Appreciation post: the squeeze bottle trick that saved my sauce station after 15 years of ladles

Eric Lane · 2026-09-29T21:45:05.090748+00:00

For most of my career I plated sauce with a spoon and a ladle, and on a busy Friday it was always a mess, drips everywhere and no consistency between plates. About 6 months ago a line cook at a spot here in Portland showed me he just fills a cheap plastic squeeze bottle with the sauce and draws dots or lines with it. Took me one shift to see it was faster, cleaner, and each plate looked the same, which matters when you're pushing 200 covers. I still use a spoon for thick stuff like ragu, but for anything thin the bottle wins every time. Has anyone else made the switch, and do you warm the bottle first or just run it at room temp?

SMM Buzz

Loading…

Appreciation post: the squeeze bottle trick that saved my sauce station after 15 years of ladles | Chefs - SMM Buzz