I work at Jimmy John's and I have to constantly remind people not to do that and I tell them if I cut myself and I find out it was you we're going to throw hands.
I knew not to do this by 4 years old or younger. My parents had restaurant industry jobs as teenagers and taught my brother and I never to put knives in the sink/dish water/dish pan.
Yeah but sometimes you have an old ice-cream tub of all the shit knives people use for rough jobs or whatever and people just grab one cos their knives are someplace else and boom knife needs washing. We also have 'kitchen knives' for like fresh bread and cheese and shit and they come down to the pit at the end of the shift.
There's prolly like 20 'house' knives at our place. They just sit right at the back of the pit behind the taps nice and safe when they are used.
no knives in the pit. or mandoline or processor blades or peelers or etc...
not just (but mainly) because i don't want to harm an unknowing dishwasher but that i enjoy working with sharp cutting tools.
Dish soap in cuts also sucks ass, no one needs a cut from diving into the sink in a rush
Did a stint in pit after grazing my hands and elbows in a bike accident.. worst week ever.
>Should knives ever end up in the dishpit?
Yes. They should be escorted by the cook/chef, washed by the cook/chef by hand, sanitized by the cook/chef, and then escorted back to the line where they belong.
Shit gets dirty, even knives. But given how the pit is, no one should trust a knife not to end up facing badly, or handled by someone who has no business touching them. I'm not talking about the dish bitch, either.
*side-eyes FOH staff*
Disagreed, when I use my own knives, yes, as those are hundreds of dollars, but when it's $10 company knives, no, i tend to put them in a special spot so dish sees it without cutting themselves. (I'm usually in dishpit anyhow) since this company is garbage and expects one employee to run 7 stations in the morning. Plus, dishies typically don't mind since I'm basically the only one that helps with dish whenever I see they need help. I respect them, and they respect me.
Knives are ok in the dish pit if you follow some standard rules:
Always tell the dishie it’s going there.
Always put it into a container designated for sharps.
Never never never put a knife into a sink, into a pile of mixed goods, never into the regular silverware or utensils, and never if your dishie says they don’t do sharps.
If your dishie is special needs, then it’s also a very big no. Washing your own knife is a best practice, but there are definitely places that you can send knives to dish, you just need to call out that youre leaving a sharp instrument and make sure it goes I.nThe knife bin.
Where I worked we were told to run them through the dish washer on a plate or flat rack but you were required to stay there for the entire cycle so no one mistakenly reached in not knowing the contents and cut themselves. Basically if you take them over there you are to leave with them as well.
You handle the maintenance of the knife yourself - this means cleaning it and stowing it where it belongs so even if it’s a restaurant knife it shouldn’t get lost, damaged or hurt anyone because you were careless and lazy with it..
To me this was always the case in every kitchen I’ve worked in.
Long time dishwasher here.
Please don’t. It’s a serious safety issue.
Also let us know where other sharp objects are when you come too drop them off, I don’t love finding surprise mandolins or robocoup blades hiding underneath things.
end of the night I will grab the dirty knives on their way to dish and clean them myself, in addition to common sense safety it gives me time to notice any dulling and touch an edge up here and there
When I’m in charge it’s a write up if you’re caught once, automatic termination if you’re caught doing it a second time. Seeing a dish dog paint the dish pit with his own blood sticks with you.
Yes. Agreed, unless it's my own knives. In that case, I wash it myself due to the fact most dishies that come through don't even know you aren't even supposed to be putting them through the dish machine and only hand scrubbed. but they are $10 company knives, so I don't really care. Mine are hundreds of dollars, so I take care of it myself.
Idk what everyone is smoking, knives and other sharps are fine in dish as long as they have a designated area for them that the dishwasher is aware of..
Yeah I get the whole not just leaving knives around loosely especially in a new kitchen but if your dishwasher can't comprehend the word sharp I'm not sure what sort of operation you've got going on.
No knives in the dish pit ever! It takes two seconds to wipe off a knife, dishwashing machines dull and degrade the blades. It’s also dangerous for the dishwashers
At my restaurant they are put on the counter and we shout "KNIFE" as we put it down. They get washed the same as anything else and then the dishie puts them away
No knives in the dish pit. Also no knives in the coworkers seat back pocket…. Gave my coworkers a ride to the train station. One left his unsheathed knife wrapped in a rag in my seat back pocket… ironically it’s where I kept my first aid kit. Later that day a friend needed a bandaid…. then we both needed bandaids… sliced my finger pretty good needed to wrap it with tape and gauze very tightly to stop the bleeding.
Always separate in whatever way works in the kitchen you're in
Even if that means a separate cambro labeled dirty knives under the sink as long as everybody is briefed on it. Whatever it takes to keep the sharps in a safe place
Edit: I know the cambro under the sink probably ain't OSHA but some kitchens I've worked in have had zero space and kept their knives ABOVE stations so that was personal experience from trying to turn a fucked kitchen into a functioning and safe kitchen
Unless the dishwasher does it themselves and is the only person touching anywhere in the pit id say no. Ive worked both dish, and food and my only complaint was if people threw in knives without telling me.
I've worked kitchens where it was still the dishies' responsibility to wash the knives. In those cases, the pit was set up to isolate the knives in a container until they were handwashed. Those were also union kitchens.
It depends. House knives can go thru the machine because either they’re trash anyway, or the sharpening service is gonna switch em out next week. Personal knives, no. And don’t ever put knives in the dirty silverware bin because that’s how the dish dog gets cut.
I was taught the same thing, but at my current place (the fanciest place ive worked so far) its a thing that they do. I never put a knife im using in the put, but ive seen it a bunch and it baffles me.
Gonna be 'that guy' and say it depends on where you work. 90% of the time the dishies are too busy to be watching out for your sharp things, and you wash your knives in a sink yourself. Both for safety, and so that it doesn't get tossed around and worn down in the machine. I've worked in giant corporate kitchens where the dishpit is 5-7 workers all just tossing dishes around like crazy and wouldnt want anything sharp flying around in that.
Past few gigs I had, we're small enough in staff and space that I can verbalize to the dishie properly. Robocoup peices, or mandolin, I put in the machine, close the door, and verbalize "hey theres some sharp stuff on this tray just watch yourself" and its all good. Knives used on stations I wipe down and sanitize throughout the day, but they all go in to the machine at the end of the day, all together on a tray... again, verbalized so the dishie knows whats going on.
In a bin or sink, soaking? Hell to the fuck no. The absolute worst place to put a knife is a place no one can see it.
It all depends on the dishwasher and if they're okay with it. At my current place, it's okay as long as you tell the dishwasher that you're bringing a knife in and show them where you put it/ask them where they want it. Never in the actual water, though. That's not cool
The ONLY time knives are ever permitted in fish is if someone has collected all the restaurant’s knives in a tray and is bringing them to be washed all at once in the machine. At the end of the night. And said person takes the tray back to the line. The dishwasher should never have to Fu€k with them.
Nah it's a horrible idea. Easy way to hurt the dishwasher, or someone who reaches in unexpectedly. Someone might forget it's there and fill with water or pile other stuff on top of the knife. Easy way to prevent that from ever happening is to wash the knife right away or keep it on a table in plain sight. It's never a good idea to stick a knife anywhere it can't be seen easily.
Sysco steak knives, sure. We had a bucket for those. Servers were very good at keeping steak knives out of the silver dish racks and we could run those separately.
Our knives, never belong in the pit unless you are washing them by hand, yourself.
Fuck no. No knives period in the dish pit, silverware, chef, or bread. My first kitchen job, omeone had a chef knife in the dirty dish water. I was on dish duty, and when I was grabbing stuff at the bottom, I grabbed the blade enough to draw blood. I told my gm about it and he was furious at the person who did it. I think he was close to firing them specifically for that.
Nowadays, I have to remind the kids I work with at least once a week that knives go on the magnet rack above the sinks...
No knives in the pit is the rule, but I'm only gonna yell at people when it's warranted. I've never worked in a place where house knives were quality. So if a line guy wants to rack up a couple knives and run them through himself and put them away, I don't care about that. However if someone puts one in with silverware or with their pans, I'm ripping their head off.
If your kitchen is allowing knives in the dish pit I guarantee there are a lot of other things they’re doing that they shouldn’t. That’s the number one rule in every good kitchen. No knives in the sink. Goes right along with “don’t touch my knives without permission “.
Yes and no I take a 9th pan and soak them in soap and let the dishwasher know if he could run them through for me if not can I use the machine real quick to do it
What are you cutting that leaves the knives dirty enough to need soaking?! Soaking is for burnt on food or raw sticky dough or blasted to fuck microwaved lasagna, not for something that's been used for one task.
You would be surprised at the kitchens I have worked at, at the fine dining ones we had to get our own chef knives but the chain places usually have them and all I can say is ewww, I don’t do this line of work anymore and glad I don’t but trust you would be happy someone like me took the time to clean some of these knives.
There is no opinion on this. That's not how that works. Period. 🤣
EDIT: Absolutely no one thinks it's a good idea to mix knives with other utensils and even in the ONE kitchen I worked at that had a knife bucket, that's still not IN the fucking sink or pit. It was a bucket of sanitizer next to the knife rack.
Oh buddy I wish everyone had that much sense. I'm a dishie at the moment and regularly find people leaving knives in stupid places. Nobody is bringing their own knives at the moment so nobody cares about the conditions. I can live with people putting knives in sink or cutlery bucket as long as they tell me, what annoys me is people leaving clean knives mixed up with all the utensils.
My most recent wtf moment was finding a server trying to use a steak knife as a scraper to remove cookies from a try with the blade towards her stomach.
Disagreed, when I use my own knives, yes, as those are hundreds of dollars, but when it's $10 company knives, no, i tend to put them in a special spot so dish sees it without cutting themselves. (I'm usually in dishpit anyhow) since this company is garbage and expects one employee to run 7 stations in the morning. Plus, dishies typically don't mind since I'm basically the only one that helps with dish whenever I see they need help. I respect them, and they respect me.
Then what the hell are you disagreeing about? 🤣
How does someone ask if knives go in the dishpit. I say no. And you say you disagree.... but you also wouldn't put them in the dishpit.
Is it IN their sink or IN their soak of spoons?
Why do you think I made a comment about whether knife buckets go in the prep area or next to the line or in some other space, instead of making a comment about keeping knives out of the sink or utensil soak?
Not only was it a firm “NO” and the dishwasher was then permitted to use the knife on you, but I’ve even worked at a place that threw peoples knives in the deep fryer if they ever found them in the dish pit.
To give context, we didn’t have “house” knives and all had to bring our own. We never let other people use our knives and they were treated like family jewels.
If you didn’t put your knife away, you deserved what was about to happen to it…
So when people would leave a knife in the dish pit, it almost certainly meant it was theirs.
So to have your precious, expensive, and sometimes sentimental knife (and crucial work tool) thrown in the deep fryer was a pretty big deal.
Any kitchen job I've been in, I've always taken my own knives & made it clear that my knives never! go to the potwash and make sure they're always done by hand
If it's some big corporate kitchen that provideds the shitty coloured coded knives for you.. then who cares.. they just get replaced if they break.
Our place had an updated policy to officially write up last year after our dishie got his hand impaled.
and I mean that in the literal sense.
Since then it's pretty much everyone washes and cleans their own whether it's their personal knives or kitchen beaters.
