Breakfast shop head chef - the first-batch steaming timeline SOP: mixing, proofing-by-signs, first tray, and refill triggers, every step with a pass standard

Write an archivable SOP for my breakfast shop: "First-batch steaming and
prep timeline," for the dim sum cook arriving before dawn, running from
walking in the door to mid-rush.

My store: baozi / mantou / shumai as the made-fresh core, two steamers,
doors effectively open 6:30, dough cook arrives around [3:00] (back-
calculated; leave as [] for me to fill).

Structure: timeline blocks; every step gets four fields - who /
time-or-trigger / pass standard / remedy if failed. The words "to
taste," "as needed," and "keep an eye on it" are banned throughout.

Timeline blocks (use this skeleton, numbers left as []):

Block 1 - Arrival
- Mixing: water temperature and hydration per the seasonal chart
  (warmer water in winter, cooler in summer - direction only, exact
  degrees set by the store); pass standard: dough smooth, bowl
  clean, hands clean
- Cover the dough in a warm spot: write the start time on the
  whiteboard - not in your head
- Parallel lines: soaked beans into the grinder, tea eggs back on
  the heat, congee on - each with its own pass standard (test-cup
  strength for soy milk, broth level for eggs, drum-wall heat for
  congee)

Block 2 - Proofing judgment (the core of this SOP; no clocks)
Proofed-ready is judged on three signs; ANY TWO of the three count.
One sign alone means keep waiting, recheck every [10] minutes:
1. Poke rebound: press a dent; it springs back slowly, not all
   the way flat
2. Volume: visibly risen to roughly double the start (compare
   against the start-level line drawn on the whiteboard)
3. Honeycomb: tear a corner; interior shows even holes
Remedy branches:
- Countdown to first tray reached, dough not ready: warm-water
  bath under the bowl to push it, push the first-tray time later
  on the whiteboard, and tell the manager to hang the "later
  availability" sign
- Over-proofed (sour smell, dent collapses and stays): switch the
  batch to dead-dough items (slice and pan-fry as mantou pieces) -
  no leavened buns from this dough today; better to sell less than
  to sell bad

Block 3 - First tray
- Load the trays: cloth damp, gaps left for expansion
- Time from full steam, NOT from loading: [minutes] per item type
- Done-test: surface springs back when pressed AND nothing sticks
  to the cloth - both, or it stays in
- The first tray must land [X] minutes before open. Hard deadline

Block 4 - Refills (mid-rush, triggered not scheduled)
- Trigger: steamer stock below [N] trays starts the next batch -
  never a fixed interval; an early rush refills early, a slow one
  late
- Refill batches use the same done-tests, but a named person
  watches the timer - forgotten trays are the top source of
  mid-rush defects (over-steamed, yellowed, dead)
- Item switching: restock whichever item is lowest in the counter,
  not whatever is convenient - follow the day's sales mix

Block 5 - Handover (at close)
- Starter dough saved and labeled for tomorrow; beans to soak per
  tomorrow's prep sheet
- Whiteboard log of today's actual timeline (dough start, proofed
  time, first tray, refill count) - the only basis for correcting
  tomorrow's sequence

Constraints:
- Every judgment must be sign-based and executable - nothing that
  depends on "an experienced hand"
- Winter/summer differences: direction of adjustment only (water
  temperature, start lead time); no invented numbers
- No "watch the heat" - heat is written as item x minutes x
  from-full-steam, executable
- Prints on three A4 pages max, laminated next to the steamer

Why it is written this way

Timeline failures in fresh dough work share one property: every step depends on the same person's tongue and hands. When the owner-cook is present, proofing is always right; the day she's off, the shop gets dead or collapsed dough. This SOP's purpose is translating "just right" into signs: poke rebound, volume against a drawn line, torn honeycomb. The two-of-three rule is deliberate fault tolerance - a single sign misleads (good rebound before honeycomb forms is false-ready), while two together rarely do. Drawing the start-level line on the whiteboard gives "roughly double" a physical reference that doesn't rely on memory.

Refills trigger on steamer stock rather than the clock because the rush never arrives at the same hour twice: stores that refill on schedule run empty when Monday's rush comes early and stack trays when rain delays it. Below-N-trays lets the rhythm follow demand. "A named person watches the timer on refills" reflects where mid-rush defects actually come from - not inability to steam, but nobody remembering what's in the steamer.

The over-proofed remedy branch - switch to dead-dough items - matters more than its length suggests: it gives the executor a way out that isn't pushing through. Over-proofed dough makes collapsed buns, guaranteed; frying it as mantou slices caps the loss at half. The branch most SOPs lack is exactly this "this step failed, here's the path forward" - without it, the only move available to someone facing a failure is to pretend it didn't happen. The whiteboard log of actual times closes the loop: a week of start times, proofed times, and refill counts is the data tomorrow's correction stands on, which is how an SOP gets more accurate the longer it runs.

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