# Sodium hydroxide dipping sauce



## Chef Niloc (Feb 13, 2012)

Yes it is true....
Kitchen closes at 10, all my cooks/dishwashers are gone by 12am, same as every week. But Sunday nights can get crazy at the bar, might not be a single person in the place at 12am but by 1:30 I have 100+ people. So it was the case tonight.
Any way, the good part. 3:30 AM bartender (Todd) decides to reheat his old toco bell up in my kitchen (2nd day on the job), but it's a little busy so he needs do do it all fast and snaky so I don't find out. I'm in front and another guy(dan) comes and tells me that "Todd burned his mouth bad on hot sauce". I'm a little confused but I start walking back to the kitchen thinking "hot" as in "to spicy". So there's Todd chugging water and I start to crack up. Then Dan goes over to the table picks up a piece of quesadilla dips it into a can of lye and blows on it to cool it off (like its hot soup).....as Todd try's to shoe him away making butterfly hand moves and choking sounds Dan rushes and stuffs the lye covered quesadilla down his mouth. So I punch him in the stomach to make him spit it out before he can swallow it. I yell "that's lye dip s... Not nacho cheese" neither one of them have any clue what Im saying (don't know what lye is) but they both now no from the concern in my voice and the bad taste and burning in there mouth that there in trouble. 
Note: can of lye is in the dish room on a shelf with all cleaning stuffs. Can has blue tape on it that says "danger very hot" written in spanish (likely the work of a cook to warn the dish washers), Todd for some reason that I still don't know thought it was hot wing sauce???Dan thought it looked good too??? 
Ok so now I have a bar full of people and two bartenders with chemical burns running down there throats! To be honest with you all I don't really know what to do fore some one that has ingested lye so I just tell them to drink orange juice and call 911.
That's really it, it's now almost 10am, the end of a 20hr work day but I had to wright this all down before I could sleep.


----------



## Deckhand (Feb 13, 2012)

:eek2:Wow Hope they are o.k. That is one of the craziest things I have ever heard.


----------



## hax9215 (Feb 13, 2012)

911 IS RIGHT! In the Army National Gurad thirty years ago I was a Chemical NCO; if those burns start oozing it could be serious. _WAITERS!_

Hax CLEAVERS RULE!!!


----------



## Chef Niloc (Feb 13, 2012)

paramedics wanted to know why i had the stufof in the restaurant??? Really??? I told them I wanted to lbe like Tyler Derten and made sope for fun...it was after all 4-4:30 am at this point.


----------



## rahimlee54 (Feb 13, 2012)

What concentration was this? Concentrated NaOH is extremely corrosive. That is pretty horrible.


----------



## kalaeb (Feb 13, 2012)

Good grief!


----------



## tkern (Feb 13, 2012)

I think this should link to another thread on here about dumb FOH.


----------



## ecchef (Feb 13, 2012)

Call your attorney & insurance company now.


----------



## The Edge (Feb 13, 2012)

I hope they're ok, and I hope you don't get any fallback from their actions. In the back of my mind, I somehow think this belongs on an episode of Jackass


----------



## EdipisReks (Feb 13, 2012)

ecchef said:


> Call your attorney & insurance company now.



x2

how anybody mistakes lye for hot sauce is beyond me, though. even somebody who doesn't know what lye is...


----------



## bprescot (Feb 13, 2012)

Insurance and lawyer are definitely worth a call.

I hope your guys are okay, but I doubt they're getting away scot-free. Wish you and they the best, though. Keep us posted.


----------



## Eamon Burke (Feb 13, 2012)

You know me, running around a kitchen, dipping food in ****, hoping it's more food.

That is some seriously stupid behaviour.


----------



## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 13, 2012)

Lye Poisoning

_Etymology: AS, leah, lye; L, potio, drink
the toxic effects of ingesting caustic soda or sodium hydroxide (NaOH), a powerful alkali. If the chemical has a pH above 11.5, the chemical burn damage to the mouth and throat is usually irreversible. An alkali burn can be more serious than an acid burn because an acid is usually neutralized by the tissues it contacts. See also alkali poisoning._

Sounds pretty serious. Hope he gets away with it...


