Food Team

• 2024 Docs (imported from Notion)
• Training
• 2023 Feedback
• Food Team 2024 Timeline
• 2025
• Agendas

2024 Docs (imported from Notion)

Training

Training

Checking Propane Levels (refer to Method 1 from 1:10-2:57 min mark)

• Water Method Check (to be done after each meal): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukzl8mYFhmk&t=70s
• To check if it is empty (only if propane appears not to be working):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAUXDvCqmfE

General Food Safety

DO NOT TOUCH THE FOOD!

Do not use bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods (or drinks / ice). Wear gloves or use tongs, spoons, spatulas, etc when portioning or preparing food. Examples of ready-to-eat foods include all cooked foods, breads, and raw fruits and vegetables that will not be cooked before being eaten.

Wash hands before putting on gloves

You must take off gloves before touching uncooked meat to avoid cross contamination. Also don’t reuse gloves

Propane System

Turning On Propane System - Before Every Meal

1. Inside the trailer, confirm that all 16 propane valves and stove/griddle knobs are in the OFF position.
2. Go outside to propane tanks. Check for any visual signs of damage to the tanks or hosing. (Tanks should be free of any rust and always painted white - painting them any other color can cause an explosion. Video here)
3. Turn on both propane tanks (turn knobs slowly, but all the way)
4. Smell for any propane leaks around tanks and hoses.
5. Ventilate trailer
   1. Open window in door and ceiling vent (these MUST be open prior to turning on propane inside trailer due to Carbon Monoxide from pilot lights and burners. Exhaust Fan MUST be on whenever Range, Oven or Griddle are on. Window and ceiling vents must be open when exhaust fan is on for air circulation and to prevent a vacuum from holding the door closed.)
6. Turn on Hot Water Heater
   1. Under the sinks on the right, turn on the Red propane valve video. (Perpendicular to pipe is OFF, parallel with pipe is ON.)
   2. Turn on power to Hot Water Heater (power button on front. If no power, check circuit breaker)
   3. For troubleshooting Hot Water Heater see this video
7. Turn on Stove / light pilot lights (right before first use)
   1. Turn on White Propane Valve to left of door
   2. Turn on Red Propane Valve that leads to Range/Stove
   3. IMMEDIATELY Light SIX Range Pilot Lights using this lighter
   4. Note that propane gas is coming out of the open pilot light spigots as soon as you open the valve, so if you don’t light the pilot light, you are just leaking propane gas into the trailer.
8. Turn on Griddle / light pilot lights (right before first use)
   1. Turn on Red Propane Valve that leads to Griddle
   2. IMMEDIATELY Light FOUR Griddle Pilot Lights using this lighter

Turning Off Propane System - After Every Meal

1. Follow all **Turning On Propane System - Before Every Meal** Instructions IN REVERSE

Griddle Cleaning

• **https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fXbyNAPeIc**
• **https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaIF1VCNiRQ -includes steps 8-10 for seasoning (skip to 3:23)**

While griddle is still hot (but not on):

1. Turn off the thermostat and put on heat-resistant gloves.
2. While griddle is hot, scrape surface clean of food debris and grease buildup.
3. Apply about a cup of warm/room temp water (no cold water!) onto the surface of the griddle.
4. Scrub the surface with a non-abrasive pad (we have orange padded sponges with a handle for this).
5. Repeat steps 3 & 4 until there is no food residue, burnt-on bits, or rust spots. The griddle might still be browned or matte due to seasoning (don’t clean this seasoning off).
   1. If after cleaning it twice, there is still stuff on the griddle, do step 3 again with at most a tiny bit of the specified griddle cleaning soap (not bleach spray).
6. Wipe down the entire surface with a wet and then a dry cloth.
7. Remove and empty the grease tray.
8. Wipe down the body of the griddle with a damp cloth.

Seasoning a Griddle

(The following steps only need to be done every once in a while - not a required step before each meal)

1. Turn the griddle on and heat it up (~350°).
2. Spread a thin layer of cooking oil onto the hot griddle surface, then wait 30 minutes.
3. Wipe down the surface with a clean, dry cloth.

