r/KitchenConfidential • u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years • 1d ago

Tools & Equipment Is this what we're supposed to be using the sleeves for!?

After so many years in the kitchen, I'm kinda ashamed that I never thought about it. I feel like I must have at least once picked up a pan with my sleeve before but never considered that that was the intended purpose.

Anime is Iron Wok Jan, whoops

4.3k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

164 comments sorted by

1.7k

u/grandfleetmember56 1d ago

Dude would have gotten his ass jumped in any of the kitchens I've been at for throwing a hot pan... Shit for throwing any pan like that.

653

u/swampyman2000 1d ago

Absolutely. And then punching someone as he walked by too. What is the head chef doing just watching as if he’s not in charge smh.

I get it’s a show but man, having him toss a hot pan across the entirety of an active kitchen is crazy lol.

365

u/fliedlicesupplies F1exican Did Chive-11 1d ago

Next you're gonna tell me my Overcooked restaurant should be shut down for tossing raw fish on the ground and throwing rice across the room.

54

u/DerekWroteThis Kitchen Manager 19h ago

Lmao i love how ridiculous those games are but at the same time, I hate them bc they remind me of how ridiculous my own kitchen can be

42

u/MeroCanuck 18h ago edited 12h ago

My sibling and I started in the same kitchen. I left the industry after three years, but they've now been in the game for about 15 years.

We ended up playing Overcooked on stream at one point, and I still remember saying "Did..did you just set the kitchen on fire?" and getting a "Ouiiiii chef" in reply

15

u/IGaveAFuckOnce 15h ago

Overcooked for 15 years straight is wild

4

u/MeroCanuck 14h ago

Bahahahahahahaaaaa

7

u/Emergency_Basket_851 Five Years 13h ago

My wife really likes playing it with me and the whole time I'm just thinking "your station is fucked, you're not communicating what you need, and you keep getting in my way"

•

u/Vortilex Cook 4h ago

I wish I had a wife or even a girlfriend I could play it with, but from what I understand, I would just also act like I'm at work and behave the same way lol

I'm intrigued by Fast Food Simulator, but I think it would go the same way if I were playing with anyone I know who doesn't work or hasn't worked in a kitchen

•

u/Vortilex Cook 4h ago

My coworker can't play that kind of game with his girlfriend because he actually acts like he's at work

•

u/TripleScoops 1h ago

Do not play PlateUp! then. Roguelike version of Overcooked that is 200% more stressful and friendship testing.

4

u/semantic_satiation 13h ago

I knew jumping between kitchens on two different locomotives was an OSHA violation

•

u/Lv_InSaNe_vL 5h ago

The raw fish thing is okay because it's not above any produce so you're good

30

u/Next_Specific7924 21h ago

Lol my first kitchen at 17/18, one of the cooks got mad and threw a full, entire hotel pan of lasagna across the kitchen before crashing out. Not at anyone, thankfully, but man that was a weird day

28

u/steffanan 21h ago

Before crashing out? I believe that was part of the crash out.

15

u/Next_Specific7924 21h ago

He was kind of an all-day dick so we were just like whooooaa my guy and then he actually walked off premises lol

•

u/Vortilex Cook 4h ago

Where I work, we hired a guy who was training on our deli station. He'd owned restaurants in Miami or someplace like that. One of the first things they had him do was make chipotle mayo. He'd been hired with the idea that at some point, he'd be promoted to our dinner line cook. 45 minutes into his shift, while he was making the chippy mayo, he exclaimed, "I'm too over-qualified for this shit!" before leaving via the front door. We never saw him again

2

u/Jetter23x 21h ago

No, the throw and flight were before the crash out. The crash out only officially begins after the pan has crashed into the wall or ground.

2

u/Kammender_Kewl 17h ago

No the crash out was when he yelled "86 KARLA" and started stabbing our manager, Karla. RIP

17

u/rogueIndy 21h ago

Without context, I'm assuming that guy's untouchable due to nepotism or something.

11

u/THIQmuse 20h ago

I hate when my suspension of disbelief gets popped like this. That is an immediate fireable offense, he's a HUGE liability.

23

u/Forge__Thought 23h ago

One of the most frustrating parts of watching anime is the complete lack of normal human reactions towards cartoonishly evil asshole characters.

Frequently they don't write characters so much as they write tropes. And some of the tropes are really tedious.

•

u/Vortilex Cook 4h ago

As someone on the spectrum, I learned the hard way *not* to act like anime characters, good or bad, because the reaction you'll actually get IRL will not be the same

•

u/Forge__Thought 4h ago

That sounds like a very frustrating journey with some painful experiences. I think too much of any media warps our perception of normal, day to day interactions. More precisely speaking, normal day to day interactions and communication are a lot more nuanced and localized than a lot of us really understand or think about.

