 2 times...as long as you wash your hands with soap and water before resuming your existence in the public world). Ladies, am I wrong? Tell me I'm wrong here ladies...
Without going into microscopic depth, one of the main points of this book I'd like to highlight is the fact that life exists, and lives at a certain "Goldilocks" zone. Not too hot, not too cold, and just like us humans, pathogens thrive between 41F and 155F (alright, maybe that's a little on the hot side). It behooves you to know that salmonella can exist in 164 F making it easy to contract (and especially if they haven't washed their hands-see above-or have cross contaminated the utensils used to prepare the food.
Some final key points:
~4 hours. That's the time limit in a nutshell of about how long you can leave TCS (temperature controlled for safety food) out in room temperature before you have to throw it away.
~Bacteria doubles every 20 minutes, resulting in 1 billion after 10 hours.
~FAT TOM: Food, Acidity, Temperature, Time, Oxygen, Moisture. FAT TOM is a handy acronym to remember the 6 conditions that bacteria need to grow.
Other than that, someone in the restaurant needs to be certified in proper food handling techniques in every restaurant, and re-certified every 5 years. Someone who washes their hands with soap, and someone who DOESN'T SMOKE IN THE KITCHEN! (check your local pizzeria after hours, "A!" ;)
[UPDATE] I didn't pass the test which is not all that surprising given the fact that I read only 2/3 of the book in the 7 days before the test was administered. Although our instructor D. Fee took us through the book in 4 hours the first night, it was still a bit of a cram session before the second night a week later. I mean really, 7 days to cram 15 chapters of textbook info? I am confident I could have passed it if we had another week (or if I take the test again). I was however able to read the first 10/15 chapters, plus the summaries of all the chapters, but I was not able to score the required 75% minimum having scored only 70% instead. In retrospect I think my downfall was not knowing enough about the regulatory authority and legal procedures and structure of power when it comes to regulation.
And while we're on the subject I think it's important to be honest with yourself and others about your short comings. If not for the virtue of being honest, or for legal reasons, then to alleviate the liability you may incur by leading other on to think that you are capable when you are not. I'm not quite so sold on the old "Fake it till you make it" adage when greater levels of responsibility and penalties may be incurred.
I took this class to add depth to some of the noncredit cooking classes that I took over the years at the local community college. I was intrigued by the fact that you get to eat what you make, and any leftovers are yours to keep (so bring a container). Under the supervision of a professional chef, you are practically guaranteed to make something tasty for the feast at the end of the class. So this ServSafe class was a bit of a reach for me (especially for having long curly hair that inevitably sheds at some point) but again I had taken some of these cooking classes and I did have some experience in the restaurant business so it did add another dimension to the mechanics or technical side of food preparation (cleanliness and safety!).
July 24, 2022
I would love to read this book 📖
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
May 7, 2008Keep refrigerators below 41-degrees Fahrenheit. Watch out for ciguatera poisoning when serving reef fish. Fresh rat and mouse dropping are shiny and black; older droppings are gray. And so on... Read this textbook and you too can become paranoid in the kitchen.
August 28, 2015
As someone that has been in the service industry for a long time, I found this book really insightful. I saw where numerous things were done wrong in past jobs. every single person that works in food service should read this.
June 13, 2017
This book was super common sense and when the questions on the test went into extreme detail there was nothing in the book that specific so it was difficult answering the questions when that happened. Boring read, lacking information for test and all around awful experience.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2008
This was a really good reference for a culinary student. I only found two chapters boring. Other than that, it was well organized and utilized photos and diagrams quite well.
September 10, 2011
Informative, but dull.
January 2, 2014
Great book. It's plain and simple.
January 11, 2017
Required for one of my HRI classes.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews