how do restaraunts prepare food so that it can be served within minutes of the order?

Question

do they pre cook it and if so how is it kept?

Answer 1

Depends on the restaurant and how busy they normally are. In the case of the busy restaurants they just cook whats on the menu cause chances are that someone will order the meal within the allotted expiration times. For those not-so-busy places, they prepare the basics of the meal, (mixing flour with water) etc the things that can be prepped, stored and later served fresh. The last thing that happens to the food before it gets to your table is the cooking, so if you order something that should take longer remember that they have already thawed out what they will need for the next hour, and have already gotten all the other prep work done. By the time your order gets to the kitchen, there's nothing left to be done but drop it in the pot. So you're actually only waiting for cooking time and waitress speediness. Hope that helped.

Answer 2

It was quite amusing to see the answers here.

Actually, the prep part of the cooking process is done in advance, like the chopping of vegetables, cuts of meat and so on. These are done just a few minutes before the opening time of the restaurant and this is done specifically for the best sellers that are on the menu.

As soon as the order is received the rest of the process is immediately done and carries on, per course, while the serving goes on.

For example, everybody inevitably orders the soup first, along with the main course and dessert.

The soup stock is already ready and simmering on the stove, so, it's just a matter of tossing in the last ingredients and bringing the flame to high! Soup is served piping hot in minutes! But you take a lot of time to eat it. Meanwhile the rest of your lunch or dinner is being made in logical order!

Like the Breads were baked just before they opened, so, it's just cooled enough to cut and is yet hot enough to feel warm. Besides it's fresh! the meat had already been diced or sliced a few minutes before they opened, so, it's tossed into the sauce which was also just made and cooked, while you are still busy eating your soup! And , while you're at the main course, your dessert is just getting done!

It's, actually, like in the Art of Magic, misdirection!

You never realized how long it was actually taking, because you were busy eating!

Bon Appetit!

I should know, I'm a maitre chef!

Short order and fast foods are, of course different!

Answer 3

In places like McDonald's, they have a pretty good idea of how much food will be needed at any given time, and they produce food, assembly line style, in sufficient quantities to meet this prediction.

In more traditional restaurants, menus are planned so that a bare minimum of items can be made into a far larger number of offerings. These prep items are processed as much as circumstances will allow, so that when the order comes in, the very last steps of preparation and presentation are taken, and the food is ready. A good example of this is a prime rib (medium) dinner with a baked potato. The rib roast is cooked earlier in the day, and brought up to a temperature of maybe 120 degrees farenheit, and then is kept at this temperature in a humidity controlled environment until ordered. The final "to order" degree of doneness is accomplished by dunking the cut of meat in hot au jus, kept at 180 degrees on a steam line. The baked potato was baked earlier in the day, and is kept in a heat and humidity controlled environment until it is served. The foil covering on the potato keeps it from becoming shriveled.

If you want food that is transformed from a raw to a cooked state post order, stick to steaks and chops, or dishes that use boneless chicken breast, accompanied by sauteed soft textured vegetables.

Answer 4

This varies from restaurant to restaurant, but at places like McDonald's the meat is cooked ahead of time and placed in a tray that slides into a warming cabinet. This keeps the meat at safe temperatures. The warmers usually have some sort of timer built into them that the crew person hits every time a new tray is slid into place. The timer will beep and let the crewperson know when the tray has expired it's time limit and the product in that tray needs to be wasted.
That's how you can get your food so fast. If you're worried about the freshness of your product, go to the the restaurant during peak hours, like lunch rush. Generally rush hours are 7-9am, 11am-1pm, and 5-7pm. During those times, the sheer amount of orders will gaurantee that your food will be fresh, if for no other reason than the crew are going through it too fast for it to expire. On the flip side, that's also the reason why you sometimes have to wait a couple of minutes during rush for your order.
Useless Trivia Fact: As of 2003, McD's time for Drive through that they want ed you to keep up with was that a car had to go through the whole process in 90 secs or less. That's from the time they start placing their order to the time theypull away with their food.

Answer 5

In India Parattas are frequently eaten food. So the restaraunts prepare parattas and keep them fully fried but without oil. The moment order is received they just heat the paratta with little oil and serve them hot with the side dish which is always kept hot in a water heated vessel.

Answer 6

Some are half cooked,
some are pre cooked,
some are kept in the Deep
Freeger like Non- veg meat
products to avoid any
stink and keep them fresh.
Stale foods are never kept
in restaurants.

Answer 7

All the ingradients are semi cooked for a the day. Once an order is placed , the ingradients are heated the final ingradients are added and served. Hence this takes lesser time than normal cooking form the beginning.

Answer 8

The bread and salads and extras are made in advance and kept in the fridge. The meaty products are made when you order. It is usually so thin, that it doesn't need much cooking time.