IS THERE NO END TO WHAT THEY CAN DO?

Moffat's Regeneration Ovens do the cooking in Cardiff School

New school building programmes are a great opportunity to get in the latest equipment and get things just right - especially in the kitchen. When the new Ysgol Y Berllan Deg Primary School at Llanedeyrn, Cardiff was built three years ago the kitchens were fitted with two Moffat CR 20 Regeneration Ovens with a view to heat up ready-cooked dishes delivered from the education authority’s centralised kitchen.

But almost as soon as the school opened there was a switch back to the traditional approach to school dinners where food is prepared and freshly cooked in the school’s own kitchen. Luckily Moffat’s regen ovens can also be used to cook food as well as regenerate prepared dishes.

Their multi-fan technology and turbo heat generator provides super fast heat up times and even temperatures throughout the oven. In line with procurement guidelines the Moffat ovens have been designed for energy efficiency. The oven cabinets are fully insulated and the double-skinned insulated doors are fitted with a slam catch locking handle.

At Ysgol Y Berllan Deg Primary School Amanda Morgan, the school cook, began to experiment cooking the new menu with her regen ovens and turned to Moffat for some practical advice.

"We fully support the move to better school dinners," says Moffat’s Sales Director Gary Allen. "And in this school in Cardiff were only too pleased to show Amanda how to get the best use out of her regen ovens. Not too many people realise how excellent they are at conventional cooking."

Moffat visited the school and ran through how to adjust the temperature, test out cooking times and suggest specific menu options. Amanda soon found that the regen ovens were every bit as good at cooking food from scratch as they were at regenerating food.

The move away from fried food towards baked items means the ovens are in constant use.
Not only for savouries such as lasagne, potato products, chicken breasts and fish, but for desserts too. "The ovens are absolutely great for my favourite homemade biscuits," Amanda says. "They’re so quick. We can mix up a huge batch of cookie dough and get 120 biscuits in the oven in one go. And because the temperature is the same throughout the cabinet there’s no need to switch the trays around."

The even temperature distribution throughout the cabinet is a major plus factor for school catering. All that’s needed is to load up the shelves, set the timer, take the dishes out and serve. Up to 20 trays of food are ready at the same time – no need to switch the trays around during cooking.

"Our kids are fussy," says Amanda. "So we’ve got to get things cooked just right. The potato products we do in the ovens are just perfect. Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle – it couldn’t be better."

The regen ovens have proved to be an excellent investment at Ysgol Y Berllan Deg Primary School where preparation time is limited and everything has to be ready for two servings – one at 11.45am and 12.15pm – 130-140 meals per day. Of course if the mealtime is delayed for any reason then the ovens can hold the food at the correct temperature without it drying out or overcooking.

And, if thinking changes on food preparation techniques and switches back to the cook-chill model then the regen ovens are all ready to go. Either way everyone’s a winner. The education authority is happy – they have the flexibility to change without committing any extra budget, the cook is happy knowing the Regen Ovens can do the job and the children are getting good food cooked just the way they like it!

E & R Moffat is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of quality foodservice equipment, designing and manufacturing in-house. Based in Bonnybridge, Scotland, the company manufactures standard and bespoke servery, regeneration and storage equipment with a full nationwide after-sales engineering team. E & R Moffat is accredited to ISO 9001:2000 and many of the products have gas approvals and are EMC tested. For more information on E & R Moffat visit the website on www.ermoffat.co.uk

Posted by Fiona Morrison on Fri 17 Nov 2006