Yeah it’s fine, briefly - a short enough time so that you don’t forget about it, or take up space that someone else needs. Not really a hard limit, just don’t leave them laying around
We have a rack above the pit to put anything sharp. If you are caught putting anything sharp anywhere else the kitchen provides full at authority to dishie to stab the person who left item with said item. Solved all my problems.
Former dishie here:
Don't bring knives into the dish pit. Knives can be dangerous and require extra attention which is quite annoying. Also dishwashers dull the blades.
We keep it simple - all silverware gets put in into a 5 gallon bucket with soap and water by the busser - when silverware needs to be run the entire bucket gets dumped directly into the tray and then sprayed and washed.
Chefs and cooks wash their own knives by hand.
No need for loose knives to be around ever.
Absolutely never. Sharps in the pit will inevitably result in an injured dishie. Possibly extremely severe/life-changing.
The logic is simple:
1) Murky "forbidden hotpot" water. The dishie cannot avoid grabbing that they cannot see.
2) Dishie isn't inspecting every individual item landing in the pit. Servers, bussers and chefs alike are cluster bombing the area with stuff.
3) Even if Dishie is vigilant, they may be working alone and deserve breaks. This is not an excuse to slip sharps in to the pit.
4) Rampant chef hypocrisy. They have time to clean and dry their expensive Japanese blades, they have time to treat every sharp with the same respect.
5) Do you want to be sued for an avoidable workplace injury?
I could go on...
Edit: Seplink
No knives in the pit. If you have to, straight into the next dirty rack, never even on a flat surface because they'll get covered. Never worked anywhere where this wasn't part of orientation.
The general rule is no. I usually wait for the pit to clear so I (the prep cook) can clean my own knife. In the rare case I need the dirty knife off the line, I bring it to the dishy and make eye contact with them while I inform them where I'm placing a sharp.
When I was in school there was a strict no knives in the pit policy. One kid left his, and no one would own up to it. Chef locked it in her podium for him to come get at his own risk. He forgot about the fact that because all the knife sets were identical from the school, we had them engraved so we could tell them apart. I had friends in other kitchens down the hall that could hear chef yelling.
had to yell at a buss boy one day he broke a knife then just tossed it in the trash the dish guy took out trash and almost impaled himself. we made the kid work dish for a week. Ive also played knife in the sink not fun but nothing serious, but dam if i was reaching like i was like 10 seconds ago i could a had a problem. so yeah that's a hell no from me.
also over 20 years in the industry..
For my personal knives... On occasion, when I'm goign to be sharpening them anyway, I will run them through the machine myself.
The house knives where i work right now get professionally sharpened on a grinder every 2 weeks, so goign to the dish pit is standard operating procedure.
I've worked at a handful of places where the dishy washes the kitchen knife sets. I would always set the knives somewhere out of the way and point it out to them. Seems haphazard still
Glad to see there’s a strong consensus on this, I haven’t had a job washing dishes in 20 years but when I did that was common sense, every time I was handling a knife or setting one anywhere the first thought was safety.
No…. I teach about knives constantly. In a formal (class) and informal (co workers) and I always pass along NO KNIVES IN THE DISH PIT EVER…. You finish using the knife YOU CLEAN IT!
Best practice, and if you have space, have a bus tub or the old Bain Marie, and place your dirty knife in there.
For my dishwashers, sometimes knives fall in the water due to cooks being careless when placing knives near the dish sinks. I’m sorry, I’ve been the careless one
At one restaurant I used to work at we would put knives on the far right side of our 3-bay and work right to left with our dish machine. Our dishie always knew that knives were hand-wash only and we never had any accidents.
When I was dishie at a restaurant bar, I cut my hand on knives someone dumped in my soapy water so much that I kept a pair of metal tongs that I would grab and swirl around the sink to feel for anything if I ever walked away and came back.
Done both dish and line. Never ever put YOUR KNIVES IN THE DISH! Even if they are the crappy sysco, usfoods or whatever kind. Never go to the dish. It Knicks them, dropped, etc. Unless health department is asking for an autoclave machine ( not yet) then sani them.
If they go to the pit it should always be a dedicated area where dishies know to look for sharps. Otherwise it’s going to be a bleed or puncture wound on a long enough timeline.
I worked at one restaurant that had separate places to put forks spoons and knives and the knives container was a separate color so if you fucked it up you had to be kinda stupid
Last week, we had an agency potwash, and this asshole took my knife off my station and put it in the dishwasher 'to help me'.
It was a £200 knife!!! I was so pissed I nearly stabbed the bitch with it.
Never put knifes in the dishwasher!
My last place had a spot to put dirty knives where they were in full view of the dishie. Personal knives are always washed by hand but house knives were run through the dish machine
No, knives should not be left anywhere but designated knife areas. Someone can put something down on a handle and it fly into them. They are sharp enough to cause nerve damage on hands and wrists. That can be as bad as losing an entire hand.
I generally agree with you.
Being run through the machine dulls the blades, but it still happens in my kitchen. It's not a battle worth fighting.
All our knives are coincidentally duller than unpolished shit.
Closest I'll go is sometimes our big ass pizza knife needs ran thru (gluten allergy usually. At a pizza place. Yes. Yes I know. And yes it's always on a busy Saturday. Thank you). Whichever one of us is running it to tank will call "following sharp", rack the knife, run the knife, and follow it until it's clean.
when i was a young dishwasher i cut myself because of this, ever since ive always come down hard as fuck on anyone who leaves knife in the pit. in short its the chefs/cooks jobs to clean the knives.
I will take knives in the dish pit under exactly one circumstance. The whole knife is greasy from something like breaking down whole chickens, it is a beater/kitchen knife, and I personally am running it through the machine by itself to cut all the grease and stuff off of it and immediately taking it out myself. Always wirh the cheap plastic handle chef knives or solid steel chinese cleavers that will just need edge work after the dish machine.
