Certified Executive Chef Exam Time Management

“Procrastination is the thief of time” Joseph Heller “Time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. You can't keep it, but you can spend it. Once you've lost it you can never get it back.” Harvey MacKay

Know what your restrictions are Working ideas to plan your time Repetition yields results Memory can be unreliable, keep accurate records The timing of your dishes is almost as important Helpful ideas that can make your testing simpler Items that will be Covered: Understanding Your Time Tips to Planning Practice Records Plating Other Helpful Tips

You must also structure your time around cooking times to ensure everything is done on time.  Braising and Stewing take the longest time and should be done first.  Pan frying and Sautéing are quick and can be done later. Look at your menu and break it down by course  Appetizer  Salad  Entrée  Each course should have a designated time frame. The time for a CEC exam is 3 hours of cook time and 15 minutes for your service window. Time management starts with the structure of your menu and the firing order.  Structure of the menu  Since there is a shortened time frame you must choose menu items that can be accurately achieved in the allotted time. Understanding Your Time

This is a sample of a time structure for a single course By creating a proper time structure you can use the time as an advantage. Poor time management will create stress, confusion, and ultimately result in failing the test. Appetizer (Name of Item) ItemNon-Food Items/PreparationTime Salmon Olive Oil/S & P Sauté Pan/Cutting Board/Butcher's Knife Butchering 10 Min Butchering the Salmon/Searing on the Flesh Side Down Searing 5 Min Lobster Court Bouillon Lg. Sauce Pot/Scissors/Gloves Par Cook and Clean Lobster 20 Min Poach and Shock Lobster Fire in Bure Monte 8 Min Spinach Garlic/Shallots/Oil/S & P Sauté Pan/Cutting Board Cut Garlic/Shallots 2 Min Mince Garlic and Shallots/Sauté Spinach Sauté Spinach 2 Min Béchamel Milk/Onion/Flour/Butter/S & P Sauce Pot/Whisk/Strainer Make Sauce 6 Min Make Roux/Make Bechemel Finish Sauce 2 Min Burre Monte W.Wine/Butter/Cream/S & P Sauce Pot/Whisk/Strainer Start Reduction 20 Min W.Wine Reduction/Add Cream and Reduce/Whisk in Butter Finish Sauce 15 Min Total Time 90 Minutes

Plan for accidents.  Accidents and mishaps are bound to happen. Plan for them and leave time in your schedule to fix them. A competition is the same method.  Make sure your menu is designed to allow you time to get everything in.  Know what type of competition you are in. Make sure to add specific graded items to your production time schedule. Understanding Your Time

Backwards planning This a method of which you plan the deconstruction of your items. Start one at a time The entrée will be last so plan how long all these items take to plate, then to cook, the to prepare. The salad portion has minimal cooking times but longer preparation times. The appetizer has a combination of both cooling times and preparation time. Let’s take a look at a time line Tips to planning Backwards planning Division of time Plan for mistakes

Serving Plating Finish Sauces Checking Protein Fire Vegetables Fire Starch Fire Protein Prep Garnish and Vegetables Prep Starch Start Sauce Sanitize Station Butcher Protein Unpack Food Plan out how you would do it and plan backwards adding your time up. Start with the last thing which would be service. Do this for each course.

Division of time The logical division is one course per hour. This is not always realistic, when thinking about cooking times combining with preparation times the course need to be prepped out in a specific order to keep within sanitation requirements and to keep you on time For example you would not butcher the Lobster, and fish then do everything for that dish, then prep your chicken and prep everything for that dish. The time you would spend sanitizing your station over and over again could be better well served. Look at your most potentially hazardous situations and complete them first. Then move on to the simpler prep. This give you time so you do not rush heavily graded items like the fabrication of Lobster, Salmon and Chicken. Tips to planning Backwards planning Division of time Plan for mistakes

In this example you can see how the division of time is set for the salad course. Salad (Name of Item) ItemNon-Food Items/PreparationTime Boston Bibb Greens/Cilantro Salad Spinner/Paper Towels/Plastic Cambro Prep Lettuce 10 Min Tear Lettuce/Wash/Store Apples and Pears Granny Smith Apples/Bartlet Pears/Lemons Cutting Board/Chef's Knife/1/6 Hotel Pan Prep Knife Skills 6 min Cut Julianne Apples and Pears and soak in lemon Water Vinaigrette Apple Cider Vinegar/Pear Vinegar/EVOO/S & P/Shallots/Honey Blender/Chef's Knife/Strainer Make Vinaigrette 6 min Mince Shallots/Blend the Vinaigrette Asiago Cheese Cheese Cheese Grater Grate Cheese 2 min Grate Cheese Total Time 28 Minutes

Plan for mistakes Mistakes will happen. If you plan for a full three hours and something goes wrong (An oven that does not work, etc…) you could be leaving yourself in a restricted position. Plan to complete your items in a time the you feel comfortable, and give yourself time to keep your mind focused. Tips to planning Backwards planning Division of time Plan for mistakes

Next move to doing two courses at the same time keeping your time limits in mind. Here you can begin to overlap preparations to help cut more time. Do this multiple times with alternating courses to see how each course can help or hinder another. Once you feel comfortable with two move to all three Now you should have a better understanding in what order things can go together. Practicing your time management is critical for this test. It is good to start slow. Do one course at a time to see where you have a potential for error Start by not timing yourself and just complete the dish, but keep in mind how long it took. The asses your time and see where you can either speed up or remove items that is too risky for the test. Do this for each course until you’re comfortable. Practice

