Showed my prep cook how to break down a chicken and he did it in 2 minutes 40 seconds on his third try
I had him grab a stopwatch after he asked why I keep timing everything on the line, and his third bird came in at 2:40 with almost no waste. Eight months ago this kid couldn't get the wing joint figured out and now he's beating my old record by 15 seconds. Any of you use a timer as a teaching tool, or am I just weird about numbers in the kitchen?
Love using a timer for stuff like that. I ran a pizza station years ago and started timing my dough guys on their stretch and toss, and the ones who bought in got scary fast because they could actually see themselves getting better instead of just hearing me say "faster." Had one kid go from 90 seconds a pie down to 38 in about six weeks, and his pies actually got more even because he stopped rushing and started paying attention to his hands. Numbers don't lie and they give a new cook something real to chase, so keep doing it.