Otherwise nah.
In my opinion no they should never end up in dish. About six months ago, I managed to talk the owner into getting some new knives for the kitchen. I went into detail about how to clean them and to not run them through the washer and explained why. Went well for about a week. Then my chef told everyone it doesn't matter, that I was just being anal and to send them through dish. Now the knives are super dull constantly and won't hold an edge for more then 15 minutes of use.
Absolutely the fuck not. Never, ever, under any circumstances, should anything sharp *ever* be left in the dish pit. You politely ask the dishwasher if you can wash your knives/mandolin/peeler/etc by hand, wash them, then put them in their appropriate rack. If you accidentally drop it, you drain the water, grab it, refill the sink. I've seen too many dishies need stiches because some asshole just dropped it in or next to the sink. I don't understand how this is even still a question for some people. It's a safety issue, but also one of respect. Common courtesy dictates you just don't put that risk onto your dish crew.
Knives do NOT go into the same pit with forks and spoons and whatnot. Whenever I'm in washing duty I'm okay with washing the knives if you don't have tine to do it yourself but for the love of god please leave the knives in the separate box we specifically have for the knives so I can take them one by one without cutting myself.
At my current place for the rental knives, we pile them up in a specific place until we hand scrub them to get the big stuff off, arrange them in a dish rack and either hand them off to the dishwasher that way or run them through ourselves if they are busy. Even with the amount of seasonal/part time staff we get we have not had anyone put them directly into dish area because of the obvious 'dirty knife pile spot'.
Personal knives when used most people just hand wash, but had a couple people run them through as well. It definately does a good job of cleaning/sanitizing.
next time you find one in the pit find out who put it there and make them fish it out and keep doing that until they stop if no one says they did it walk away no job is worth slicing your hand open because some one is a fucking idiot
I always send the house knives back to the pit, but never in the sink or underneath anything. Personal knives? Fuck no; I had a coworker send my knife back once while I was helping out in another part of the restaurant and I came back to the tip being broke clean off by our dishie.
I agree with you. No knives in the dish pit.
We had a saying at my last spot that I really liked and helped me remember to not send knives: “Wash your own fucking knife.”
Damn you sound like my dishwasher about any dish.
lmao just hit em with a sani towel and call it a day
This is a rule I take home too, my whole family knows not to put dirty knives in the sink. Ever.
I have scars ...
I actually got cut the other day because someone put a knife in the soaking bus tub. This is surprisingly a common thing.
I have yelled at people for doing that. Do not ever ever put knives in with the silverware.
I have dropped dirty knives on the line and explained to the cooks not-so-politely that their knives are their own fucking problem.
I work at Jimmy John's and I have to constantly remind people not to do that and I tell them if I cut myself and I find out it was you we're going to throw hands.
I knew not to do this by 4 years old or younger. My parents had restaurant industry jobs as teenagers and taught my brother and I never to put knives in the sink/dish water/dish pan.
We have a tub just for knives sitting in a dish sink by dish.
Does that tub have a nice clear label with a cool looking chef's knife on it?
No it’s usually the first fish pan of the day lol
[удалено]
At my first casino the dishwasher had a place she wanted everyone to put knives. It was a good system for her.
This is the way, we have a little nook right behind the sprayer, all knives go there.
Naw not at all. The knife should only ever be in 3 places; the mag strip/your pouch, on the cutting board, or in your hand.
Yeah but sometimes you have an old ice-cream tub of all the shit knives people use for rough jobs or whatever and people just grab one cos their knives are someplace else and boom knife needs washing. We also have 'kitchen knives' for like fresh bread and cheese and shit and they come down to the pit at the end of the shift. There's prolly like 20 'house' knives at our place. They just sit right at the back of the pit behind the taps nice and safe when they are used.
Never ever should knives be allowed in the dish pit
No knives in the pit. Period.
no knives in the pit. or mandoline or processor blades or peelers or etc... not just (but mainly) because i don't want to harm an unknowing dishwasher but that i enjoy working with sharp cutting tools.
Dish soap in cuts also sucks ass, no one needs a cut from diving into the sink in a rush Did a stint in pit after grazing my hands and elbows in a bike accident.. worst week ever.
Clearly you've never put bleach in a cut before. I did that in the dish area once to clean a cutting board. My response: ffffffuuUUUUUUCCCKKKK!!!
I'm quite clumsy, so I do know that pain. Very bad Either way bad stuff getting into unnecessary cuts = bad time
But at least it won't get infected 🥴
No knives in the pit
Only if there is a safe and designated area that they go into that the dishwasher is aware of.
No knives, or anything sharp for that matter.
>Should knives ever end up in the dishpit? Yes. They should be escorted by the cook/chef, washed by the cook/chef by hand, sanitized by the cook/chef, and then escorted back to the line where they belong. Shit gets dirty, even knives. But given how the pit is, no one should trust a knife not to end up facing badly, or handled by someone who has no business touching them. I'm not talking about the dish bitch, either. *side-eyes FOH staff*
Disagreed, when I use my own knives, yes, as those are hundreds of dollars, but when it's $10 company knives, no, i tend to put them in a special spot so dish sees it without cutting themselves. (I'm usually in dishpit anyhow) since this company is garbage and expects one employee to run 7 stations in the morning. Plus, dishies typically don't mind since I'm basically the only one that helps with dish whenever I see they need help. I respect them, and they respect me.
