Essays on creations, life lessons, and many original stories; also visit integr8dfix.blogspot for even more!
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Are we all seeking the meaning of life or is there something else?
It's about your Experience! Bill Moyers interviews Joseph Campbell.
Baking at the Supermarket
Welcome back! In my previous post, I mentioned opening duties. The baker takes dough, off individual trays covered in parchment paper, from the Transit Case, to tray it for Proofing (humidity) one hour, then baking (about twenty-three to five minutes).
Now we'll pick up after the break (I like mine during sunrise), with several things described thoroughly in said post.
Now, let’s walk back in after break, fresh air, sunrise if it’s visible.
Finally, we go back for the rack with our donuts, which includes ones on glaze racks, for the donut case, and others for bakery production. It’s important to only glaze the ones on glaze racks, as the rest are for icing.
I bring my bucket over to the table. When I’m the one racking donuts for Prep, I like to put the Glaze Racks in the easiest position to pull. Every thing else will stay on, the whole time.
First, open your bucket, with the handle tool to leverage it open. Use a spatula to stir for about ten seconds. With the spatula set aside, begin dunking your donuts! I do a two-handed, two-donut approach. I start drizzling glaze on the donuts beneath, as I pull each pair through the goop, out of the bucket, and back to the tray. We like keeping the donuts on the 20-slot racks; they can all go in at once.
Your croissants rack takes fifteen minutes, so catch the beep!
Break! If you have some calories on hand, you’ll want to ingest them- and drink some water. It’s after this that you have most of your lifting.
Now, we come back and lay out flat trays with parchment paper coverings- I like to do three at a time, at least two. These are ParBakes, which is to say, partially-baked, and you won’t need spray.
We’re heading into the Freezer for our Izzio, la Brea, Primetime, French (hard) rolls, and bagels. Tray your bagel load separately, to gather them all on one rack to bake separately from the rest of these breads.
As you tray this load of bread, keep in mind the bake times and temperatures. If you rack it up correctly the first time, you’ll save yourself so much energy, so make that a worthwhile goal. It’s easy to fix if you haven’t baked the bread, yet, but they do categorically fit together for baking at each time and temp.
Your department is sure to have these posted and in their manuals.
Break down the Frozen Load Here, we need a pallet jack, which you’ve been shown how to activate and pull. We’re headed to the Big Freezer, outside our department, where we’ll find one or two pallets for Bakery. The items on board will be familiar. We’re rolling all this back to the department. That should take about ten minutes, tops, just go carefully. I believe these are going to the department’s freezer. You may have to hold one in the big meat department fridge area- just don’t leave them at room temperature very long.
You’ll need the necessary complement of U-Boats- I’d say, roughly two per palette. I had to include the department’s grocery buggy, to break down the two loads for Monday. This is something you want to get out of floor traffic as early as possible. Think about how you stack, and when a box runs horizontal, just stack it parallel to the handle- it won’t take up very much space, hanging off the sides.
Get these u-boats back into the Cooler. Those are the big green pallettes on wheels you use to load things off the floor. It’s so fun, figuring out how to steer these things where you want, without trapping yourself. I hurt myself a little a few times.
Now, let’s get out some boxes of Hamburger Buns, Pan Rolls, Cocktail rolls (same dough), bring them over by the table, and set up a couple of flat trays with parchment and spray. Group your burger buns in fours, snug together. You’re doing eights of those, and the other rolls are bagged by the dozen.
These all bake at 380, but first, proof them for thirty minutes, and afterwards, we’ll proof them for another hour, an hour and a half total.
Back to the freezer with our Zebra’s list of pies, whole and half. Spray Quick shine on the maple apple and cherry pies. They go, in their tin, on the flat trays.
You hopefully have all this done, about four hours into your shift.
Let’s bake the pies and turnovers and strudel bites at once. First, the pies get fifteen minutes at 450. Now we could add in strudel bites- they need 23-25 minutes. They can go in separately, too, if you want to get the pies started, but there you go. Depends on how fast you can get 30 bites at a time onto trays over parchment paper.
The pies go in for two times, second at reduced temperature, in our store, but they can be baked consistently at one temp, one time, I think 385 for 35 minutes.
This is the earliest I’d consider Lunch, but if you can do one more task? Donuts. I got Strussel Bites finished before I left, yesterday, because I had been waiting to put in my batch of La Brea breads, to finish out the department’s baking needs for the morning. Cookies are the afternoon department’s domain. Then I lay out three trays, and add parchment. Here, you add one metal watchacallit with its triangles-up- it’s a rack, not the big ones on wheels, but one you find beneath your Baking Table. You want it ‘upside down’ or the donuts will be raised too high to fit into the wheeled rack and will roll all over the kitchen floor.
I presently make 4 two-dozen trays of Donuts to Glaze. Here’s where you catch all the glazed deserts- it’s only about six trays, total, and you place them back into the donut rack as you complete each one.
Now, I’m ready to begin portioning, with usually four donuts going onto the rack to be glazed, and eight on the parchment-covered flat racks to be iced. The Long Johns are not glazed, and you lay out a dozen of each of the three kinds. I find it best to look on the Zebra for whatever box I have on top of my Huge Donut Trailer. You are mostly working with donuts at this point, but there are a few Pars listed on the Zebra, like the number of Strussel Bites.
Don't let this rack drop in temperature or the contents will mush!
I like to work with another U-boat or wheeled cart, to set aside the boxes I’ve gone into, then restack everything as it was again at the end, minus whatever boxes we empty in the process of panning. I go through my donut boxes, picking over the freezer loads for additional boxes as I need them.
As soon as you’re done, the strussels and turnovers are quick to melt, so, immediately get this big donut cart back to the freezer. I learned an even better trick: slip it into the Cooler!
Baked breads from our transit case doughs at the start.
Here’s a great place to take your half hour for Lunch.
Afterwards, we’re Setting Up Prep for Tomorrow. We’ll need our Zebra again. It’s got our numbers of French breads etc. we need to pan up in the Transit Case.
We’ll pan up Chocolate croissants according to the number on the Zebra, four to a box. Then we have Classic and Mini Croissants, four and a dozen to a box, respectively- usually nine boxes each.
Put these together on a 16-slot, or medium sized, rack, and cover them with a plastic bag.
Transit Case and Croissants both go in the Cooler, as soon as they’re panned up.
You should be about six total hours into your tasks, now. Put your load away. Clean up and take cardboard to the trailer.
And that is how you get it all done in seven hours! Plus half an hour for lunch. I have this process down to just over eight total hours, including lunch and breaks. I think I've been at it about ten times, now?
Now we'll pick up after the break (I like mine during sunrise), with several things described thoroughly in said post.
Now, let’s walk back in after break, fresh air, sunrise if it’s visible.
I bring my bucket over to the table. When I’m the one racking donuts for Prep, I like to put the Glaze Racks in the easiest position to pull. Every thing else will stay on, the whole time.
First, open your bucket, with the handle tool to leverage it open. Use a spatula to stir for about ten seconds. With the spatula set aside, begin dunking your donuts! I do a two-handed, two-donut approach. I start drizzling glaze on the donuts beneath, as I pull each pair through the goop, out of the bucket, and back to the tray. We like keeping the donuts on the 20-slot racks; they can all go in at once.
Your croissants rack takes fifteen minutes, so catch the beep!
I found myself keeping a small chart of the degrees to which different racks had proofed, according to their ultimate needs (between an hour and an hour and forty-five minutes).Soon, we’ll pop that donuts rack into the oven for two minutes around 375-400 degrees, to set the glaze.
Break! If you have some calories on hand, you’ll want to ingest them- and drink some water. It’s after this that you have most of your lifting.
Now, we come back and lay out flat trays with parchment paper coverings- I like to do three at a time, at least two. These are ParBakes, which is to say, partially-baked, and you won’t need spray.
We’re heading into the Freezer for our Izzio, la Brea, Primetime, French (hard) rolls, and bagels. Tray your bagel load separately, to gather them all on one rack to bake separately from the rest of these breads.
As you tray this load of bread, keep in mind the bake times and temperatures. If you rack it up correctly the first time, you’ll save yourself so much energy, so make that a worthwhile goal. It’s easy to fix if you haven’t baked the bread, yet, but they do categorically fit together for baking at each time and temp.
Your department is sure to have these posted and in their manuals.
Break down the Frozen Load Here, we need a pallet jack, which you’ve been shown how to activate and pull. We’re headed to the Big Freezer, outside our department, where we’ll find one or two pallets for Bakery. The items on board will be familiar. We’re rolling all this back to the department. That should take about ten minutes, tops, just go carefully. I believe these are going to the department’s freezer. You may have to hold one in the big meat department fridge area- just don’t leave them at room temperature very long.
