[Sharpe]

If you cook it to order when they've sat down and looked at the breakfast menu, then it is truly freshly prepared and there is absolutely no waste. Prepping food in advance isn't really necessary.

[Starchip]

I disagree with richardfreer.

Keep in mind that I am a small B&B - six guests max.

I always ask my guests for their breakfast order the afternoon/night before or, with guests that stay for more than one night, just after the breakfast I have served them. This is a good time to ask them because if they say "Same again please" then you know you have done something right. If they don't then you can critically examine what you served. Might not be your breakfast but it is always worth analysis.

I do this for two reasons;

1. I do not have the storage space to be able to react to all possible orders in the morning. I may have to go shopping. Twenty minutes gone right there and I haven't even started cooking.

2. I don't care how you cook - a sausage takes 15-20 mins. Or hospital. Or black outside and pink inside. I would not want to sit twiddling my thumbs for 20 mins waiting for my brekkie. I would find things to complain about or to.

My guests are not here because of my brekkie - no, they want to get out there and be tourists. Don't get me wrong - I serve a lovely breakfast, I do Haddock fillet poached in milk with a poached egg on top for example. Go on, you try balancing a poached egg on a haddock fillet. Not a skill that I thought would appear in my life.

Anyway, I have never had even a mild harrumph from a guest when I ask for tomorrow's breakfast order.

Just my 4 star's worth.......but diamonds are forever.......

[richardfreer]

A mixture of helpful advice (thanks) and otherwise. I guess the smoked salmon idea (from "Martin" with variations from others) is probably best as we can freeze in small portions and bring out on demand, perhaps with a little help from the wretched ping machine. We'll have to try this when we have a good house full, and see what the take-up is like.

As I specifically mentioned that I dislike the idea of getting orders the night before, the suggestions that we get guests to order the night before were, at best, unwelcome!! When I stay away, I would not want to be asked 12 hours before I eat what it is that I would like to eat 12 hours later, therefore I would not make our guests do that.

[Sharpe]

We serve locally made chipolata sausages that take ten minutes to cook. We get lots of favorable comments and they never go out black on the outside and red inside. I don't like huge bangers!

When I'm the guest, I prefer not to order the night before although I'd never say so to the host. I prefer not to make my own toast as well. Just one of those things and everyone's different so you have to do what you're comfortable with.

[bandbshrewsbury]

I don't see how asking guests what they want the night before implies that the breakfast will not be freshly cooked. We ask guests to complete a form the night before but cook everything freshly for each guest - we are a small B&B so the forms give us something to aim for.

We also say that they guests are welcome to change their minds in the morning.

We too are highly regarded on Tripadvisor and the guests rave about the breakfasts.

Having said all that I think at some point we will move to cooking breakfasts to order but the guests will end up waiting longer and in my opinion, fried sausage and hash browns will always be second best to oven baked ones.