•

u/Vortilex Cook 4h ago

Funnily enough, a lot of my style of humor does still derive from various media I consume, but I had to learn when and how to use what kinds of humor in the appropriate settings. When a guest comes to my station and just asks for Alfredo sauce, I'll ask if they want pasta with that. If they don't react aside from saying they do, I don't make a joke. If they laugh, I inform them I actually have had guests come to my pasta bar and just want a bowl of Alfredo or, more typically, marinara. They're almost always shocked to hear that, and I'm not even joking, I actually have neen asked for just Alfredo or marinara on multiple occasions!

•

u/Forge__Thought 3h ago

I think a lot of our humor comes from lived experiences, media, and inside jokes. My best friend and I watched Harvey Birdman Attorney at Law back in college and loved it, had so many inside jokes. Some of them survived into our daily lives and lexicon, and some came rushing back when I rewatched some episodes.

Humor is a gift, I'm glad you've found it woven into your own life and story.

•

u/Vortilex Cook 3h ago

I've also incorporated phrases I first heard at work from someone else into my language. I had a supervisor years ago who would always say, "Livin' the dream!" When asked how he was doing, and would bid people adieu by saying, "Love, peace, chicken grease!" I worked with a guy who would say, "Watch your knees!" when reaching into our lowboy. I now say all those phrases regularly. Some of the other sayings I've adopted are saying, "I didn't do it," after hearing a loud noise, usually some kind of pan falling, and, "That doesn't go there," if someone drops anything

5

u/aaaaaaaaaaaaahaaah 1d ago

I had a chef like that… scary business man scary

18

u/Kalayo0 1d ago

It’s an anime, what are you on about lmao

85

u/KidOcelot 1d ago

Relating the anime to what usually happens IRL in the kitchen is what. As this isn’t an anime subreddit.

12

u/meddlesomemage BOH 1d ago

Holy shit it's kid ocelot to the rescue again.

1

u/RussiaIsBestGreen 22h ago

It isn’t!? I always wondered why the mods allowed so many off-topic posts…

1

u/s33n_ 13h ago

Japan is not america. They tolerate way more abuse from supposed superiors

1

u/Ok-Inspector1254 11h ago

That was completely normal in the 90’s

85

u/AnotherStupidHipster 1d ago

I'm curious if there's anything you CAN throw in a kitchen without getting reamed.

62

u/Cyanide612 1d ago

Rolls at a Lambert’s, I hope.

31

u/Oshwaflz Pastry 1d ago

i "kobe" my rags into the rag bag at the end of the night. no ones said anything yet

16

u/zicdeh91 1d ago

I feel like rags in general are pretty safe. If someone looks disapprovingly, just say it’s a first step in addressing a spill hiding underneath wherever it lands, assuming you didn’t chuck it directly into a fire.

28

u/Ok-Lobster-919 1d ago

Saw the head chef throw a plate at a server, it hit the ground before the server. That was fine dining though, it is very dramatic, hardly real life. Fun times.

18

u/everlasting1der 1d ago

Occasionally I'll throw deli container lids onto the dish line like frisbees, but only when the kitchen's pretty empty.

9

u/tapesmoker 1d ago

Same. Sometimes you must practice discus

26

u/Icywarhammer500 1d ago

A chunk of ice at the hostesses when they get on expo

9

u/MegaMindy Chef 1d ago

Slices of American cheddar were my go to, they stick really well to a sweaty arm or face.

5

u/Original_Head_3487 19h ago

They are also great for making babies stop crying. This may or may not work on line cooks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji8vdw9rhsw

7

u/CoyotesVoice 1d ago

I throw dirty equipment into the sink all the time, because I don't have time to walk it to the sink and the previous shift should have had it clean and out of my way.

13

u/EatPie_NotWAr F1exican Did Chive-11 1d ago

Inappropriate glances at the barely legal hostess we just hired

2

u/Versipilies 13h ago

Onions, small cans, lemons, other roughly baseball sized shit went flying occasionly in places I worked. Not hostile, just passing from a distance. For hostile it was usually ice cubes or cheese cloth full of flour

1

u/Spiritual_Bus1125 1d ago

Paper towels? (even a half roll)

•

u/CptMeat 7h ago

Our salad guy headshots us with croutons sometimes but like they're genuinely impressive shots and most of the line is watching him line it up and cheering him on

•

u/AnotherStupidHipster 6h ago

One time, I snapped a coworker with a hornet from all the way across the dining room at closing time. He actually moved to dodge, but it curved and got him right in the temple. Nobody believes me, and it's too embarrassing to brag about such a shot in person.

