To ask how many 'stars' you would give your own kitchen?

[topcat2014]

Picking up our Chinese takeaway yesterday, I noted the three 'stars' on the door.

Fair to middling score - .

It got me thinking, if I had to score my own kitchen, how many stars would I give it?

Now - I have no knowledge of the criteria, but, even so, I would struggle to give more than 1, I think.

Points against

1. There is soup on the hob I made yesterday, which will stay there until eaten. No room in the fridge. In my defence it is leek & potato

2. Even I wouldn't eat a chocolate biscuit that fell on the floor right now, and I am not too picky.

3. There is washing on the airers

4. The sink used to have a waste disposal unit that worked - it doesn't work now, but can get a bit whiffy.

5. Floor is almost at that 'sticking to the shoes' point
   (anyone remember Wayne & Waynetta?)

There are others.

Now, I am not a complete pig, and there would be serious work done this morning if I was inviting guests for lunch.

Where I could rise to perhaps 2 1/2

cries

But that means I can't eat ANYWHERE cocklodger

As a chef in a 5 star restaurant, you would all get nothing!

Unless you have...

Separate sinks for handwashing, food and washing up.

Take the temperatures of your fridge and freezers twice a day and keep records.

Have a strick cleaning routine that you keep records of.

Record the temperature of everything you buy, and everything you cook.

Have separate fridges for veg, cooked meat and uncooked meat.

All food in your kitchen covered and dated.

Wear hats/hair nets whenever cooking.

AND ABSOLUTELY NO PETS!

OrangeFluff I was just about to say the same thing.

And just to add that all washing up is done through a double dip chemical method or industrial dishwasher.

I get 5+ as we have a five-day-a-week cleaner. By Sunday when she's been away for 2 days, we'd be shut down! At work is different, of course.

Have separate fridges for veg, cooked meat and uncooked meat.

Surely you know that's untrue? Do I need 3 walk-ins? Food needs to be stored hygienically and safely, not in individual fridges.

Kitchen worktop a cleaned daily, floor mopped daily, steam cleaned weekly, fridge- raw meat at bottom and everything is in date, oven cleaner came a few weeks ago so all clean, all dishes etc washed and put away and things now in the dishwasher that needs cleaning, no animals so I would give myself a 5. Oops just noticed some fruit needs to be thrown from the fruit basket- 4.5 now then lol

4 maybe. Cupboards could do with a deep clean and dishwasher filter probably needs freshening up, but all surfaces, sink, cooktop and oven are spotless, and fridge and pantry are all clean and highly organised.

Makeup Seperate Fridges and Hairnets are slightly OTT although I would have loved to have seen the look on some of my Head Chefs faces when forced to where a hair net.

How ever the overall point that OrangeFluff makes is a sound one. The majority of domestic kitchens - even if spotless - would be lucky to get a rating.

1. The floor needs a mop but apart from that it's fine.

Mine would be closed and reported to EH because my cats wander in and out of it all the time.

MakeUp I assume that most people don't have walk-in fridges or freezers at home, which is what we are talking about. Even with a walk-in fridge in a professional kitchen, there should be clearly defined, separate areas for cooked and uncooked, so the same idea really.

I don't wear a hairnet at work, but I do have my hair tied up and wear a hat. No one wants my hair in their dinner!

Most people think the 5 star rating is just about cleaning, but there is so much more to it than that. A kitchen can be spotless, but if cooking procedures aren't correctly followed, people will still get ill.

Orangefluff

You alluded to needing different fridges for raw meat, cooked meat and veg to get a 5* (I see you meant hygiene not standard of cooking) rating.

Fridges need to be correctly utilized, not entirely separate and that can and should be done easily at home. I suspect most people do.

It's not especially pristine but the kitchen at work has 4 stars and it's fucking filthy. Mine's easily far cleaner.

Zero, just because no set handwashing sink, I don't cover my hair, we don't have paper towels for hand drying, I have loads of open products un date dotted, in the freezer loads isn't labelled, some is out of date(and fine!) I've no idea the allergens present in some of the stuff I've made. No clue what temp my fridge runs at, no records to say it's been cold since everythings in.

Realised that's mostly what orangefluff has said :D

I work in a cafe and we got a 5* rating. My Kitchen is clean (well, mostly) and I antibac etc. But that's not really what the rating is about

Well, just before time for me to start making dinner, DH has started to sand something down in there. I might have to close it down.

Yes of course at home it is fine, I keep everything in one fridge too!

But trust me, if I kept raw chicken a shelf below cooked chicken at work, when the inspector visited they would pick up on it. The chance of cross contamination is much higher, and in a professional kitchen you cannot take the risk like you can at home.

Major negative - the cat !

Positive - we have a brilliant cleaner twice a week

If it was left to us, we'd be closed down and never reopen!

Fascinating comments all round, thanks peeps,

Four and a half- we had friends round today, so floor, hob etc all sparkle, but close friends, so the paperwork pile is still teetering on the table!