I try to be careful, I really do, but I found a week old cod smelling 'fishy' in my fridge. Normally, I put the date on the package, so at least I know how long things 'last' in there (lost and forgotten).
So, I made a roster. On the first column is the name of the product/preparation, the first row is the day of the month. I'm putting the number of rations in the cells, and draw a line till the best before date.
I'm thinking about marking prepared foods like:
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In a container (two days)
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In a vacuum (seven days)
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Cooked sous-vide (twenty-one days).
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For the freezer, I'm thinking about ninety days.
Do you think this is a workable system? How do restaurants keep track of their inventory? Is it too complicated? Am I too harsh with the # of days (for instance, should these be depending on the food item?)
Best Answer
You may very well be able to make that system work for you, but in the two fine-dining restaurants I've worked, the system is less paperwork-intensive and more common-sense. It is based on organized storage, adding new product where it will be used after the old, and labeling. This lets you see at a glance what you have and how old it is, rather than having to constantly maintain an up-to-date inventory list. It also makes it easy to find what you want.
The system works like so:
At home, I use a very similar system, with a few modifications:
I know the last point can be difficult, but remember that a meal plan might be no more than "make myself a nice steak over the weekend." The idea is to avoid buying meat on Sunday that you won't have time to cook until next Friday. If you have to, buy meat right before cooking a nice meal; at least then it will be fresh. Freezing is also a good backup plan, but only if done fairly early.