Records Practicing is great but you should record your timelines and keep notes on potential mistakes or faults along the way. Recording a successful time line can be brought with you to the test. This can help you stay on schedule and shows the proctors that you have am invested interest in the test. Records Entree (Name of Item) ItemNon-Food Items/PreparationTime Chicken (Airline/Drumstick) 2 WOGS/Demi/Chicken Stock/Flour/Butter/Oil Sauté Pan/Braising Pot/Cutting Board/Filet Knife Butchering 12 Min Butchering the Salmon/Searing on the Flesh Side Down Searing (Airline) 6 Min Braising (Drum) 22 Min Braising Sauce Liquid from Braising Small Sauce Pot/Butter/Whisk/Strainer Finish Sauce 4 Min Take Braising Liquid/Reduce/Whisk in Butter/Strain Lyonnais Potatoes Garlic/Yukon Potatoes/Caramelized Onions/Thyme/Oil/S & P Chef's Knife/Cutting Board/Sauté Pan/Oven/ Prep All Items 15 Min Carmelite Onions/Bake Potatoes/Slice Potatoes/Sear Potatoes Fire 3 Min Carrots Carrots/Butter/S & P Sauce Pot/Sauté Pan/Spoon Blanch and Shock 8 Min Blanch and Shock Carrots/Sauté Carrots Sauté Carrots 2 Min Burre Monte W.Wine/Butter/Cream/S & P Sauce Pot/Whisk/Strainer Start Reduction 20 Min W.Wine Reduction/Add Cream and Reduce/Whisk in Butter Finish Sauce 15 Min Total Time 1 hour 47 Minutes

Plating You have a set time for plating, 15 minutes If you use the last 5 minutes of your cooking time to clean and set up a plating area your can begin plating at the very beginning of the time. Send courses out in succession Do not lag in-between courses Plating

Appetizer (Name of Item) Item Non-Food Items/PreparationTime Salmon Olive Oil/S & P Sauté Pan/Cutting Board/Butcher's Knife Butchering 10 Min Butchering the Salmon/Searing on the Flesh Side Down Searing 5 Min Lobster Court Bouillon Lg. Sauce Pot/Scissors/Gloves Par Cook and Clean Lobster 20 Min Poach and Shock Lobster Fire in Bure Monte 8 Min Spinach Garlic/Shallots/O il/S & P Sauté Pan/Cutting Board Cut Garlic/Shallots 2 Min Mince Garlic and Shallots/Sauté Spinach Sauté Spinach 2 Min Béchamel Milk/Onion/Flour /Butter/S & P Sauce Pot/Whisk/Strainer Make Sauce 6 Min Make Roux/Make Bechemel Finish Sauce 2 Min Burre Monte W.Wine/Butter/C ream/S & P Sauce Pot/Whisk/Strainer Start Reduction 20 Min W.Wine Reduction/Add Cream and Reduce/Whisk in Butter Finish Sauce 15 Min Total Time 90 Minutes Salad (Name of Item) Item Non-Food Items/PreparationTime Boston Bibb Greens/Cilantro Salad Spinner/Paper Towels/Plastic Cambro Prep Lettuce 10 Min Tear Lettuce/Wash/Store Apples and Pears Granny Smith Apples/Bartlet Pears/Lemons Cutting Board/Chef's Knife/1/6 Hotel Pan Prep Knife Skills 6 min Cut Julianne Apples and Pears and soak in lemon Water Vinaigrette Apple Cider Vinegar/Pear Vinegar/EVOO/S & P/Shallots/Honey Blender/Chef's Knife/Strainer Make Vinaigrette 6 min Mince Shallots/Blend the Vinaigrette Asiago Cheese Cheese Cheese Grater Grate Cheese 2 min Grate Cheese Total Time 28 Minutes Entree (Name of Item) Item Non-Food Items/PreparationTime Chicken (Airline/Drumstick) 2 WOGS/Demi/Chick en Stock/Flour/Butter/ Oil Sauté Pan/Braising Pot/Cutting Board/Filet Knife Butchering 12 Min Butchering the Salmon/Searing on the Flesh Side Down Searing (Airline) 6 Min Braising (Drum) 22 Min Braising Sauce Liquid from Braising Small Sauce Pot/Butter/Whisk/Strain er Finish Sauce 4 Min Take Braising Liquid/Reduce/Whisk in Butter/Strain Lyonnais Potatoes Garlic/Yukon Potatoes/Carameli zed Onions/Thyme/Oil/ S & P Chef's Knife/Cutting Board/Sauté Pan/Oven/ Prep All Items 15 Min Carmelite Onions/Bake Potatoes/Slice Potatoes/Sear Potatoes Fire 3 Min Carrots Carrots/Butter/S & P Sauce Pot/Sauté Pan/Spoon Blanch and Shock 8 Min Blanch and Shock Carrots/Sauté Carrots Sauté Carrots 2 Min Total Time 72 Minutes

Cleaning is another important part of any certification or competition. Making time to clean your station, wash your hands, gives you time to organize your thoughts. Keep a kitchen timer with you, there might not be a visible clock If you fall behind do not let it show When in doubt glove up It is better to be early than late, just know how to hold temperatures Other Helpful Tips

In Conclusion Time can be a partner in the test or it can by your enemy. If you lose track of time and have to work at a faster pace you fall victim to error. A golden rule is “It’s faster to do it right the first time than to mess it up and redo it all over again.” Good Luck! In Conclusion