Industry Guides
Course firing: stop mains dying under the heat lamp
You know the table. They are still talking over the starters, and the mains are already on the pass, cooling. Or the plates are cleared and the guests sit with nothing for fifteen minutes. Both nights are about timing, and timing is a decision a button can make for the floor.
The short answer
Course firing means the kitchen cooks each course when you send it, not when the order is taken. You hold the mains while the starters are eaten, then fire them about as long before the table is ready as the dish takes to cook. The mains land as the plates clear, hot, and the table never sits in silence.
It works for any table that orders in courses: a tasting night, a family celebration, a business dinner. It matters most when the room is busy, because a kitchen that cooks everything at once cannot hold the quality of the second plate.
The two bad nights
The first is food that waits. The order goes in as one ticket, the kitchen makes starters and mains close together, and the mains sit on the pass while the table finishes talking. By the time they reach the table the sauce has set. Nobody complains out loud, but nobody orders dessert either.
The second is guests that wait. The server, trying not to rush the table, holds the order until the plates are cleared and then sends the mains. Now the kitchen starts from zero and the guests look at an empty tablecloth for the length of the cook. Both nights are the same mistake: the timing of the main was left to chance.
A good floor fixes this by feel, standing near the pass and shouting. That is a lot to ask on a Saturday when the same person is carrying four plates.
Hover or tab to a column for the numbers.
| Minutes | |
|---|---|
| Eating | 42 min |
| Waiting for a clear | 3 min |
| Food cooling | 11 min |
| Empty table | 0 min |
Example numbers for one table: minutes of the evening spent in each state when everything is fired at once.
Work out when to fire
The rule is short. The main should be ready when the table is. The table is ready when guests finish starters and the plates are cleared. So the fire time is that moment minus the cook time. If guests take twenty-two minutes over starters, clearing takes three, and the main takes fourteen to cook, fire the main eleven minutes after the starters land.
Try your own numbers below and compare the three ways of firing. The all-at-once option is what an order ticket does by default.
What a badly timed main course costs the table
Enter how long guests take over starters, how long the main takes to cook and the gap to clear the plates. See who waits when the kitchen fires everything at once.
- Fired together: food waits
- 11 min under the lamp
- Fired after clearing: guests wait
- 14 min empty table
- Fired on cue: waits
- 0 min fire at 11 min
Hover or tab to a column for the numbers.
| Minutes waiting | |
|---|---|
| All at once | 11 min |
| After clearing | 14 min |
| On cue | 0 min |
Example arithmetic from the three numbers you entered. It ignores a busy line, which would stretch every cook time.
Firing on cue means sending the main about as long before the table is ready as the dish takes to cook. A fire button lets the floor do that without walking to the pass.
Courses are a habit, not a feature
The numbers change by table, so the rule is a guide, not a clock. A table of four that is deep in conversation takes longer than a couple. A birthday takes longer than a business lunch. The point of a hold is that the person on the floor decides, with the table in front of them, rather than the kitchen deciding by the time the order came in.
Name your courses the same way each time. The usual three are starters, mains and dessert, and a tasting night may have more. Consistent names mean a new server and a new line cook read the same ticket the same way.
What the kitchen needs to see
A kitchen screen should show only what is fired. Held courses are not the kitchen’s to cook yet, so showing them adds noise and invites a cook to start early. When a course fires, it should appear as a new ticket, so it gets noticed like any other order.
The table below shows what each course status means for the floor and the kitchen. Sort it by who needs to act.
What each course status means
| Fired | Shown as a ticket | Watch the table, serve when ready |
|---|---|---|
| Held | Not shown | Decide when to fire it |
| Next course fired | Ticket returns to New | Time it to the table, not the clock |
How courses read on the kitchen screen and for the floor.
How NextUp Walk-in handles it
An order line carries a course: 1 for starters, 2 for mains, 3 for dessert, and 1 by default. The kitchen screen shows only the courses that have been fired. In the Add order drawer, Fire next course sends the next held course to the kitchen and puts the ticket back to New, so it is noticed like a fresh order.
The floor decides when, with the table in view. The kitchen sees one calm screen instead of a whole night’s food at once. There is no clock that fires for you, because the rule above depends on the table in front of you.
Details: restaurants, floor plan and calling, split bills and close-out, TV display, pricing.
Let the floor set the pace
Questions
Does the kitchen see held courses?
No. The kitchen screen shows only fired courses, so a cook never starts a plate early.
What are the default courses?
Course 1 is starters, 2 is mains and 3 is dessert. A line is course 1 unless you set another.
Does anything fire automatically?
No. Someone on the floor presses Fire next course when the table is ready.