----------



## SpikeC (Feb 13, 2012)

Un-freaking-believable. Give the Darwin Awards people a call.........


----------



## Lucretia (Feb 13, 2012)

Wow. That's pretty horrible. Sodium hydroxide is nasty, nasty stuff.

In the United States, the Poison Help Hotline number is: 1-800-222-1222. It's a good number for everybody to have readily available. They will connect you to your local poison center, who can help you with the proper steps to take should a poisoning occur.

X5 on attorney/insurance


----------



## ecchef (Feb 13, 2012)

Idiots are idiots and sometimes have to learn the hard way.
What you need to do Colin is protect your assets from said idiots and their ******* lawyers. 
Make sure you have (or get) an MSDS for the lye and file it. Change the labeling on the container & check the NYC sanit code and make sure you're in compliance.
Do you have a record of any kind of employee training regarding use & handling of chemicals? 
I'm not trying to be all doom & gloom, but you gotta CYA.


----------



## Justin0505 (Feb 13, 2012)

They where lucky you caught them in time for 911 and not the Darwin awards. 

+ 1
On insurance and lawyer though... Gotta protect yourself from who these idiots might blame for their idiocracy.


----------



## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 13, 2012)

I think it absolutely sucks that Chef Niloc should need to worry about being sued by this guy. Shouldn't adults know better than to just stick unknown substances in their mouths? Unreal. Hopefully this guy takes some personal responsibility here. It would be shameful to try to blame someone else for this.


----------



## Line cooked (Feb 13, 2012)

Yikes!!!!


----------



## The hekler (Feb 13, 2012)

How has no one seen fight club at this point? Great movie and very informative.


----------



## Mike Davis (Feb 13, 2012)

Oh damn....hope everything is alright....


----------



## tk59 (Feb 13, 2012)

Amazing. Where do you find these people?


----------



## Rottman (Feb 13, 2012)

tk59 said:


> Amazing. Where do you find these people?



That's all a chemist has to say to sodium hydroblah?


----------



## tk59 (Feb 13, 2012)

Rottman said:


> That's all a chemist has to say to sodium hydroblah?


After the Darwin, MSDS and soap comments, there really wasn't much to add, haha.


----------



## sachem allison (Feb 13, 2012)

That's why they ain't allowed on the line.


----------



## apicius9 (Feb 14, 2012)

I can see them in front of me right now, posting in 'waiters online forum' about that irresponsible chef who let dangerous substances standing around, looking like hot sauce, and their friends and forum colleagues recommend them to contact their lawyers... I hope everyone will come out o.k. from this.

Stefan


----------



## Chef Niloc (Feb 14, 2012)

apicius9 said:


> I can see them in front of me right now, posting in 'waiters online forum' about that irresponsible chef who let dangerous substances standing around, looking like hot sauce, and their friends and forum colleagues recommend them to contact their lawyers... I hope everyone will come out o.k. from this.
> 
> Stefan


It was in the dish room next to the cleaning chemicals. At night the door is locked to deter theft but it's easily picked. He was hiding not doing his job, nor was the bar manager who should have been on top of him. He was piss drunk (another problem I have with the bar staff). I'll be pissed if he try's to lawyer up on me! He is lucky I was there, he might be dead if I wasn't. I told both of them before the paramedics arrived that I needed them to singe off on the injury report. In with that I put a letter of reprimand for being into a " off limits" area. One for drinking on the job, and one for knowingly stealing and misusing company supplies. It's all on security camera too. I told the paramedics that I believe that it was sodium hydroxide they ingested, but I could not know for sure so I recommended a compleat toxicology, saying that I believe them to have been drinking and that I thought someone had told me Todd was on prescription amphetamine for ADHD. Dan is ok, helped him in time, Todd is still in the hospital. It was pure lye he was dipping into. Security camera shows him blowing lines of cocaine earlier that night before his shift and exchanging money with another person. I called my lawyer today he sad I should be covered.


----------



## tkern (Feb 14, 2012)

I love the restaurant industry.


