Culinary Basics: Mise En Place

Mise en place is a common practice for chefs in commercial kitchens when preparing meals for many people. However, don’t let the foreign term scare you if you are a small operation. Any person, in any size kitchen, preparing meals for any number of people can benefit from using mise en place.

 

Why is it Important

• Mise en place is a collection of good work habits. Developing these habits takes planning, effort, and practice; however, once these good habits are established, you will be more organized and efficient in meal preparation.
• Mise en place is a collection of good work habits. Developing these habits takes planning, effort, and practice; however, once these good habits are established, you will be more organized and efficient in meal preparation.

 

Mise en Place Steps

Step 1: Read over the entire recipe and develop a plan.

• Review recipes several days in advance to identify needed food and equipment.
• Take an inventory of all the required ingredients. Identify how much of each ingredient you have on hand and what ingredients you need to acquire.
• Take inventory of all the necessary kitchen tools, such as pots, pans, measuring cups, etc.
• Identify foods that require time to defrost.
• Plan for and combine similar tasks, such as dicing onions or vegetables for several recipes.

Step 2: Prioritize your work.

• Note the cooking and prep times.
• Develop a production schedule to prioritize meal preparation steps.
• Start with the meal service time and work backward, so you know when to start preparing the meal.

Step 3: Collect tools and prepare equipment.

• Make sure all equipment is in good operating condition.
• Organize required kitchen tools on the countertop.
• Preheat the oven if necessary.

Step 4: Gather recipe ingredients.

• Follow food safety practices and only have foods you actively work with at your workstation.
  • Note: A good practice is to have the items organized for use in temperature-appropriate storage areas to prevent time-temperature abuse. It also avoids overcrowding or cluttering the workstation.
• Group ingredients to reduce trips to the dry, refrigerated, and frozen storage areas. Using a tray to gather similar items will reduce trips to storage.

Step 5: Prepare and measure ingredients.

• Dice, chop, slice, and mince all ingredients as required by the recipe.
• Pre-measure and portion ingredients (e.g., spices, chopped vegetables) into one portion cup or bowl based on when you will add them to the recipe.

Step 6: Set up your workstation.

• Limit unnecessary movements by keeping items easily accessible.
• Organize your prepped and measured ingredients on the countertop in the order you will add them to the recipe.

 

Benefits of Mise en Place

• No last-minute trips to the store when you have everything required for the recipe.
• Reduces opportunities to cross-contaminate.
• Pre-planning and visualization of the recipe enable a sharper focus on the cooking process.
• Being organized and prepared helps minimize the risk of mistakes, such as missing an ingredient or adding an ingredient twice.
• You are more efficient and less stressed, and the preparation and cooking processes take less time. Everything you need is close at hand; there is no searching around for ingredients and kitchen tools.

 

For more information, read ICN’s May Mealtime Memo.