Thursday 9 December 2010

Hog Roast - Easy Peasy - Great For Events And Parties

Hog Roasts are becoming more and more popular for catering to large groups, whether professionally or with family and friends. These Hog roasting machines are great for parties, functions,weddings and outdoor catering in general. They are rapidly becoming as fashionable as BBQ's for outdoor entertaining. The theatre and drama of preparing a whole cooked pig in front of guests is very appealing, and so too is the ease of doing so for the hosts.

Always look out for hog roasts that are CE marked to ensure it has been tested and is up to standard for catering. Another thing to take into account is how easily you can turn the spit itself. The hog roast machines we provide are CE marked and can be turned by one person. Another great feature is the ability to use the spit roast as a BBQ,too. This offers great versatility to your catering requirements, and as it's LPG gas fed the spit roast can be used anywhere. 


The cooked meat is visible from all sides so enhancing the experience for guests who are dining with you. Why not try an event with a difference? Not many people can resist the smell of the cooked meat, the look of crispy crackling or the distinctive flame roasted taste. Impress your guests, whether for a family get together, corporate hospitality event or a commercial catering outlet.


Cook large joints of Lamb,beef, pork or several chickens at the same time in the oven area of the machine and then raise the spit to enable guests to appreciate the glory of the cooked meats.Give a professional finish to any outdoor occasion add WOW to your event. Really impress your guests with something different at your catering event. 



And whilst you're thinking of having a party or big celebration with family and friends invest in some patio furniture to make everything complete.



Tuesday 30 November 2010

Sous Vide - Widely Used Cooking Method - Almost Addictive

Sous Vide - Under Vacuum - from the French translation is actually a method of cooking, which is becoming commonly popular in many top notch restaurants. Indeed it is a favourite of the gourmet chefs such as Heston Blumenthal and Paul Bocouse. Dishes are cooked within vacuum sealed bags in  waterbaths - a piece of cooking machinery filled with water and kept at the desired temperature. This may take up to 72 hours for certain cuts of meat but may take only minutes for more delicate and simple dishes such as fish or chicken portions.

Indeed this method has even been used for feeding 400 evacuees of the Katrina hurricane. In a little over sixty minutes chefs had served up a five star menu of nine extravagant courses and maintained this for several days! - thanks to the use of a water bath system of cooking.

By using lower temperatures in the water bath chefs can maintain the veracity of the dishes, often enhancing the tastes and textures of the ingredients, themselves. Sous Vide machines are also used in food production areas and can be used for creating mains and desserts in the same bath. many chefs report that once they know how to use these cooking machines they use them everyday and the usage becomes quite addictive.


These simple but effective water baths do take some practice and experimenting with. There are training courses available for wannabe chefs and professionals to learn how to make the most of this method of cooking. They offer many advantages such as reduction of wastage, speeding up of operations in the kitchen and fast production from store during quieter periods not to mention creating highly polished finished dishes.


Water baths must be used within a professional kitchen environment so that correct health & safety and HACCP procedures are adhered to in order to remove the risk of food poisoning.

Thursday 21 October 2010

I wanna be a celebrity chef



Fanny Craddock started it all with her cookery shows piloted on TV in 1955. When 3,000 people turned up to see her cookery demonstration in Edinburgh police were called in for crowd control. Such was the pull of the 'celebrity chef'.

Our love affair with celebrity chefs has grown to mammoth proportions from Delia in the 70's to modern characters such as Gordon Ramsey and Nigella. So what is the attraction to these cooks who parade their culinary skills and finished dishes on our TV screens? I think it has to be that no matter how much a novice you are you always feel that you could create a gastronomic delight just by watching how they do it. So just maybe a little bit of magic will rub off on you and your family will be singing your praises each meal.

I think we're also comforted by the fact that every single time the dishes turn out ok. I mean there can't be that much to cooking after all - can there?

Indeed we are so affected by the celebrity chefs on our screens that stores notice a distinct rise in sales of certain products highlighted in the recipes or cookery shows. 

The celebrity chefs all do one thing they take the oooh out of cooking; - am I doing it right? Should it look like that? What can I serve it with? 

So to expand on the celebrity chefs exemplar lets take the oooh out of cooking with cooking machines and catering equipment explained. All the catering equipment you need for cooking at home or within your catering business can be found on this website.

Happy Cooking – Jane J