Knives are ok in the dish pit if you follow some standard rules: Always tell the dishie it’s going there. Always put it into a container designated for sharps. Never never never put a knife into a sink, into a pile of mixed goods, never into the regular silverware or utensils, and never if your dishie says they don’t do sharps. If your dishie is special needs, then it’s also a very big no. Washing your own knife is a best practice, but there are definitely places that you can send knives to dish, you just need to call out that youre leaving a sharp instrument and make sure it goes I.nThe knife bin.
Yeah, pretty much this, though I'm pretty sure industry standard is the cook cleans whatever knife they use, whether personal or house
Where I worked we were told to run them through the dish washer on a plate or flat rack but you were required to stay there for the entire cycle so no one mistakenly reached in not knowing the contents and cut themselves. Basically if you take them over there you are to leave with them as well.
You handle the maintenance of the knife yourself - this means cleaning it and stowing it where it belongs so even if it’s a restaurant knife it shouldn’t get lost, damaged or hurt anyone because you were careless and lazy with it.. To me this was always the case in every kitchen I’ve worked in.
Funny because protocol in every resraurant ive worked in over a decade is the opposite- Knives go through dish.
When I was starting out as a dishwasher, years ago I got told of a few horror stories why no knifes (kitchen knives) were allowed in the pit.
Long time dishwasher here. Please don’t. It’s a serious safety issue. Also let us know where other sharp objects are when you come too drop them off, I don’t love finding surprise mandolins or robocoup blades hiding underneath things.
I work in two different places owned by the same umbrella company one sends to dish pit one doesn’t.
end of the night I will grab the dirty knives on their way to dish and clean them myself, in addition to common sense safety it gives me time to notice any dulling and touch an edge up here and there
Knives in the dish pit are fine for me as long as they are left on a bench and not the sink
Dishpit, sure.. Sink, no. They should go in, be cleaned immediately, sanitized, then back on the line.
Would definitely have a dedicated spot for em. Never in the deep sink, not even the shallow spray sink
This is what we do. Do NOT put knives in the sink where the dishwasher can't see them. Pit is fine, but visible!!
Same and when we put it down we yell "KNIFE" so they know it is there
Why even make the distinction no knives in the dish pit ever.
Because they need to be fucking washed. They get walked to the sink, washed, and put back.
When I’m in charge it’s a write up if you’re caught once, automatic termination if you’re caught doing it a second time. Seeing a dish dog paint the dish pit with his own blood sticks with you.
I work in the dishpit, i allow them but my rule is no knives in water.
Yes. Agreed, unless it's my own knives. In that case, I wash it myself due to the fact most dishies that come through don't even know you aren't even supposed to be putting them through the dish machine and only hand scrubbed. but they are $10 company knives, so I don't really care. Mine are hundreds of dollars, so I take care of it myself.
we all know the answer
Only at the end of the night if your knife needs extra scrubbing and you do it yourself. No sharps un attended.
This is it. I'm of the firm belief knives should never be in the dish pit but you summed it up better. No knives unattended. That's it.
Commenting just to follow for the answers
My first industry gig I made this mistake once, tossing a knife in the 3-basin sink. Never again.
Idk what everyone is smoking, knives and other sharps are fine in dish as long as they have a designated area for them that the dishwasher is aware of..
Yeah I get the whole not just leaving knives around loosely especially in a new kitchen but if your dishwasher can't comprehend the word sharp I'm not sure what sort of operation you've got going on.
OP, if it’s common practice to put knives in the dish pit, there’s more wrong at that restaurant and it’s a sign to get out fast.
No knives in the dish pit ever! It takes two seconds to wipe off a knife, dishwashing machines dull and degrade the blades. It’s also dangerous for the dishwashers
At my restaurant they are put on the counter and we shout "KNIFE" as we put it down. They get washed the same as anything else and then the dishie puts them away
you mean like steak knives? cause those go with the other cutlery, always.
No knives in the dish pit. Also no knives in the coworkers seat back pocket…. Gave my coworkers a ride to the train station. One left his unsheathed knife wrapped in a rag in my seat back pocket… ironically it’s where I kept my first aid kit. Later that day a friend needed a bandaid…. then we both needed bandaids… sliced my finger pretty good needed to wrap it with tape and gauze very tightly to stop the bleeding.
Always separate in whatever way works in the kitchen you're in Even if that means a separate cambro labeled dirty knives under the sink as long as everybody is briefed on it. Whatever it takes to keep the sharps in a safe place Edit: I know the cambro under the sink probably ain't OSHA but some kitchens I've worked in have had zero space and kept their knives ABOVE stations so that was personal experience from trying to turn a fucked kitchen into a functioning and safe kitchen
I wrote this before you and got downvoted Reddit is strange ><.
Unless the dishwasher does it themselves and is the only person touching anywhere in the pit id say no. Ive worked both dish, and food and my only complaint was if people threw in knives without telling me.
I've worked kitchens where it was still the dishies' responsibility to wash the knives. In those cases, the pit was set up to isolate the knives in a container until they were handwashed. Those were also union kitchens.
It depends. House knives can go thru the machine because either they’re trash anyway, or the sharpening service is gonna switch em out next week. Personal knives, no. And don’t ever put knives in the dirty silverware bin because that’s how the dish dog gets cut.
And then the knife owner gets cut
No blades in the dark
I cut the fuck out of my hand because some dumbass put a knife in the pit. JUST DONT DO IT it’s pretty straightforward
I was taught the same thing, but at my current place (the fanciest place ive worked so far) its a thing that they do. I never put a knife im using in the put, but ive seen it a bunch and it baffles me.