----------



## apicius9 (Feb 14, 2012)

I clearly don't have enough imagination about what is going on in restaurants behind the scenes and I always thought Bourdain was exaggerating. Well, maybe not. That makes teaching graduate students look like a very easy job. Only had one showing up drunk so far....

Stefan


----------



## Johnny.B.Good (Feb 14, 2012)

apicius9 said:


> Only had one showing up drunk so far....



That you know of!


----------



## Crothcipt (Feb 14, 2012)

Honestly I think Bourdain was down playing what he was writing in Kitchen Confidential. I have seen many things like this but not this bad. Chef I am so glad you were on top of cya and there safety. Most people think that being in charge of the kitchen is easy cause you just make the menu and stand around cracking a whip. Most of the time you are watching others be stupid and trying to stop them from them selves.

Also tell them to watch Fight Club, and everyone else in the restraunt. I am just glad you were there to stop them from it getting worse.


----------



## ecchef (Feb 14, 2012)

Chef Niloc said:


> It was in the dish room next to the cleaning chemicals. At night the door is locked to deter theft but it's easily picked. He was hiding not doing his job, nor was the bar manager who should have been on top of him. He was piss drunk (another problem I have with the bar staff). I'll be pissed if he try's to lawyer up on me! He is lucky I was there, he might be dead if I wasn't. I told both of them before the paramedics arrived that I needed them to singe off on the injury report. In with that I put a letter of reprimand for being into a " off limits" area. One for drinking on the job, and one for knowingly stealing and misusing company supplies. It's all on security camera too. I told the paramedics that I believe that it was sodium hydroxide they ingested, but I could not know for sure so I recommended a compleat toxicology, saying that I believe them to have been drinking and that I thought someone had told me Todd was on prescription amphetamine for ADHD. Dan is ok, helped him in time, Todd is still in the hospital. It was pure lye he was dipping into. Security camera shows him blowing lines of cocaine earlier that night before his shift and exchanging money with another person. I called my lawyer today he sad I should be covered.



Outstanding coverage Colin. :thumbsup: Too many guys just get caught with their pants down and it's always ugly.


----------



## MadMel (Feb 14, 2012)

Hope you don't mind if I take this as an example for my school project on Occupational Health and Safety? This really stands out!!


----------



## Chef Niloc (Feb 14, 2012)

apicius9 said:


> I clearly don't have enough imagination about what is going on in restaurants behind the scenes and I always thought Bourdain was exaggerating. Well, maybe not. That makes teaching graduate students look like a very easy job. Only had one showing up drunk so far....
> 
> Stefan


This story's nothing!!! I'll think of a few better ones and pot them for you. The Gay for pay orgy party's that we're going on in the basement after hours at one place I worked at years ago comes to mind.


----------



## bprescot (Apr 30, 2012)

Kitchen accidents came up today, and was curious to see how this story ended. Everyone okay and un-litigated I hope?


----------



## NO ChoP! (Apr 30, 2012)

It has been a while since we've been graced with the chefs presence...


----------



## stereo.pete (Apr 30, 2012)

Wow, cocaine and lye, now that is quite the night lolz


----------



## Chef Niloc (Apr 30, 2012)

NO ChoP! said:


> It has been a while since we've been graced with the chefs presence...



I've been around, I check in a few times a week. I just don't post as much as I do when I'm not so busy as I wright very slow.
Funny this post came back up today as Dan came in his past Saturday looking for his job back, unbelievable.
I've been busy getting ready for this summer, seems to just get harder every year.


----------



## Candlejack (Apr 30, 2012)

Äh, man up. Us real vikings marinate our fish in lye, let's it dry and then cook it.


----------



## DeepCSweede (Apr 30, 2012)

Candlejack said:


> Äh, man up. Us real vikings marinate our fish in lye, let's it dry and then cook it.



We always joke that the best stuff is pissed on by the dog and buried in the yard for a year.

Something everyone should try at least once in their life (and then spit it out) - I eat at at least once a year and that texture just kills me. My parents, grandparents and several other family members can't get enough though.


----------