You’ll need the necessary complement of U-Boats- I’d say, roughly two per palette. I had to include the department’s grocery buggy, to break down the two loads for Monday. This is something you want to get out of floor traffic as early as possible. Think about how you stack, and when a box runs horizontal, just stack it parallel to the handle- it won’t take up very much space, hanging off the sides.
Get these u-boats back into the Cooler. Those are the big green pallettes on wheels you use to load things off the floor. It’s so fun, figuring out how to steer these things where you want, without trapping yourself. I hurt myself a little a few times.
Now, let’s get out some boxes of Hamburger Buns, Pan Rolls, Cocktail rolls (same dough), bring them over by the table, and set up a couple of flat trays with parchment and spray. Group your burger buns in fours, snug together. You’re doing eights of those, and the other rolls are bagged by the dozen.
These all bake at 380, but first, proof them for thirty minutes, and afterwards, we’ll proof them for another hour, an hour and a half total.
Back to the freezer with our Zebra’s list of pies, whole and half. Spray Quick shine on the maple apple and cherry pies. They go, in their tin, on the flat trays.
You hopefully have all this done, about four hours into your shift.
Let’s bake the pies and turnovers and strudel bites at once. First, the pies get fifteen minutes at 450. Now we could add in strudel bites- they need 23-25 minutes. They can go in separately, too, if you want to get the pies started, but there you go. Depends on how fast you can get 30 bites at a time onto trays over parchment paper.
The pies go in for two times, second at reduced temperature, in our store, but they can be baked consistently at one temp, one time, I think 385 for 35 minutes.
This is the earliest I’d consider Lunch, but if you can do one more task? Donuts. I got Strussel Bites finished before I left, yesterday, because I had been waiting to put in my batch of La Brea breads, to finish out the department’s baking needs for the morning. Cookies are the afternoon department’s domain. Then I lay out three trays, and add parchment. Here, you add one metal watchacallit with its triangles-up- it’s a rack, not the big ones on wheels, but one you find beneath your Baking Table. You want it ‘upside down’ or the donuts will be raised too high to fit into the wheeled rack and will roll all over the kitchen floor.
I presently make 4 two-dozen trays of Donuts to Glaze. Here’s where you catch all the glazed deserts- it’s only about six trays, total, and you place them back into the donut rack as you complete each one.
Now, I’m ready to begin portioning, with usually four donuts going onto the rack to be glazed, and eight on the parchment-covered flat racks to be iced. The Long Johns are not glazed, and you lay out a dozen of each of the three kinds. I find it best to look on the Zebra for whatever box I have on top of my Huge Donut Trailer. You are mostly working with donuts at this point, but there are a few Pars listed on the Zebra, like the number of Strussel Bites.
As soon as you’re done, the strussels and turnovers are quick to melt, so, immediately get this big donut cart back to the freezer. I learned an even better trick: slip it into the Cooler!
Here’s a great place to take your half hour for Lunch.
Afterwards, we’re Setting Up Prep for Tomorrow. We’ll need our Zebra again. It’s got our numbers of French breads etc. we need to pan up in the Transit Case.
We’ll pan up Chocolate croissants according to the number on the Zebra, four to a box. Then we have Classic and Mini Croissants, four and a dozen to a box, respectively- usually nine boxes each.
Put these together on a 16-slot, or medium sized, rack, and cover them with a plastic bag.
Transit Case and Croissants both go in the Cooler, as soon as they’re panned up.
You should be about six total hours into your tasks, now. Put your load away. Clean up and take cardboard to the trailer.
And that is how you get it all done in seven hours! Plus half an hour for lunch. I have this process down to just over eight total hours, including lunch and breaks. I think I've been at it about ten times, now?
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
TXT (ft. Anitta) Coming Back For More and V's For You- I.S. Reacts!
We also did V of BTS' very latest release, too.
It's got mellow California vibes, and I believe it shows some of the tv show V's been acting in. I don't watch TV, really, though. We just got started doing Reaction Videos. It's an extension of our interests in dance and singing and even the songwriting coming out of Korea. You can find out about our original efforts and so on at
What's Baking like, in a modern grocery store?
Get the sleep you need, to make everything about Baking the challenge it really it is, rather than the one it would feel like, when you arrive at four in the morning to punch in.
When you arrive in the bakery first,
go turn on the Proofer. This big box of humidity needs at least ten minutes to temp at 100 degrees, with 55 percent humidity. I recommend laying down your safety mat by the baking counter, because you’re going to be on your feet rather a lot. They’re rolled up by the lockers. (Not anymore! I always find them down, now.)
