Hotel kitchens: From computers to combi ovens

By Marni Andrews

After more than 35 years, the International Centre in Toronto recently moved away from contract foodservice and is now running its own operation with a full service food and beverage team and a new 7,800 sq. ft. state-of-the-art kitchen. Trevor Lui, director of food and beverage, says the equipment in the new kitchen is the highest end, most advanced cooking, chilling, storing and serving equipment on the market.

“It’s technologically sound equipment. The ovens are essentially computers,” says Lui.

Today’s advanced hotel kitchen has a new piece of equipment that chefs may not have recognized a decade ago: the computer. In fact, a chef can now conceivably change the cook settings for an oven from a remote location, even from another city. To deal with the computerized data, The North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) designed a protocol to allow different pieces of equipment to talk to each other using the same “language.” It allows them to interface with the Internet, for example, and allows remote monitoring.

According to Ken Beasley, vicepresident, Key Food Equipment Services, a company that repairs commercial food equipment in BC and Northern Alberta, the issue thus far with NAFEM protocol has been whether the market was prepared to pay for this feature or not.

“Not much has happened in the market since [NAFEM was] made available,” says Beasley. “Service companies like us will probably have to take the leadership eventually in that regard.”

At the International Centre, Lui says that many elements of the kitchen are enabled with communication devices that work either remotely or through wireless technology.

“We can log on anywhere in the world to see how our ovens/chillers/ holding units are operating with a full log of unit activity. Freezing/ fridge units are also equipped with a temperature sensitive communicative device to alert us as to when there is any extreme drop or rise in temperature,” he explains.

J.G. Philippe Trepanier, corporate chef and regional sales manager for Rational, says that with the trend toward greater recording of process in the kitchen and fewer employees with limited training in foodservice production and service, computerized systems can increase consistency and quality while addressing safety concerns.

Combi ovens

Roary MacPherson, executive chef, The Fairmont Newfoundland, has heard many stories of chefs praising sophisticated, computerized equipment one day only to “wish they had the old stuff back the next because it was easier to use.”

That being said, he has high praise for combi ovens, saying “they are great. They allow for better quality product, better yield so the cost is better and also better productivity from staff as it takes less manpower to produce more food.”

The combi oven basically simplifies the cooking process, which with ongoing labour supply issues, is popular. While combi ovens are already used extensively with even small operators in Europe, that trend is just now reaching Canada.

Claudio Baldinelli, national sales manager, Alto-Shaam Canada, says that combi ovens are absolutely the company’s biggest growth line. The number one reason for the growth, he says, is they are at least 25 to 50 per cent faster than other traditional ovens, plus they do a much better job of retaining “all the good stuff in food and at the same time produce it quickly.” Alto-Shaam uses a system called Eco-Smart to produce steam in the combi oven.

“It reduces water consumption by up to 70 per cent and energy use by up to 50 per cent vs. our leading competitors,” says Baldinelli. “The flexibility these units offer is also extraordinary. The unit can be used as a steamer, convection oven, a combo of both or as a vehicle for properly retherming chilled foods.”

At the International Centre, the kitchen features the newest Alto Shaam combi ovens married with the blast chilling unit, holding carts and transporting equipment.

“These ovens allow us to cook in various methods at high rates of heat, steam and time, bulk or plated. Think the science of hospital bulk cooking merged with high end restaurant plating methods with no compromise on taste, texture or colour,” says Lui.

Trepanier of Rational says that many people feel that combi ovens are a trend or a fad, however, Rational’s combi oven, the SCC Self Cooking Centre, specifically addresses many industry concerns such as smaller footprints, using less energy and water, higher yield, flexibility and ease of use.

The Delta Guelph and Delta Toronto East properties use the Rational steam and convection oven, according to Margaux Lee, spokesperson for Delta Hotels. As she explains it, the equipment allows an operator to put salmon, egg and a potato in a pan and have each cooked to its individual temperature at the same time.

“The Rational oven is fairly pricey at $40,000 but it clearly contributes to a more efficient kitchen,” says Lee.

In areas such as recipe sourcing, the computer offers an advantage as well. MacPherson explains that a computer “puts the world at your fingertips.” He does caution, however, to try an Internet-sourced recipe first before featuring it on a menu.

Carl Borchgrevink, former chef and associate professor with the School of Hospitality Business for Michigan State University, says that technology is one of the issues of most importance to hoteliers. He adds that multi-use equipment such as combi ovens is here to stay and is a big help with efficiency due to the smaller footprint equipment now available.

Certainly one of the biggest trends in hospitality is the ongoing difficulty with labour. Baldinelli of Alto-Shaam says that their Rack Management System simplifies menu preparation by allowing preparation of food outside peak production periods. Menu items can be rolled into the Combitherm oven, cooked and then moved to a QuickChiller, where they can be refrigerated for up to five days. When combined with a CombiMate for extended hot holding ability, Baldinelli says many lodging customers have reported a decrease of up to 50 per cent in support staff needed for events.

