Thread: Wood serving platters - an expensive lesson

My thinking is saying that it probably wasn't the timber platter but more likely the food.
The story does make one wary about selling "cutting boards" that may be used in a way not intended by the maker. Much to my disgust my new son-in-law puts wooden cutting boards through the dishwasher......he won't be told

Originally Posted by cava

Australia only has 2 levels of government, as per the constitution. The 3rd (is local government) is illegal.

A constitution doers not tell you what you can do it tells you what you cannot do. Not being explicitly referenced in the constitution does not make it invalid or "illegal". Most of what we do as a nation is not explicitly covered in the constitution.

The local government has no powers furphy

Originally Posted by Yanis

A constitution doers not tell you what you can do it tells you what you cannot do. Not being explicitly referenced in the constitution does not make it invalid or "illegal". Most of what we do as a nation is not explicitly covered in the constitution.

Pretending to be a tier of government without being so, is illegal. The same applies if I pretended to be a policeman, without being one.

Councils are a department of the relevant State Government and can never be otherwise without the Australian Constitution being changed by referendum.

I'd recon the constitution is silent on chopping boards!

I saw it as a commercial opportunity, not government interference, BUT considering how "test and tag" has taken off perhaps woodworkers can adopt a similar "inspect and use" for chopping boards!

I'm sure we could continue the "council " argument in a different thread. might be more appropriate.

Back to the point.

I have made serving platters that at current count are into their third year of use. I service them annually, half in the middle of the year, half at the end of the year. They are without half of their stock for about a week. A few have been discarded along the way, a few repaired. Given that the servery method "is so last year" they are not replacing.

They have regularly been through the dishwasher, some of them twice of three times a day. They ensure they dry well before reuse. The customer is very happy with the product. I coat with a blend of Orange oil and mineral oil. When I get to my new premises proper I plan on experimenting with a finishing process that will be better than anything on the market currently in terms of longevity in in-service usage in a commercial environment.

I can comfortably compete with the imported garbage that is being offered by the likes of QIS et al.

So, to the point. I think the food poisoning issue came from a lack of personal hygiene rather that the boards, but those hunks of crap should have been binned.

Cheers

I am trying to work out how they pinned the problem on the platters. There were 14 people in ONE group who got sick and I assume there were other customers eating at the same time. They continued to use the platters after being told not to and yet there are no more reported cases of food poisoning. Could it just be a case of gastro and all the friends in the group caught it off each other, but there has to be someone or something else to blame because nowadays it always has to be someone's fault.

They all probably went for a surf at Maroubra like my Canadian relies did before dining at a Harbourside fish resturaurant. I rang them the next day and complained, they asked what else had we done that day. Swimming in Sydney’s outfall didnt sound such a good idea.
The younger ones who’d been diving under and cracking a few were sick as myself included.
This was back in 1985,I haven’t surfed at Maroubra since.
H.

The story in the OP's U.K. news link, is being driven by the global crusade group, "We Want Plates". They've been around a for a while, and they're vocal, and intent on ensuring food in cafes, pubs and restaurants is served up on plates.

We Want Plates

Can't help but support them myself, I hate these "arty-farty" food-serving stunts - and I've been served food on blocks of wood, and I don't like it all.
If the block of wood is washed at high temperature in a dishwasher every time, then perhaps it would be O.K. But wood doesn't like high temperature dishwashers, and its life is shortened accordingly.

There are tens of thousands of food poisoning cases from cafes and restaurants in Australia every year. Many are unreported, because they're just mild cases.
Remember the last feed of dodgy curry you had in that dubious Indian restaurant? It gave you explosive diaorrhoea for 2 days - but you didn't report it to the council, did you? No, it was just too much trouble. But it was food poisoning, all the same.

The greatest source of food poisoning in eateries is people using bare hands to dish up food. I hate seeing it - yet it's all too common.
Chefs are the worst offenders - led by the TV chefs who plonk their fingers in everything. And little Pommy Jamie, I'm looking at YOU!