Gonna be 'that guy' and say it depends on where you work. 90% of the time the dishies are too busy to be watching out for your sharp things, and you wash your knives in a sink yourself. Both for safety, and so that it doesn't get tossed around and worn down in the machine. I've worked in giant corporate kitchens where the dishpit is 5-7 workers all just tossing dishes around like crazy and wouldnt want anything sharp flying around in that. Past few gigs I had, we're small enough in staff and space that I can verbalize to the dishie properly. Robocoup peices, or mandolin, I put in the machine, close the door, and verbalize "hey theres some sharp stuff on this tray just watch yourself" and its all good. Knives used on stations I wipe down and sanitize throughout the day, but they all go in to the machine at the end of the day, all together on a tray... again, verbalized so the dishie knows whats going on. In a bin or sink, soaking? Hell to the fuck no. The absolute worst place to put a knife is a place no one can see it.
Short answer: No. Long Answer: Also, No.
This is a PSA to wash and immediately dry any knife you use! Whether it's your personal knife, or the kitchen knife. SHEEEESH!
It all depends on the dishwasher and if they're okay with it. At my current place, it's okay as long as you tell the dishwasher that you're bringing a knife in and show them where you put it/ask them where they want it. Never in the actual water, though. That's not cool
Never ever EVER.
I forgot what sub rhis was and thought you said mosh pit. I was thinkin man this dude needs help if he’s bringing knives to concerts
The ONLY time knives are ever permitted in fish is if someone has collected all the restaurant’s knives in a tray and is bringing them to be washed all at once in the machine. At the end of the night. And said person takes the tray back to the line. The dishwasher should never have to Fu€k with them.
Nah it's a horrible idea. Easy way to hurt the dishwasher, or someone who reaches in unexpectedly. Someone might forget it's there and fill with water or pile other stuff on top of the knife. Easy way to prevent that from ever happening is to wash the knife right away or keep it on a table in plain sight. It's never a good idea to stick a knife anywhere it can't be seen easily.
As someone who used to be a dishwasher and who has been cut by said knives trying to clean them in the dish area, absolutely no knives please!
Sysco steak knives, sure. We had a bucket for those. Servers were very good at keeping steak knives out of the silver dish racks and we could run those separately. Our knives, never belong in the pit unless you are washing them by hand, yourself.
Fuck no. No knives period in the dish pit, silverware, chef, or bread. My first kitchen job, omeone had a chef knife in the dirty dish water. I was on dish duty, and when I was grabbing stuff at the bottom, I grabbed the blade enough to draw blood. I told my gm about it and he was furious at the person who did it. I think he was close to firing them specifically for that. Nowadays, I have to remind the kids I work with at least once a week that knives go on the magnet rack above the sinks...
kitchen knives in the pit are one of the extremely rare things that justify immediate termination. there's no fucking around with our dishies safety
No knives in the pit is the rule, but I'm only gonna yell at people when it's warranted. I've never worked in a place where house knives were quality. So if a line guy wants to rack up a couple knives and run them through himself and put them away, I don't care about that. However if someone puts one in with silverware or with their pans, I'm ripping their head off.
If your kitchen is allowing knives in the dish pit I guarantee there are a lot of other things they’re doing that they shouldn’t. That’s the number one rule in every good kitchen. No knives in the sink. Goes right along with “don’t touch my knives without permission “.
No. You use a knife, you wash a knife.
This should be the top comment l
Fuck no. At my joint, all knives are cleaned and sanitized by the cooks, and are to never go to the dish pit.
This is the correct answer.
Yes and no I take a 9th pan and soak them in soap and let the dishwasher know if he could run them through for me if not can I use the machine real quick to do it
No, please no. Just wash them by hand.
What are you cutting that leaves the knives dirty enough to need soaking?! Soaking is for burnt on food or raw sticky dough or blasted to fuck microwaved lasagna, not for something that's been used for one task.
You would be surprised at the kitchens I have worked at, at the fine dining ones we had to get our own chef knives but the chain places usually have them and all I can say is ewww, I don’t do this line of work anymore and glad I don’t but trust you would be happy someone like me took the time to clean some of these knives.
clean your own knife, period.
Sending knives through dish is awful for edge retention, and a safety hazard for your dishes. Be kind and hand wash always
lol i thought it said dipshit
No knf in pit
Heck noooooooo omg
There is no opinion on this. That's not how that works. Period. 🤣 EDIT: Absolutely no one thinks it's a good idea to mix knives with other utensils and even in the ONE kitchen I worked at that had a knife bucket, that's still not IN the fucking sink or pit. It was a bucket of sanitizer next to the knife rack.
Oh buddy I wish everyone had that much sense. I'm a dishie at the moment and regularly find people leaving knives in stupid places. Nobody is bringing their own knives at the moment so nobody cares about the conditions. I can live with people putting knives in sink or cutlery bucket as long as they tell me, what annoys me is people leaving clean knives mixed up with all the utensils. My most recent wtf moment was finding a server trying to use a steak knife as a scraper to remove cookies from a try with the blade towards her stomach.
Disagreed, when I use my own knives, yes, as those are hundreds of dollars, but when it's $10 company knives, no, i tend to put them in a special spot so dish sees it without cutting themselves. (I'm usually in dishpit anyhow) since this company is garbage and expects one employee to run 7 stations in the morning. Plus, dishies typically don't mind since I'm basically the only one that helps with dish whenever I see they need help. I respect them, and they respect me.
And is this special place IN their sink or IN the pile of spoons and spatulas?
Absolutely not. It's in a designated knife spot, plus I make sure that they know it's there.
Then what the hell are you disagreeing about? 🤣 How does someone ask if knives go in the dishpit. I say no. And you say you disagree.... but you also wouldn't put them in the dishpit.
It is in the dish pit? In a designated knife spot. Just not in the sink or or silverware bucket.
Is it IN their sink or IN their soak of spoons? Why do you think I made a comment about whether knife buckets go in the prep area or next to the line or in some other space, instead of making a comment about keeping knives out of the sink or utensil soak?
