Inventory Procedures

Culinary labs can be costly to maintain. Because of this, it is important to keep careful
inventory of your equipment and supplies. This way, you won’t need as big of a replacement
budget and can spend more money on updating the program instead. Another reason to keep
inventory of your materials is because some can be dangerous when in the wrong hands, such
as knives. Knives and other blades can create safety concerns if not kept track of. One of your
most valuable resources to keep track of is time. As we all know, time is the difference between
delicious muffins and soggy mush. It is similar in our culinary labs. We must teach each student
how to manage their time wisely to allow for the greatest learning possible.

Taking Inventory
Tip from our advisory board:
“Familiarize the students with your organization system, I use labels inside the drawers/cabinets
so the items are in the correct places. Make sure to have a cleaning day mid semester and at
the end of the semester to maintain order and replace anything old or broken.” -Kelli Bringhurst

At the beginning of each school year or semester, you should complete an inventory of
your classroom. There is no need to start all over creating a new list, your past co worker should
have one already for the classroom. If you can’t find one, ask around. Here are some more tips
to keep your classroom accounted for:
● Keep your inventory sheet in an easy to locate place, like on a door, so it doesn’t
get lost.
● Have a check out system for scarce or expensive equipment so that you know
where it is at all times. If needed, have the student provide collateral like their
student ID so they don’t forget.
● At the beginning of the semester, have your students tour the classroom and
take note of where everything is. Set the expectation early on what you want the
classroom to look like this at the end of each class.
● Place labels on shelves of where each item goes so that students know where to
put everything.

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 ● Sometimes, it can be helpful to ask a student or group that finishes early to help
you take inventory.
● Have a back up digital inventory so that it is available no matter what.
● Make sure you know all the places your classroom equipment is stored and what
is available. For example, your school may have an extra storage room or shed.

During Lab Inventory

Tip from our advisory board:

“I finally took pictures of how cabinets should look and had them laminated and posted on the
outside. I color code too. Paint markers work well. If I could buy things color coded - I have but
that doesn’t always work out.” -Mary Jean Gosling

Labs can be a quick way to lose supplies. They somehow travel from station to station, get
thrown away, and who knows what. Here are a few ideas to help keep track of supplies during
labs:
● Color code each station. If you don’t have access to multicolored supplies, add colored
and trimmed zip ties.
● Post pictures on or in each drawer and shelf of your kitchens so the students know what
goes where.
● Have a clean up checklist for students to go through at the end of each lab that includes
checking for proper placement of supplies.
● Don’t let students walk out of their individual labs with supplies in their hands. The only
time they should need to bring anything somewhere else is gathering ingredients.
● For community ingredients such as sugar, have an attached scoop or measuring cup
with the bin, that way no one has to bring theirs out of their kitchen.
● Regularly go through each kitchen yourself to ensure all supplies are still in stock.
● Have students keep their backpacks and other belongings at their desks not only for
safety, but also to prevent any supplies from falling in.
● Avoid aprons with pockets so that nothing gets stuck in them and forgotten about.

Time Management

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As a teacher, time management is important for not only you but your students. There
are many factors that we have to take into account especially in a food lab area. The
following are tips for you as a teacher to help with your part in planning and procedures
that you can use to make things flow better in the classroom.

Time Management tips:

● Plan ahead. If you know you’re going to be busy in the near future, work extra

hard ahead of time to accomplish as much as you can beforehand. This way,

when you’re tired and busy, you’ll feel better knowing that a solid chunk of your

work is already done.

● Use free hours wisely. If you have a prep hour, use it wisely this could be used

to help prepare for your food labs. It could be used to portion out food for that

day's lab, or for a lab later that week. Or it could be used as a planning period to

plan ahead for recipes and other things.

● Focus on one task at a time. Sometimes focusing on only one task at a time is

helpful and being able to stay more organized. It also helps you from jumping

from one task to another and in the end not actually getting any work done.

● Prioritize your health. As a teacher it can be really easy to forget about and let

yourself go. That is why outside of the classroom it is important to make sure you

have a designated time for yourself to rejuvenate and refocus.

● While in the class when budgeting time for a lab you need to take into account of

the following:

○ How long your class periods are.

○ How long will it take for students to get ready for the lab on the day of the

lab?

○ How long are you going to need for instruction?

○ How long will it take to set up the lab?

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 ○ How long will it take to clean up?

○ Is there anything in the recipe that is going to take more than one time (or

factors like raise time)?

Taking in account these things will help you choose the type of recipes that you

use for that unit.

● Have the most used ingredients in each kitchen unit. This will help with not

having students hunt for everything. (ex: flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, cooking

spray).

● Have all other ingredients and equipment that is not in the lab out on a

designated table so that students can come up and grab what they need.

● If you have a teacher’s aid, USE them. This will help you as a teacher be able to

get things out in a timely manner or have them refill things that would generally

take you a lot of time on top of what you have to do for lab planning.

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