3 Compartment Sink

A 3-compartment sink is a commercial standard for efficient and safe dishwashing. It conserves water by separating washing, rinsing, and sanitizing into three distinct basins.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wq75tpxxcc

• Start of Shift Prep:
  • Fill wash sink with hot water and dish soap, aim for 110F, 1/3 full.
  • Fill rinse sink with some water (no soap) 2/3 full if not already filled
  • Fill sanitize sink with room temp water (≥75F) 2/3 full if not already filled
  • Add about a capful of bleach (1 tsp/gallon) to sanitize sink.
  • Test sanitize sink with a bleach strip to verify that it has 50 - 200 PPM Chlorine
• Before Washing
  • Scrape off all items before putting in the first sink and put it in a separate container. This will help keep the first sink cleaner, so you can use it longer before needing to change the water and detergent.
  • Scraping really helps keep the water clean and helps prevent wasting water
• Wash Compartment
  • Wash the item here until it has no visible contaminants
  • This water can be very dirty before it needs to be replaced
• Rinse Compartment
  • You just need to quickly dunk the item into the rinse compartment
• Sanitize Compartment
  • Soak the item in the bleach bath for at least 10 seconds
  • Anything that can’t be fully soaked using the bleach bath must instead be sprayed thoroughly with a bleach spray
  • Put items on drying rack to dry. If you need the item promptly, you can also dry with a clean paper towel (not reusable towel).
• Shift Cleanup
  • Drain the wash sink
  • Only drain the rinse / sanitize sinks if the water is cloudy.
  • If rinse sink is not drained, add a capful of chlorine bleach to it to prevent fouling
  • Quickly rinse off any food residue from drained compartments

Tips for saving water:

Adjust water levels: If you don't have many dishes, you can adjust the water level in the rinse and sanitize sinks to save water or just use the bleach spray for sanitizing.

Bleach spray

• Use this to clean all kitchen food surfaces at the beginning and end of the kitchen shift, as well as all surfaces where food will be served on.
• Dining team should have some to clean the surfaces on which the campers eat on.
• This is also to be used to clean any oversized items, or anything more difficult to sanitize (such as contaminated drink dispensers)

Start of Shift Prep:

• Spray the sprayer labeled “Bleach Spray” on a test strip to test if the bleach spray solution has 50 - 200 PPM Chlorine
• If it doesn’t:
  • dump the bottle of bleach spray
  • Add bleach to container (1 tsp/gallon)
  • Put sprayer back on and shake to mix the liquid
  • Spray against the sink 3 times to prime, then test the bleach solution again

Steps:

• Thoroughly spray the surface to clean and allow the solution to sit for at least 10 seconds
  • There must be a thin sheet of bleach spray on the entire surface
• Wipe off spray with a clean paper towel (not reusable towel).

Appendix

For additional information, Nevada Dept of Health has a Burning Man specific food safety guide (not mandatory reading)

2018 Burning Man Food Service Guidance Document

2023 Feedback

Insert your Feedback from 2023 below:

Suggestion #	Category	Suggestion Description	Name	Additional Info	Weekend
3	Food Fort	Clearly printed instructions for cleaning the griddle	Benny
7	Supplies	Purchase and test out something that accurately measures propane levels	Sean	Bluetooth?
8	Food Fort	Printed and visible instructions for turning propane on/off (not just inside the recipe book)	Benny
9	Food & Meals	Consider having 1-2 non propane meals early in the week to help conserve for later in the week (we ran out after Friday lunch)	Benny	Meal planning signup
11	Food & Meals	We ran out of portable snacks by Friday (trail mix bags, granola & protein bars, etc.)	Benny
12	Food & Meals	We can get less deli meat	Benny
13	Food & Meals	Strategically choose some meats to be in the freezer the entire time so that we have a fresh backup supply	Benny
14	Food & Meals	Extra frozen fruit for the 2nd year in a row	Benny
15	Food & Meals	Bonanza lettuce needs to be consumed by Wednesday at the latest. Consider this when meal planning. Could consider a mid week bonanza order. We had way too much lettuce even if it hadn't gone bad.	Benny
16	Food & Meals	We had a lot of extra oranges and apples. Consider a pre-plan to give food away if ordering a similar amount.	Benny
17	Food & Meals	Better strategy for serving leftovers from meals so that it gets eaten. Maybe a mid week "all leftovers" and misc extra food meal.	Benny
18	Food & Meals	Breakfast type meals are popular - how can we incorporate more of that	Benny
19	Food & Meals	Plan with events team to ensure meals don't overlap with events. We should just make the events a little later in the night (i.e., 9-11 instead of 7-9)	Benny
20	Food Fort	Food fort being parked on a slight downhill angle may have led to water leaks near the circuit breaker. Consider this when parking	Benny
21	Food Fort	There may have been a cover to the food fort on the roof (check with Neptune who was troubleshooting). Make sure this is addressed ahead of going to Playa.	Benny
22	Food Fort	Oil was leaking on our way into Playa - make sure this is addressed as we will need to use the generator again before and during transport	Sean	Full replacement	Pre-Trip
23	Food Fort	Generator is welded on backwards? Consider reconfiguring	Sean
25	Food Fort	figure out how to minimize water overflow from tanks (via the overflow pipe)	Sean	Work with RV repair shop	Pre-Trip
26	Food Fort	there appeared to be a defect underneath the truck that was leaking water from underneath the sink area	Sean	Work with RV repair shop
27	Food Fort	Potentially replace ice maker with model that doesn’t		Alternative is recycle into grey water tank.
28	Food Fort	Will the water tanks be moved to inside the gayflower?	Sean/Joel	Thinking of ways to access to drinking water / eliminate outdoor sink
29		Storage solution on- and off-playa	Benny
30
31

Food Team 2024 Timeline

Page does not transfer from Notion, see page here

https://www.notion.so/1cb2b0e3b0ef452482ed7baa50ab84e4?v=20881bc88b9443369b1506baf6ad1971&pvs=4

 

2025

Agendas

Feb 26th, 2025 - First Food Team Meeting

Attendees: Romain D, Alejandro R, Will S, Jon C, Sean E

Introductions

Meet and greet

Roles and Tasks

Food team members: pick 2

Shift Lead: leads ~3 meal shifts on playa, working with a team of 2-3 sous chefs to deliver a delicious experience. Responsible for choosing the meal, scoping the required ingredients for ordering and laying out the recipe ahead of time

Work Weekend / Build Week: attend one of the off-Playa events to help get Food Team ready! Primarily will be Reno Work Weekend and Build Week

Czar Roles: take a leadership role in either executing or improving a critical food team function!

Czar Roles

Build Week

Food Fort Driving and Testing Czar: test all key components of food fort and drive it to Playa

Procurement Czar: ensures all the ingredients, equipment and stuff food team needs gets ordered and makes it to Playa

Advance Prep Czar: ensures we have prepped as much of the shift work before getting to Playa as possible, working across ingredients sourcing and if necessary an advance prep team function during build week

Intrayear

Recipes Czar: ensures complete meal recipes (following last year’s template) are collected from shift leads, compile a recipe book with 4 copies of each recipe to bring to Playa

Training Czar: develop and roll out a training plan for food team members on key food fort processes (propane, water, griddle, sinks, cleaning)

Ingredients Czar: ensures ingredients for meals are correctly formatted and are compiled into a master order list for Build Team

Supplies Czar: review current supplies list and identify any additional equipment and supplies required for BM’25. 

Dry Snacks Czar: review and update the shelf stable snacks list 

Kitchenette Czar: develop and organize a new freely accessible kitchenette in the dining area for Turtles to reheat 

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) Czar: ensure food fort, fridge, kitchenette, snacks is organized and develop standard operating process for how food fort and food spaces are left between shifts. Signage

Food Team Initiative Ideas for BM’25

Pre-preparing ingredients

Reconfigure shift responsibilities to relieve food shift duration

Operation Flexible Dinner