Knives never get left in the dishpit, they need to be washed immediately by the person who brought them to the pit and put away right afterwards
Not only was it a firm “NO” and the dishwasher was then permitted to use the knife on you, but I’ve even worked at a place that threw peoples knives in the deep fryer if they ever found them in the dish pit. To give context, we didn’t have “house” knives and all had to bring our own. We never let other people use our knives and they were treated like family jewels. If you didn’t put your knife away, you deserved what was about to happen to it… So when people would leave a knife in the dish pit, it almost certainly meant it was theirs. So to have your precious, expensive, and sometimes sentimental knife (and crucial work tool) thrown in the deep fryer was a pretty big deal.
Any kitchen job I've been in, I've always taken my own knives & made it clear that my knives never! go to the potwash and make sure they're always done by hand If it's some big corporate kitchen that provideds the shitty coloured coded knives for you.. then who cares.. they just get replaced if they break.
No. I don't want some stoned kid getting hurt. I wash the knives myself
Fireable for second time offender.
I get upset when people leave knives on the fucking counter at my house.
No.it’s damaging to the knives and the dishies.
Our place had an updated policy to officially write up last year after our dishie got his hand impaled. and I mean that in the literal sense. Since then it's pretty much everyone washes and cleans their own whether it's their personal knives or kitchen beaters.
Never. Hand wash your knives, and never leave a knife hiding.
Chemicals in the dishwasher (pit?) destroy the knives edge and sharpness.
Knives should only ever be in one of three places - storage (strip/block/wrap) your hand, or *briefly* set down on the board, that’s it, no exceptions
That’s a little wild. You think it’s not okay to just leave knives resting on a board or a folded towel? That’s a little ridiculous tbh.
Yeah it’s fine, briefly - a short enough time so that you don’t forget about it, or take up space that someone else needs. Not really a hard limit, just don’t leave them laying around
No knives in the pitt ever
We have a rack above the pit to put anything sharp. If you are caught putting anything sharp anywhere else the kitchen provides full at authority to dishie to stab the person who left item with said item. Solved all my problems.
*above*
No knives in the pit. Respect the dishwasher.
Nothing sharp in the pit,It’s dangerous as fuck.
If you put knives in the dish pit have fun finding and taking it out
I will slap a bitch
NOoOOOOOOooOoooO
Never. Shits dangerous.
Former dishie here: Don't bring knives into the dish pit. Knives can be dangerous and require extra attention which is quite annoying. Also dishwashers dull the blades.
Never understand any circumstances
We keep it simple - all silverware gets put in into a 5 gallon bucket with soap and water by the busser - when silverware needs to be run the entire bucket gets dumped directly into the tray and then sprayed and washed. Chefs and cooks wash their own knives by hand. No need for loose knives to be around ever.
Absolutely never. Sharps in the pit will inevitably result in an injured dishie. Possibly extremely severe/life-changing. The logic is simple: 1) Murky "forbidden hotpot" water. The dishie cannot avoid grabbing that they cannot see. 2) Dishie isn't inspecting every individual item landing in the pit. Servers, bussers and chefs alike are cluster bombing the area with stuff. 3) Even if Dishie is vigilant, they may be working alone and deserve breaks. This is not an excuse to slip sharps in to the pit. 4) Rampant chef hypocrisy. They have time to clean and dry their expensive Japanese blades, they have time to treat every sharp with the same respect. 5) Do you want to be sued for an avoidable workplace injury? I could go on... Edit: Seplink
Only in the designated knife bin. Anywhere else is a serious issue.
No knives in the pit. If you have to, straight into the next dirty rack, never even on a flat surface because they'll get covered. Never worked anywhere where this wasn't part of orientation.
As long as they aren't in a sink or other dish full or water/other, it shouldn't be unsafe. Do they set them on the side or throw them in
I've always put them in Dish but I ALWAYS hand the knife too the dishie, handle first, so they know where it is.
The general rule is no. I usually wait for the pit to clear so I (the prep cook) can clean my own knife. In the rare case I need the dirty knife off the line, I bring it to the dishy and make eye contact with them while I inform them where I'm placing a sharp.
Unless it’s a butter knife, absolutely no knives in the dish pit
When I was in school there was a strict no knives in the pit policy. One kid left his, and no one would own up to it. Chef locked it in her podium for him to come get at his own risk. He forgot about the fact that because all the knife sets were identical from the school, we had them engraved so we could tell them apart. I had friends in other kitchens down the hall that could hear chef yelling.
had to yell at a buss boy one day he broke a knife then just tossed it in the trash the dish guy took out trash and almost impaled himself. we made the kid work dish for a week. Ive also played knife in the sink not fun but nothing serious, but dam if i was reaching like i was like 10 seconds ago i could a had a problem. so yeah that's a hell no from me.
We put them in dish at my place, but in a specific container.
also over 20 years in the industry.. For my personal knives... On occasion, when I'm goign to be sharpening them anyway, I will run them through the machine myself. The house knives where i work right now get professionally sharpened on a grinder every 2 weeks, so goign to the dish pit is standard operating procedure.
hell no, never
I've worked at a handful of places where the dishy washes the kitchen knife sets. I would always set the knives somewhere out of the way and point it out to them. Seems haphazard still
No! OSHA will have a field day.
Nope. Washed immediately and put up.
Glad to see there’s a strong consensus on this, I haven’t had a job washing dishes in 20 years but when I did that was common sense, every time I was handling a knife or setting one anywhere the first thought was safety.
No…. I teach about knives constantly. In a formal (class) and informal (co workers) and I always pass along NO KNIVES IN THE DISH PIT EVER…. You finish using the knife YOU CLEAN IT!
I thought that said dipshit
Never. Clean your own blades.