The next source of food poisoning is cutlery and crockery that hasn't been washed properly. I don't know how many times I've held "clean" glasses up to the light and seen greasy lipstick on them.
I've come across many knives and forks that have simply not been cleaned properly. No doubt due to the fact that they were hand-washed, because the eatery couldn't afford a commercial dishwasher.

Councils may bug many over their pettiness regarding many issues - but food preparation cleanliness is one thing I don't mind them being hot on. Skilled food preparation skills are in short supply, and it's not getting any better.

People have been eating with their hands and using platters since the dawn of man.

I am convinced that timber is a superior product for the job. My own family uses them. I have a multitude of various platters and bowls that are used for literally everything. They aren't "well loved", but used every day - 5 bowls are for cat food crispies!

Clean them all with steel wool in hot water along with the dishes and dry them straight away. Some have latest 5 years.

Personally, I think the bowls are excellent. Guests love them. They are just hunks of gum from arborists or even some attempts at segmented turning where I've just used the same timber for the whole bowl (since big blanks are evilly expensive).

If its a massive wank, then thats what I am

Clean it, dry it, reuse it.

It's pretty simple. and the science supports it.

Personal hygiene is key to food preparation. As has been said about the Jamies of this world, no gloves on tele, but compelled to use them for paid service. There is a fraud going on there.

I like the trend of having the kitchen open for the customers to view. Many a shop I have passed buy due to their food handling techniques.

I'm all for NOT wrapping people in cotton wool. Letting children eat dirt and stuff like that. It builds immunity. I think, in a lot of respects we have become soft, and precious.

Do I apply the same standards when I travel to places like India and Nepal? No, but I do eat with my eyes.

It is not the serving board that is the issue. If it was me and council, council would need to prove what they claim.

Originally Posted by Enfield Guy

I'm all for NOT wrapping people in cotton wool. Letting children eat dirt and stuff like that. It builds immunity. I think, in a lot of respects we have become soft, and precious.

This.

The "kills 99.99% of germs" crew will have a lot to answer for in a generation or 3 when no-one has a decent immune system and all the bacteria left are well and truly resistant to anti-bacterials.

George Carlin has a great bit on germs, but I can't link to it here due to very NSFW language.

There are germs and there are germs. Some you can develop resistance to - but I defy you to develop resistance to e. coli, salmonella, giardia, botulism, or any of the nerve-toxin-generating, highly dangerous bacteria.
When you go to a public toilet and watch at least 30% of the blokes leaving there, walking out without even washing their hands - and then wondering if they're going straight back to preparing your food with no gloves - then you start to realise how many grubs there are out there.
I've had a dose of extremely virulent gastroenteritis during my Vietnam tour (from black rats roaming through our field kitchen - and yes, the cook got well and truly reamed over it) - and I can tell you, it's not fun.
4 days in hospital, and so crook I could hardly move during that time. Not something I ever want to repeat, and the experience made me very aware of all the aspects of proper food care and preparation.

Originally Posted by Enfield Guy

Clean it, dry it, reuse it.

It is not the serving board that is the issue. If it was me and council, council would need to prove what they claim.

I wouldn't be surprised if the fine is a bluff, with the council expecting the owners to submit an appeal to then give them a "reduced" fine. As I doubt the council has spent the money to send swab samples of the board to a lab to get them verified. Even if they did, doubt they'd find anything incriminating on the boards.

Originally Posted by onetrack

There are germs and there are germs. Some you can develop resistance to - but I defy you to develop resistance to e. coli, salmonella, giardia, botulism, or any of the nerve-toxin-generating, highly dangerous bacteria.

While that's true, the more we indiscriminately use germicides, the faster we'll get more super-bugs that we can't develop immunity to AND can't kill.

I'm not against anti-bacterials completely, but there's a fairly small set of places that need to be using them all the time: hospitals and food prep. You certainly don't need anti-bacterial hand soap in the bathroom unless someone is actually sick.