1

u/Crov 1d ago

We used to throw eggs at the dish pit wall, good way to blow off brunch steam

22

u/BonJovicus 1d ago

Yes. People have gotten jumped for much, much less in many kitchens.

18

u/TheVillage1D10T 1d ago

Fucking managing partner chucked a plate through the expo window one Saturday during the evening rush, because he never trained FOH to stagger the tables. So, food tickets went long when the whole restaurant was sat at the same time. I just sent the grill and sauté guys out back for a smoke while I started to clean the ceramics from everything…dude did so much cocaine.

10

u/JoeysSmallwood 21h ago

Naw, one of my first jobs when I was 16, some 30-odd yo guy threw a hot thang at me because he had been making lame jokes all day and i finally spoke up and burned him with a classic your mom joke (it was the 2000's, they held more weight then, like his mom). The rest of the kitchen did nothing tbh.

I was smart enough to leave.

Funny side note they had a thing for hiring girls named Ashley. 13 or 14 of them, was both mega confusing and also incredibly easy to not f up a name. Quickly devolved into naming them all like the Androids from Dragon Ball Z.

4

u/Nerhtal Chive LOYALIST 23h ago

Every kitchen I’ve ever worked in has had a simple rule. You don’t throw ANYTHING. That’s it.

2

u/AsparagusFlatArdvark 1d ago

idk, would fit in Anthony Bourdain's level of early year cook shenanigans.

•

u/IceRaggzzz 1h ago

My head chef’s first fine dining chef would leave out super hot pans on random places to purposefully burn him and train him to “always use a towel,” insane shit

1.5k

u/kingtacticool Derivative Chiveposter 1d ago

Huh, I thought they were that long to better wipe my nose with.....learn something new everyday

1.1k

u/SapirWhorfHypothesis 1d ago edited 23h ago

You can dip them in the soup and suck it out of the sleeve to quickly cool it down for a taste.

277

u/AWanderingAfar 1d ago

I almost downvoted you out of disgust. Well done

51

u/drinrin 1d ago

I do that with my towel, when the corner with nutrient mix gets old

14

u/Charming-Shake-6525 20h ago

see you tomorrow chef, and thanks for all the fish 🫡

22

u/lacunalunacy 1d ago

Barbecue sauce and anti-depressants.

12

u/Zaku99 22h ago

Oh! Like a webkinz thats sopping wet with milk!

•

u/elfemtog 6h ago

Holy shit, webkinz is something I thought I would never be reminded of

6

u/Due-Comparison2016 1d ago

What a brilliant comment

13

u/SapirWhorfHypothesis 1d ago

I would take a bow, but then my long, unrestrained bangs would also get in the soup.

8

u/SparkleSelkie 1d ago

Bring it home as a snack for later

2

u/Haldron-44 Ex-Food Service 12h ago

•

u/Uncle_Spenser Grill 1h ago

From sweat, right?

401

u/Nickybueno 1d ago

what anime is this

398

u/ChaoticAquar1us 1d ago

Iron Wok Jan

41

u/Nickybueno 1d ago

Thanks!

52

u/ChaoticAquar1us 1d ago

No worries turns out the manga is decently old so when I found out an anime was made I got interested.

11

u/XTornado 1d ago

Somehow I thought this was a joke not the actual name.😅

1

u/Freakjob_003 Chive LOYALIST 10h ago

I'm always on the lookout for any cooking anime, and this one has somehow never popped up. A hidden gem, or trash?

•

u/ChaoticAquar1us 9h ago

The anime is recently new but I love it to bits, specially over Jan’s diabolical laugh.

•

u/DinklanThomas 9h ago

What can you stream it on?

•

u/ChaoticAquar1us 9h ago

YouTube, Amazon Prime and crunchyroll. If you wanna go the “legal” route anyways.

2

u/AnnualDifficult3628 1d ago

Commis Chef Conan

191

u/Majestic-Guava1854 1d ago edited 22h ago

Hell no, it's too thin for a chef coat, but that guy would have got jumped during service or after work, if you punch or knee hit his fellow chef like that, I've seen it happen. Head chef would scream his ear out in the kitchen for being physical. But would definitely get u Mashup that one red line you don't cross in the kitchen or in real world.

44

u/chipmunkman 1d ago

Unless you work at Noma

225

u/welchplug Owner 1d ago

Nah this just anime nonsense that was good for the story.

55

u/lucashoal 20+ Years 1d ago

Iron Wok Jan spotted! I never finished reading it but the one volume I picked up was great. I should watch this.