We share a corner of the Meat Department refrigerator, the coolest room in the house. That’s why we call it: The Cooler- where three racks of prepared dough await. The metallic transit cooler is filled with French breads, which need to be wheeled over to the table for preparation.
The ovens won’t be needed now for an hour, but turn them on by the time you finish the Transit Case, at least, just before checking stock for Today’s Prep. That’ll be how we close out our first hour.
There were three wheeled racks for us in the Cooler. Transit Case goes first. I recommend waiting on the others.
Next we pan up the French bread/ baguettes, etc.
I recommend a rack with 16 slots, here. Wheel it up beside you. Mind how some racks have 10, some have 16, and two have 20 slots for pans. I slapped a post-it on one rack that, I discovered, doesn’t have the hooks you need to secure the rack in the oven. Why tray it up with any goods to bake? I call it the Tray-Holder Rack. It’s rounded, rather than hooked, at the top. I’d keep everything on this rack consistent: all Transit Case doughs. You will probably add the Hoagies for Proofing with this rack, but remember they bake separately.
We have Everything breads, which is to say, we dip them in this dried onion-based mix. Be sure to roll your Everything Italian loaves with separate gloves. I like to locate all my trays with food contaminants at the bottom of my rack. For example, I put Asiago, Sesame and Everything Bagels in the bottom slots, when I fill a rack with the day’s bagels to bake.
I was given three diagrams for these bread trays. None go on a flat tray with parchment paper! That’s just how they thaw, in the TC. Your Sourdough Rye loaf should be distinct, and it’s going to get its own particular tray, the kind with three compartments, which you spray to prevent sticking.
This is the Transit Case breads, baked. They will be ready about two hours after we start the day.
French bread, italian, hoagies- I call these the Horizontal trays. No parchment. Just kneed, leave a couple fingers’ room at each end, and parcel out all but your baguettes and SD Rye in a manner you would regard as horizontal to you, just like these letters.
The baguettes get the Vertical trays. You’ll need six, I believe. Seems like about seven or eight Horizontals.
There! Your first half an hour is off to an easy start.
This is roughly enough time for the Proofer to be ready! You can put the croissants in, fifteen minutes ahead, or time them to go with the bread.
You can put on the ovens for their default temps, just On, and go grab a Zebra, our handheld inventory device: it’s time to set up for Today’s Prep! Remember your ID and Password, and let’s punch up Fresh Production, then Bakery. You match the items on the floor to the ones listed in the Zebra. You might start with the LaBrea and Izzio breads, as they are displayed close to one another.
As you make your way to the boxed deserts, look closely, to distinguish between Private Select and Bakery Fresh products. Your store will carry numerous others that are simply put straight out of their frozen boxes.
We punch in the number of items remaining on display- always Zero for Baguettes. We start with freshly-baked ones, every morning.
Make sure you’ve reviewed all 71 or so items, then Complete. Your production needs for today, and prep for tomorrow, will be calculated on the Zebra, which we’ll check in with, momentarily. I can do this now in about 14 minutes. For now, we pan up forty bollilos for the Deli, along with four Prime Time Bread and all of your 400 degree rolls. The numbers for your Bolillos, Sub Rolls, Kaiser Rolls, and Telera all await you on your To Do List on the Zebra! The rack needs space for all your production, but get what you can on a 16- slot rack, to leave space for baking. The more things go on a tray, the more energy it takes to properly bake it all. Better to use two if your load requires it. Bollillos go in the Horizontal trays; sub rolls, in the Verticals. Consult notes for tray layouts for each bread- general rule, they need space to bake fully and not grow into each other- unless it’s hamburger buns. By now, how are your Croissants in the Proofer? They should finish around the time you’re glazing. You want to start your oven rotations with them. That second oven chamber will be good for setting your glaze, soon. Before those Danishes go in, visit the small fridge for our four fruit toppings, all together on one tray. Keep one in stock and day-dot it for the day you make a new bag of topping. That first fifteen minute break will sound good, after you unwrap the donut rack and get to glazing! Depends on what part of sunrise you’d like to watch. I think I'll save the rest for more blogs! You just read almost 1000 words devoted to the first hour of what I just learned how to do. It's kind of like the saying about the Marines, where we get more done before six a.m. than some people do, all day.