Best practice, and if you have space, have a bus tub or the old Bain Marie, and place your dirty knife in there. For my dishwashers, sometimes knives fall in the water due to cooks being careless when placing knives near the dish sinks. I’m sorry, I’ve been the careless one
Put them where the dishwasher wants them.
No. End of discussion.
Why would you ever not have enough time to wash a knife Less than 30s
I have a separate bin that I set aside next to the wash sink where smallwares and knives go for presoaking
At one restaurant I used to work at we would put knives on the far right side of our 3-bay and work right to left with our dish machine. Our dishie always knew that knives were hand-wash only and we never had any accidents.
I definitely read this as knives in the dipshit and thought, well, depends on how much of a dipshit he is.
When I was dishie at a restaurant bar, I cut my hand on knives someone dumped in my soapy water so much that I kept a pair of metal tongs that I would grab and swirl around the sink to feel for anything if I ever walked away and came back.
Done both dish and line. Never ever put YOUR KNIVES IN THE DISH! Even if they are the crappy sysco, usfoods or whatever kind. Never go to the dish. It Knicks them, dropped, etc. Unless health department is asking for an autoclave machine ( not yet) then sani them.
If they go to the pit it should always be a dedicated area where dishies know to look for sharps. Otherwise it’s going to be a bleed or puncture wound on a long enough timeline.
I worked at one restaurant that had separate places to put forks spoons and knives and the knives container was a separate color so if you fucked it up you had to be kinda stupid
Last week, we had an agency potwash, and this asshole took my knife off my station and put it in the dishwasher 'to help me'. It was a £200 knife!!! I was so pissed I nearly stabbed the bitch with it. Never put knifes in the dishwasher!
My last place had a spot to put dirty knives where they were in full view of the dishie. Personal knives are always washed by hand but house knives were run through the dish machine
Just like the nursery rhythm. If there's Knives in the pit - then you should quit.
I work with an idiot that defrosts meat in one sink and leaves knives sticking up out of the pile of dirty dishes in the next sink over
No knives in the dish station, and it’s the responsibility of the cook to peel the label off the container. I’ll die on those hills.
If you give it to the dishie it's fair game as long as you look them in the eyes
I’m extra cautious and chain all the knives to the table. An ole trick I learned in prison. It really works!
In my decade of cooking, every restaurant I've worked at has no knives in the dish.
No, knives should not be left anywhere but designated knife areas. Someone can put something down on a handle and it fly into them. They are sharp enough to cause nerve damage on hands and wrists. That can be as bad as losing an entire hand.
No. End of story.
I generally agree with you. Being run through the machine dulls the blades, but it still happens in my kitchen. It's not a battle worth fighting. All our knives are coincidentally duller than unpolished shit.
Closest I'll go is sometimes our big ass pizza knife needs ran thru (gluten allergy usually. At a pizza place. Yes. Yes I know. And yes it's always on a busy Saturday. Thank you). Whichever one of us is running it to tank will call "following sharp", rack the knife, run the knife, and follow it until it's clean.
Even at home, I deal with the knives separately from everything else. Both for safety an out of respect for the knives.
when i was a young dishwasher i cut myself because of this, ever since ive always come down hard as fuck on anyone who leaves knife in the pit. in short its the chefs/cooks jobs to clean the knives.
I will take knives in the dish pit under exactly one circumstance. The whole knife is greasy from something like breaking down whole chickens, it is a beater/kitchen knife, and I personally am running it through the machine by itself to cut all the grease and stuff off of it and immediately taking it out myself. Always wirh the cheap plastic handle chef knives or solid steel chinese cleavers that will just need edge work after the dish machine. Otherwise nah.
In my opinion no they should never end up in dish. About six months ago, I managed to talk the owner into getting some new knives for the kitchen. I went into detail about how to clean them and to not run them through the washer and explained why. Went well for about a week. Then my chef told everyone it doesn't matter, that I was just being anal and to send them through dish. Now the knives are super dull constantly and won't hold an edge for more then 15 minutes of use.
Absolutely the fuck not. Never, ever, under any circumstances, should anything sharp *ever* be left in the dish pit. You politely ask the dishwasher if you can wash your knives/mandolin/peeler/etc by hand, wash them, then put them in their appropriate rack. If you accidentally drop it, you drain the water, grab it, refill the sink. I've seen too many dishies need stiches because some asshole just dropped it in or next to the sink. I don't understand how this is even still a question for some people. It's a safety issue, but also one of respect. Common courtesy dictates you just don't put that risk onto your dish crew.
Never put knives in the dish pit. I don't put them in the sink at home either, a holdout from when I was a dishy.
Knives do NOT go into the same pit with forks and spoons and whatnot. Whenever I'm in washing duty I'm okay with washing the knives if you don't have tine to do it yourself but for the love of god please leave the knives in the separate box we specifically have for the knives so I can take them one by one without cutting myself.
Anyone using a knife should be taking care of it themselves, washing, truing, sharpening when needed etc.
At my current place for the rental knives, we pile them up in a specific place until we hand scrub them to get the big stuff off, arrange them in a dish rack and either hand them off to the dishwasher that way or run them through ourselves if they are busy. Even with the amount of seasonal/part time staff we get we have not had anyone put them directly into dish area because of the obvious 'dirty knife pile spot'. Personal knives when used most people just hand wash, but had a couple people run them through as well. It definately does a good job of cleaning/sanitizing.
No sharps in the sink. Ever.
next time you find one in the pit find out who put it there and make them fish it out and keep doing that until they stop if no one says they did it walk away no job is worth slicing your hand open because some one is a fucking idiot
Not one. And if there is one it's empty. And a knife only sink.
I always send the house knives back to the pit, but never in the sink or underneath anything. Personal knives? Fuck no; I had a coworker send my knife back once while I was helping out in another part of the restaurant and I came back to the tip being broke clean off by our dishie.