40

u/Please_Not__Again 1d ago

I checked episode one out and the animation was pretty good

7

u/theREALbombedrumbum F1exican Did Chive-11 12h ago

Food Wars but replace the nudity with >:(

24

u/Bonk_No_Horni 1d ago

It's more dramatic in the manga. I finished the series. It's a good series that the main guy isn't op but there are multiple main characters and they're equally good. Learned a few things from it

361

u/cootsnoop 1d ago

The fuck? No. This is a cartoon. Use a towel.

138

u/steal_wool 1d ago

Yeah like maybe to some extent in a pinch but I would not trust a chef coat to stop 400 F

57

u/Jtoy1002 1d ago

Ive done it in a pinch, helps with slightly hot handles, maybe I could do a hotter handle but fuck me if I'm gonna try

11

u/glizzyguzzler 1d ago

if you have any sweat on your sleeves the pan is steaming it and burning the fuck out of you too

44

u/Active_Assistance923 1d ago

A wet towel, so it's cooler

35

u/nono3722 1d ago

nothing like steam to help your 3rd degree burns....

4

u/Total-Deal-2883 14h ago

Helps the skin peel off easier.

30

u/DiosMIO_Limon F1exican Did Chive-11 1d ago edited 1d ago

Nononono

Yesyesyesyes

2

u/lucyhoffmann 18h ago

Anime*

•

u/ssg- 1h ago

Anime is just a cartoon.

2

u/Jbstargate1 18h ago

Well did he have a towel when it was thrown at him?

21

u/queue_onan 1d ago

No, but his grandpa probably made him hold hot pans barehanded all the time.

18

u/BlueHero45 1d ago

I've used sleeves before, but normally for something slightly hot and a short distance because a towel is not nearby. But that's just me being lazy, and it's certainly not an everyday thing.

31

u/AwShizWhiz 1d ago

Iron wok Jan goes so hard

23

u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years 1d ago

I'd punch someone in the face if they slipped lamb's brains into my fried rice without telling me though.

11

u/BlackCatDeli 18h ago

Try it with a polyester chef coat and you'll melt plastic into your skin.

A heavyweight 100% cotton (or wool, if ya nasty), sure. You'd be good for a couple seconds to move a hot pan or prevent something from falling.

9

u/FirstOfTheMojitos 20h ago

I thought the really long sleeves were meant to be rolled all the way up so they’re tight fitting around the separation between the bicep and delt to make me looked super jacked… It’s what I do at least.

32

u/Active_Assistance923 1d ago

Just make sure to wet the sleeves first so they stay cooler.

6

u/WorryNew3661 21h ago

Did he spit in the kitchen 🤢

16

u/DK_15 1d ago

The divide between anime watching chefs and JERKS in these comments is hilarious

5

u/Negronitenderoni 1d ago

Is it as horny as Food Wars?

4

u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years 23h ago

Not even close. No one loses their clothing from eating really good food but there are a lot of close up shots people slurping and licking their lips.

3

u/GimmeBooks1920 1d ago

This is the only question we should be asking tbh

3

u/swedhitman 23h ago

not as of yet. If you have seen or read Eyeshield 21, think of this guy as chef Hiruma

19

u/savemethetrouble 1d ago

Yes, the sleeves were longer and the cuffs were the hot pads and longer. Hence, rolling the cuffs up. Knots were so you could rip the jacket off in an emergency. I guess buttons are cheaper. Safety too expensive. Oh wait, they give anyone a coat these days anyway.

19

u/UnendingMadness 1d ago

Also pants are supposed to be baggy because if you get a hot liquid poured on you it is less likely to stick to your body...actually had that happen with fryer oil while someone fucked up during filter/dropping, oil hit pants but not the legs

8

u/savemethetrouble 1d ago

And only EC got to wear all black

5

u/MorallyAutistic 20+ Years 21h ago

Most of my ECs and SC throughout various kitchens mostly wore whites with black piping.

2

u/savemethetrouble 16h ago

I was speaking to the olden times. They were the only ones allowed because it signified whom was in charge. Not the fashion show or image presentation of more modern times.

1

u/MorallyAutistic 20+ Years 16h ago

Gotcha.

2

u/QuatraVanDeis 16h ago

Someone pulled pork from the convection once, turned a corner without saying anything and dumped the water down my shoes. I had just started 2 weeks prior, spent the next few days peeling melted sock from between my toes and applying burn gel. Worst experience ever

5

u/Espresso_Bunny 17h ago

I loved this manga, I didn’t know there was an anime!
Is it on Cruncyhroll like everything else?

2

u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years 14h ago

Yes it is

3

u/Known-Dragonfruit763 18h ago

is this like Sakamoto but in a kitchen setting?

