16 valuable and unforgettable lessons I took away

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Working at a popular takeaway restaurant is no easy feat.

With queues of customers, the cooking, the cleaning and working on the tills it might be hard to catch a breather.

On the plus side? Hello free lunch every day.

Our reporter Micheal Taylor stuck on a hair net and went to work at a busy KFC restaurant for the day.

And this is what he learnt, Somerset Live reports.

Before you enter the kitchen, you have to do some admin.

You are handed a questionnaire which asks if you are unwell or recently experienced symptoms of diarrhoea, vomiting or any bowel disorder.

The form is in accordance to KFC's strict health and safety guidelines where poorly employees are not allowed near food or preparation surfaces to avoid contaminating food.

For the record, I signed no to all of these questions.

You wear the shoe covers to protect your footwear, prevent you from slipping or damaging the kitchen floor and, of course, for hygiene reasons.

Even with size 10 shoes, these were difficult to apply.

To make you feel like one of the crew, one of the employees hands you an apron and cap to wear.

If you have long hair or a beard, you must also wear a hair or bread net. Because no one likes to see hair in their popcorn chicken.

The first thing you do going into the kitchen is rigorously wash your hands.

This is a necessary procedure before touching any food and to avoid any contamination.

Employees can then either prepare the food with their hands or wear gloves.

If you're curious what the state of the chicken is before it's prepared for cooking, rest assured that the chicken is fresh.

With regular deliveries, the branch doesn't use frozen chicken.

The thighs, wings, breasts and legs all arrive bagged and ready for preparation.

One of the crew members showed the thorough process of how pieces of chicken are prepared.

Straight from a fridge, he poured the meat into a basket where it was washed in water before being shaken seven times to help dry it.

The chicken, which included fillets, breasts and legs, is then tipped into a bowl of flour mixed with salt, spices and the secret KFC recipe.

The flour is folded over the meat 10 times before pieces are picked up and patted down seven times. Any excess flour is dusted off and it's then placed on a grill.

The restaurant's manager, Alice Yarde, said the chicken is cooked evenly so the oil flows through the meat.

While it's straight forward to cook most bits of chicken, it's slightly different for drumsticks.

Drumsticks are double breaded before being placed in the fryer.

An employee said this was to ensure the meat cooks properly and its skin doesn't crack.

The meat is fried in oil at 178C.

Each batch goes in the fryer for 15 minutes and then is left to drain for five minutes before it can be served.

Once cooked, the chicken has to reach the customer within an hour-and-a-half.

The previous stage is basically a tutorial as I was thrown into the deep end to bread chicken.

You pour the pieces into the basket to be washed, floured and then placed on the grill.

The process of burying the chicken and uncovering is almost like digging for tasty treasure.

The 'seven-ten-seven' process was hard to follow at first but, thankfully, I was surrounded by some very helpful employees who were able to give me prompts on what I should do.

Perhaps it is a process of 'learn by doing' and after several attempts at breading chicken, the process would become a lot easier.

For obvious health and safety reasons, you cannot get the chicken out of the fryer.

In short, it's a very streamlined process.

Employees are based on the flour section, chip pan fryer and sandwich section to make sure the food preparation and cooking is efficient as it can be.

This is a very obvious point but the kitchen has a nice whiff of chicken, spice and herbs.

The delicious smell made my stomach rumble a few times.

There are helpful screens inside the kitchen which tells chefs what food can be prepared and what needs to be cooked.

The store's general manager, Alice Yarde, likened it to being the "cook's bible" and said: "This tells the cook what's on hand.

"We do a forecast every day on how much we think we're going to take which we do on the computer and sends the information onto here (the screen)."

In comparison to breading the chicken pieces, this was more straightforward and less stressful.

I was whisked to the other end of the kitchen to the sandwich section to make my own classic fillet burger. Yum.

You can pick from different sauces or add bacon, lettuce, cheese or hash browns to your burger.

I was able to go at my own pace and add my lettuce, salsa and cheese to a tasty toasted bun.

Accompanied with a Pepsi Max and fries, it was a filling and satisfying meal.

If it's a slow day or there's an excess of chicken, the meat isn't just left to cool on the side.

After the chicken has been drained of oil, employees stick the grill tray into a heated holding cabinet.

If, for example, a fillet is required for a burger, a crew member would take a warm piece and place it in a bun.

The kitchen was tidy with no leaks or spillages and employees clearly followed a strict hygiene code.

There was no grabbing the pieces of chicken with our fingers or handling the other food items. We had to use metal tongues for all items which have been deep fried.

The East Street branch currently has a food hygiene rating of five and was found to be 'very good' in food handling, cleanliness and management of food safety.

I've always been interested in what goes on behind the scenes at KFC and it was a pleasant experience.

I didn't think the chicken cooking process was going to be as thorough and technical as it was.

It was difficult to get my head around (although, to be fair, I've never been cut out for manual labour) which made me appreciate but also understand what KFC employees do on every shift.

The staff were helpful and knew a lot about the restaurant and its vast menu.

It's given me a newfound respect of its employees and more understanding of the bargain buckets and popcorn chicken I've been tucking into over the years.