All About Full-Time Maids

[yanyan]

Phew! Hquek, thanks for ur assurance!!!

[711mum]

LKVM:

Jworld:

[quote=\"hquek\"]So far the 2 indo maids I have quite short. My current myan one is fairly tall in comparison (1.6something).

That's very tall for a maid. I also notice that many foreign helpers are relatively short. I believe it's due to malnutrition in their home country.

Yeah agree my current maid from Myan is quite short also.. she comes from very poor coastal village... I think her height must be slightly taller than my DS1 now 7 yrs... [/quote]To me, a helper's height is not a detering factor, more concern on their personalities and working attitude, but one can't really tell from the biodata until she has been with you for a while or quite a while. :sad:

[Busymom]

Just found out last night that my maid left a bun in a plastic bag (clean) to be kept warm in the rice cooker. Does anyone know if that is a safe thing to do? I have no problem with warming things up in a rice cooker in a small plate (on top of the leftover rice), but to be placed in a plastic bag and left there all night long?


In the past, I used to tell my previous maids to remove the leftover rice and place it in the fridge if they are planning to eat the rice the next day. However, one maid has told me that the rice doesn’t spoil even if left in the rice-cooker overnight, even without the electricity on. I would have preferred that they scoop up the rice to put in the fridge and wash the pot every night, though. Maybe it is time to insist on that.

Not sure if they have been leaving the rice cooker on every night, or just happened that last night, they left it on because of that bun which I had asked them to heat up (but didn’t know they heat it up by using the rice-cooker that way).

[carebear]

Busymom:

Just found out last night that my maid left a bun in a plastic bag (clean) to be kept warm in the rice cooker. Does anyone know if that is a safe thing to do? I have no problem with warming things up in a rice cooker in a small plate (on top of the leftover rice), but to be placed in a plastic bag and left there all night long?


In the past, I used to tell my previous maids to remove the leftover rice and place it in the fridge if they are planning to eat the rice the next day. However, one maid has told me that the rice doesn't spoil even if left in the rice-cooker overnight, even without the electricity on. I would have preferred that they scoop up the rice to put in the fridge and wash the pot every night, though. Maybe it is time to insist on that.

Not sure if they have been leaving the rice cooker on every night, or just happened that last night, they left it on because of that bun which I had asked them to heat up (but didn't know they heat it up by using the rice-cooker that way).

I have always insisted that food should be kept in the fridge if it is not eaten immediately.
Leaving in the rice cooker overnight without turning on the \"keep warm\" function is as good as leaving the food on the table. Of course you won't want to leave the rice cooker on the whole night!

Tell your maid that it is unsafe to eat the bun as in our humid weather, food turn bad easily. Insist on it, even if she says that the bun is for her consumption, as you can't afford to have a sick maid.

[Busymom]

Thanks, carebear, for your advice on this.


The bun was actually meant for me as my maids are Muslims and they don't consume pork. It was actually from the fridge and I asked them to heat up cos' I didn't think the bun would be fresh the next day. However, they forgot to tell me that bun had been heated... I ended up looking high and low in the kitchen, only to find it in the rice cooker :roll: Had I not remembered about the bun and went to look last night, they probably would have given the bun to me this morning...

Have just told them the proper way to heat up food from the fridge should be over boiling water, not the keep warm function from a rice cooker.

[carebear]

Busymom:

Thanks, carebear, for your advice on this.


The bun was actually meant for me as my maids are Muslims and they don't consume pork. It was actually from the fridge and I asked them to heat up cos' I didn't think the bun would be fresh the next day. However, they forgot to tell me that bun had been heated... I ended up looking high and low in the kitchen, only to find it in the rice cooker :roll: Had I not remembered about the bun and went to look last night, they probably would have given the bun to me this morning...

Have just told them the proper way to heat up food from the fridge should be over boiling water, not the keep warm function from a rice cooker.

You are welcome, busymom!
Ya, different standard of hygiene..... so must educate them.
Strange, how to heat up a bun in a rice cooker using the keep warm function?
And with the plastic bag around it somemore!

[peapot]

Even very experienced maid can still do things that is not right. For eg, my maid who has 6 years experience can still heat food up using stainless steel plate in a microwave. She can still damaged my blouse and leave a hole in it. So with every maid it’s still best to do a spot check once in a while to make sure the maid are on the right track.

[carebear]

peapot:

Even very experienced maid can still do things that is not right. For eg, my maid who has 6 years experience can still heat food up using stainless steel plate in a microwave. She can still damaged my blouse and leave a hole in it. So with every maid it's still best to do a spot check once in a while to make sure the maid are on the right track.

Oh dear peapot, did the microwave oven explode? My maid almost put a metal pot in it but I stopped her in time and I told her it might explode. She was also worried and has since been more aware of what goes in the microwave oven.

[jtoh]

I don’t think you should heat food up in a plastic bag. Even if the plastic doesn’t melt, it just doesn’t sound safe.


My maids used to keep food overnight in the rice cooker too. I think it’s acceptable in their culture bec that’s what they’ve been doing for generations and no one’s gotten sick. The difference is that their stomachs may be used to the bacteria that breed overnight while our stomachs aren’t. Even if the rice is for their own consumption I don’t like the idea of my rice cooker not being washed.

[peapot]

No carebear, I m surprised the microwave did not explode in her face!??