When you arrive in the bakery first,
go turn on the Proofer. This big box of humidity needs at least ten minutes to temp at 100 degrees, with 55 percent humidity. I recommend laying down your safety mat by the baking counter, because you’re going to be on your feet rather a lot. They’re rolled up by the lockers. (Not anymore! I always find them down, now.)
We share a corner of the Meat Department refrigerator, the coolest room in the house. That’s why we call it: The Cooler- where three racks of prepared dough await. The metallic transit cooler is filled with French breads, which need to be wheeled over to the table for preparation.
The ovens won’t be needed now for an hour, but turn them on by the time you finish the Transit Case, at least, just before checking stock for Today’s Prep. That’ll be how we close out our first hour.
There were three wheeled racks for us in the Cooler. Transit Case goes first. I recommend waiting on the others.
I recommend a rack with 16 slots, here. Wheel it up beside you. Mind how some racks have 10, some have 16, and two have 20 slots for pans. I slapped a post-it on one rack that, I discovered, doesn’t have the hooks you need to secure the rack in the oven. Why tray it up with any goods to bake? I call it the Tray-Holder Rack. It’s rounded, rather than hooked, at the top. I’d keep everything on this rack consistent: all Transit Case doughs. You will probably add the Hoagies for Proofing with this rack, but remember they bake separately.
We have Everything breads, which is to say, we dip them in this dried onion-based mix. Be sure to roll your Everything Italian loaves with separate gloves. I like to locate all my trays with food contaminants at the bottom of my rack. For example, I put Asiago, Sesame and Everything Bagels in the bottom slots, when I fill a rack with the day’s bagels to bake.
I was given three diagrams for these bread trays. None go on a flat tray with parchment paper! That’s just how they thaw, in the TC. Your Sourdough Rye loaf should be distinct, and it’s going to get its own particular tray, the kind with three compartments, which you spray to prevent sticking.
This is the Transit Case breads, baked. They will be ready about two hours after we start the day.
French bread, italian, hoagies- I call these the Horizontal trays. No parchment. Just kneed, leave a couple fingers’ room at each end, and parcel out all but your baguettes and SD Rye in a manner you would regard as horizontal to you, just like these letters.
The baguettes get the Vertical trays. You’ll need six, I believe. Seems like about seven or eight Horizontals.
There! Your first half an hour is off to an easy start.
This is roughly enough time for the Proofer to be ready! You can put the croissants in, fifteen minutes ahead, or time them to go with the bread.
You can put on the ovens for their default temps, just On, and go grab a Zebra, our handheld inventory device: it’s time to set up for Today’s Prep! Remember your ID and Password, and let’s punch up Fresh Production, then Bakery. You match the items on the floor to the ones listed in the Zebra. You might start with the LaBrea and Izzio breads, as they are displayed close to one another.
As you make your way to the boxed deserts, look closely, to distinguish between Private Select and Bakery Fresh products. Your store will carry numerous others that are simply put straight out of their frozen boxes.
We punch in the number of items remaining on display- always Zero for Baguettes. We start with freshly-baked ones, every morning.
Make sure you’ve reviewed all 71 or so items, then Complete. Your production needs for today, and prep for tomorrow, will be calculated on the Zebra, which we’ll check in with, momentarily. I can do this now in about 14 minutes. For now, we pan up forty bollilos for the Deli, along with four Prime Time Bread and all of your 400 degree rolls. The numbers for your Bolillos, Sub Rolls, Kaiser Rolls, and Telera all await you on your To Do List on the Zebra! The rack needs space for all your production, but get what you can on a 16- slot rack, to leave space for baking. The more things go on a tray, the more energy it takes to properly bake it all. Better to use two if your load requires it. Bollillos go in the Horizontal trays; sub rolls, in the Verticals. Consult notes for tray layouts for each bread- general rule, they need space to bake fully and not grow into each other- unless it’s hamburger buns. By now, how are your Croissants in the Proofer? They should finish around the time you’re glazing. You want to start your oven rotations with them. That second oven chamber will be good for setting your glaze, soon. Before those Danishes go in, visit the small fridge for our four fruit toppings, all together on one tray. Keep one in stock and day-dot it for the day you make a new bag of topping. That first fifteen minute break will sound good, after you unwrap the donut rack and get to glazing! Depends on what part of sunrise you’d like to watch. I think I'll save the rest for more blogs! You just read almost 1000 words devoted to the first hour of what I just learned how to do. It's kind of like the saying about the Marines, where we get more done before six a.m. than some people do, all day.
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