Combination Ovens Explained

Combi Ovens enjoyed and explained…..

Having recently been to a demonstration on the many benefits of commercial combi ovens I can truly say that seeing (and eating) is believing!

I had the good fortune to sign up to a Rational Combination Ovens demo a few months ago in order to be able to extol the benefits of these ovens to my clients. I’ve got to say that having worked in the catering industry myself I was a bit sceptical. When my boss told me were going to see and taste such delights as full English breakfast, perfectly cooked steak and chicken in breadcrumbs all cooked from scratch within a couple of hours my cynicism amplified.

However, I have against all odds, become a complete convert to the benefits and I can fully understand how these professional ovens offer so many time and budgetry benefits. These benefits apply to all catering businesses from small chef owner establishments to large catering companies that require perfect results each and every dish.

As we all know the smaller hospitality business faces many challenges from the perspective of creating quality menus on time and on budget to balancing wastage and employee costs. It seems an almost impossible remit and yet it can be done. Initial outlay for this type of commercial oven may seem quite high but once you see the results that can be achieved it seems a small price to pay. Wastage is reduced because you can cook more efficiently, for instance cooking joints of meat for a carvery lunch can be completed whilst the chef is away from the kitchen. Pre- program the cooking and return to the kitchen to meats ready to serve when you need them. Because of the humidity inside the oven the meat will be succulent with no shrinkage and cooked to your exacting standards.

Any business owner can save time and money by regenerating pre-prepared plated meals as and when ordered by dining guests. Don’t be put off by the words regenerated food, as I initially was. This is no plastic tasting congealed meal on a greasy plate it was a gourmet dish. Indeed most events or wedding caterers would benefit from such a cooking machine. Food prep can be done quickly and easily at a time to suit the business and then time sensitive meals consistently served to table by a limited number of front of house and kitchen staff onsite.

Basically these combination ovens offer a versatile cooking machine, which can produce food that is traditionally fried, baked, grilled, steamed, roasted or microwaved. The speed and delicacy with which they produce dishes for diners has to be seen to be believed. I had melt in the mouth pan fried salmon, al dente carrots and green beans full of vibrancy, colour and taste all created quickly and effortlessly with one cooking machine. These space saving combi ovens can replace many items of traditional catering kitchen equipment but still produce dishes with more elegance and flavour than a lot of caterers at present.

So do these machines take over the need for a chef? Not necessarily, the chef still plays an important part in the cooking process from inventive menu creation to final presentation. What these combi ovens do is take over the time consuming laborious tasks and free up the chef to ensure quality and freshness are maintained, whilst lowering wastage and lost staffing hours.

It’s true to say combination ovens offer a multi cooking piece of equipment for any catering business but their usefulness also extends to benefits within other areas of business, too.  Why not contact Cater For to see the benefits for yourself with a live cooking demonstration?