My new flat top grill ruined 15 orders on a Friday night

I was at the downtown Chicago spot I work at, slammed with a full rail. The brand new flat top I begged my boss for was running way hotter than I expected, and I threw on a batch of smash burgers without checking the temp. They went from raw to burnt in about 90 seconds, and I had to remake the whole ticket while the expo was yelling at me. I dialed it down to medium heat after that, but what do you do when a new piece of gear throws off your whole timing mid shift?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugo_moore8d ago

man that's brutal, i feel for you. new gear on a friday night is a recipe for disaster, especially when you're already in the weeds. the worst part is that you probably prepped for your old grill's quirks, and then this new one just throws everything off. i'd say the biggest thing is to not trust the dial at first, just run a test batch with one patty before throwing on a whole order. once you figure out where the hot spots are and how fast it actually cooks, you can adjust on the fly. but yeah, that first shift with new equipment is always gonna have some screwups, you just gotta accept it and move on.

west.claire8d ago

Test batch is the way to go for sure.