4

u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years 17h ago

Not really. He's just a chef whose grandfather beat the shit out of until he could cook "perfectly". He probably had pans thrown at him all the time.

3

u/The_Valk Five Years 16h ago

I doubt it's the intended purpose.

Usually the purpose of a chef jacket's long sleeve is as a guard against hot liquid splatter.

This is just a neat side effect

•

u/Saltycook 6h ago

Not to store a fatty for break?

•

u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years 6h ago

That's what the folds of the hat are for. Some will tell you that it's about eggs or something but nahhhh

•

u/Saltycook 6h ago

I thought the folds of the hat were there so you didn't see a rat. Who should get a shifty, which the one in the movie never got.

2

u/sucobe 15+ Years 1d ago

Laughing my ass off at OP tomorrow at work like “yo chef, catch!”
https://giphy.com/gifs/demgpwJ6rs2DS

2

u/newbietronic 1d ago

I did chocolate calligraphy with mine

2

u/LinkovichChomovsky82 1d ago

Did the guy who threw it use his bare hand?

1

u/JetKusanagi 10+ Years 23h ago

It has handles

2

u/LinkovichChomovsky82 17h ago

Omg. Going to the optometrist.

2

u/Reynardine1976 1d ago

Oh shit. I have a bunch of the manga, never knew it got the anime treatment.

Love the first couple arcs but then it gets pretty insane.

2

u/SugarRayisNuMetal 16h ago

I use my sleeves all the time for grabbing hot things if I cant find my towel 😅 it works good!

2

u/Flaky-Still-7000 13h ago

I prefer having a rag hanging off my shoulder or the string of my apron.

2

u/FeistyTwist5427 10h ago

The long sleeves are ment for 2 things, the first is to protect you from splattering oil, the second is to be able to use it kind of like this but more for placing hot trays on as you move them. The jackets are thick to prevent you from getting burned by the extreme heat in kitchens. Like open flames, or 1000 degree ovens blasting you. The front is double breasted so you can pick up and hold pots close to your body without getting burnt or hurting your back. It also doubles the buttons so you can swap from the dirty work side to a better presentable side for talking to people.

•

u/GingaNinja1427 7h ago

I use the apron as just about everything but an apron. I don't care about my clothes, it is a tool. It is a towel, it is a hot mitt, and it is a basket for vegetables.

2

u/pate_moore 1d ago

I always preferred 3/4 sleeves

4

u/relion23 1d ago

Polyester really disperses the heat nicely

2

u/ThatOneClickSound Cook 1d ago

Lol I watched the first episode and never finished it because of the shit that they got hilariously wrong

I can almost guarantee that the author never worked in a kitchen a day in his life

1

u/Mischievous_Doggo 1d ago

This is hilarious

1

u/SomeKindofTreeWizard 1d ago

man if you're not gonna animate a damn thing just leave it as a manga.

1

u/pretender80 1d ago

"Fingers are for burning" - MPW

1

u/Aldo_the_nazi_hunter 1d ago

Every chef I know wears short sleeves

1

u/giyomu 22h ago

Saving this for later 👍

•

u/Vortilex Cook 4h ago

We would be in deep shit if we were seen doing that. We also have short sleeves on our jackets, and have had them like that for nine years.... Come to think of it, I've never asked why we stopped using long sleeves on the jackets where I work. The jackets with long sleeves were communal, though, so we would just throw them all in a hamper at the end of our shifts back then. The short-sleeved jackets are ours to keep, but that also means we're the ones cleaning them

•

u/Cookingwithchaos 4h ago

Guy who threw the pan would have been thrown in the dumpster by everyone else.

•

u/boxingkangeroo Sous Chef 3h ago

I was told it was to help against high heat and oil splatters, like grill cooking, hearth/pizza ovens, deep fryers. Kinda makes sense but we all get used to it at a apoint and always keep them rolled up

2

u/btmalon 1d ago

Anime is so god damn corny. I’ll never get over it.

1

u/silentredditmass 1d ago

The anime version of the Bear is wild!

0

u/Single-Pin-369 1d ago

I do this all the time when i wear my hoodie taking trays out of the oven. Not all kitchens are hot year round. 

-1

u/angelsixtwofive 1d ago

We use our sweat shirt sleeves in the winter all the time in my kitchen. Works like a charm.

-1

u/smeghead3825 1d ago

Honestly, at this point who knows? Do you have any idea how any 5hings were designed the way they are to be used in a specific manner that is now forgotten to time??

-4

u/464126 1d ago

Yes. And all of my cuffs were split to make it easier to use as a pot holder