Manufacturing In-house & Capturing the Data

Working with products takes skill and experience to maintain the integrity of the item you are working with. 

Frozen and or refrigerated items – each time a product is frozen and defrosted it loses flavour and moisture. When you look at the icicles in cells they are very sharp pointy crystals and these sharp pointy crystals puncture the cell membranes and cause fluid and flavour loss. 

Once you refreeze an item and defrost it a second time you end up with a dry and tasteless food item. Exactly the reason why these foods are flavoured and in many cases sauces are added or sold with the item. 

If you manage to maintain the cold chain within the temperature danger zone of these products you have a better chance of maintaining the integrity of the taste and moisture. 

Keep the following in mind:

• Proper planning will keep you ahead of the race.
• With in-house manufacturing, you can quickly react to consumer demand.
• You are flexible when consumer demand slows down.
• You are not dependent on third-party delivery.
• You can run sample tests whenever you require and you are not dependent on another party or outsourced manufacturer.
• Avoid cross-contamination of products, plan bulk manufacturing rather than many small-quantity items on one day.
• Stick to chicken or fish on certain days and allow for detail sterilization in between.
• Consider temperature danger zones between 5 and 64 degrees.
• Maintain the cold chain for as long as practically possible.
• Movement of stock between freezer-fridges and manufacturing areas to be monitored and controlled.
• Always maintain the integrity of the cold chain.
• Defrosting is always to be done in the cold room.
• Record temperatures hourly on the temperature control sheet.
• Capture all manufacturing data on the required control sheets and capture the information of all manufacturing on the accounting system.
• Ensure the colour-coding system is maintained and all manufacturing dates are recorded.
• Record all waste and repurposing on control sheets.
• Ensure that all unit costs are updated and correct after completion of manufacturing and capturing of the information.
• Record all blood loss, water, and/or ice loss.
• When the last of any item is issued for manufacturing record a message in the diary for the relevant manager.
• Consider special requirements during defrosting ie. ice cream, premixes, fish products, chicken products.
  Hygienically wash off where required and pack all shelves neatly.

Ensure to maintain your stock rotation and always be on the lookout for damaged items. Leaking of milk or blood from bags. Look for discolouration of packaging or colour changes in stock. 

These are red flags and indicate to you that those items need to be used first.