The high cost of manpower is the main concern for hotel kitchens says Thomas Green, corporate chef for the Diamond Group International, which imports stainless steel equipment and products from Germany, Italy, Spain and China. And it is encouraging a trend to use catering companies for foodservice purposes, he adds.

“I don’t think there is a chef who would consider taking on a job where there is no combi oven. They are established as staples in the kitchen,” he says.

However, Green has concerns about the increasing use of technology in kitchens, chiefly the cost. He says that when working with companies setting up operations he is surprised to see how employees and also management do not seem to be up to date and ready to face the challenges that high tech provides.

“We must prepare new employees and retrain experienced staff with the use of new equipment. Modern products, software installations and especially a modern attitude are of the highest priority,” says Green.

Environmentally responsible kitchens

Fairmont Hotels has taken steps toward providing environmentally responsible kitchens in terms of food at their hotels. Going beyond simply purchasing sustainable food items, these efforts include recycling, reusing and donating to make an impact that lessens the brand’s footprint on the environment.

For example, 20 per cent of all vegetables used in The Fairmont Hotel Vancouver are certified organic with the remainder responsibly grown or harvested locally wherever possible. The Fairmont Chicago uses 200 pounds of organic ingredients weekly, and three Fairmont hotels in BC, the Waterfront, the Vancouver Airport and the Empress were the first hotels to join the Ocean Wise program, which promotes the use of sustainable seafood.

MacPherson of The Fairmont Newfoundland says one of the biggest trends in kitchens is trying to improve on environmental impact effects. He says that at his property, staff try their best to offer product that is both sustainable and local to help reduce their carbon footprint.

Beyond sustainable food choices, many Fairmont properties donate leftover food to shelters and food distribution programs. Composting, too, makes a real impact on reducing kitchen waste. Every day, The Fairmont Vancouver Airport composts more than 200 pounds of biodegradable waste while The Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston sends more than 14 tons of food waste out for composting every month.

Lui of the International Centre says that the new kitchen is beginning an organic waste program that incorporates a new dish room waste collector that can reduce approximately 65 to 70 per cent of fluid to create true compost waste.

At this year’s National Restaurant Association (NRA) show in Chicago at the end of May, a record number of 25 recipients of the Kitchen Innovations Award from the NRA will display their products, which focus on solutions to issues of utility costs, labour, quality and efficiency.

For instance, the Eco-Tech Plus Steamer by Market Forge Industries promises 15 gallons of water per hour or less operation, which is about 20 per cent of most other steamers in its class, according to Market Forge. The unit creates steam on demand and as demand decreases the burners automatically cycle off to conserve gas and water.

San Jamar’s wall-mounted Saf-T-Wash Food Sanitizer diverts water from the sink tap and charges it with ozone before its dispensed through the aerator for produce cleaning. The ozone-charged water is 300 times more powerful than bleach at killing pathogens on produce, according to the manufacturer. Blakeslee Foodservice Equipment offers a variety of kitchen equipment including dishwashers to the hotel market. Their most popular product is a single-rack washing unit, the D8B, that is suitable for a 100- to 200-seat restaurant. The unit recirculates wash water, using it again and again with fresh water added only with the clean rinse cycle. The machine is completely emptied only three times per day under normal use, according to spokesperson Sue White. Thus, a hotelier saves on energy, water and detergent.

Hobart’s C-line of warewashers reduces by over 50 per cent the volume of water used in previous models through the use of Hobart’s exclusive Opti-rinse technology, says Phil Beauvais, sales development manager at Hobart Food Equipment Group Canada. Thirty-five models of Hobart warewashers are currently listed on the Energy Star website.

George Schmidt, Canada sales manager for PanSaver Ovenable Pan Liners, says that the PanSaver eliminates “direct food-to-hot-metal contact” and enables food to maintain an average holding temperature that is 20 degrees F warmer. Also, food will hold as much as three times longer. Schmidt claims that macaroni and cheese pans can be washed 675 per cent faster when PanSaver is used compared to pans that are not lined.

Kitchen space is also a problem for hotel owners, says Mickey Cherevaty, vice-president, Champion Moyer Diebel, which manufactures dishwashers and glasswashers for the lodging market. The constant change of equipment to keep up with menu changes and new food trends keeps owners spending money all year long, he says. He recommends combi ovens for their space saving. He also recommends the use of Energy Star rated equipment to save up to 55 per cent of utility costs.

According to Bob Vroom, director of engineering with Champion Industries in the U.S. and Canada, “a qualified Energy Star dishwasher can save a business owner an average of $850 annually in energy costs plus save 236,000 litres of water annually.”

Pre-proofed foods

Growth in pre-proofed foods is another area of innovation for kitchens. Borchgrevink of Michigan State says that while pre-proofed, parbaked foods have been around for some time, there is a continual increase in variety and quality.

“Just as you are less likely to see highly trained chefs in many restaurants [as time goes on], skilled bakers will be even less common,” he says.

Beauvais of Hobart says that computerization now allows preprogramming for oven startup and proofer so that a baker can arrive at work and immediately place the proofed product into the oven, which reduces labour costs and increases productivity.