OVENS & MICROWAVES FEATURE
OOH MAY 2020
Please attributes any quotes to Kris Brearley,
Sales Director, R H Hall
What types of
oven and microwaves are available?
There are many choices
available on the equipment market for ovens and the unit chosen often comes
down to personal preference as well as space and budget restrictions. Whatever
the preference, it has to be a versatile and flexible workhorse able to make
light work of the most demanding dishes and be able to respond to the on-going
changing demands that come with any professional commercial kitchen. Most
operations want to offer a varied and attractive food offering and so without a
doubt an oven that can ‘multi task’ in response to that will be a good
investment.
To help make the right choice, caterers must
be clear on the intended use: the volume of throughput; the types of
dishes/menu available; variations in service time; staffing skills and find out
about the latest features and operational functions before they invest.
Options range from large combination
steamers, through bake off ovens and combination microwaves, to simple but
essential microwave only.
Microwaves today are split into 2 main
categories – standard microwave only, which are perfect for reheating a wide
range of foods – and combination microwaves, which offer huge versatility for
cooking a wider range of products, with the speed of microwave cooking.
First and foremost you
should look at choosing from a recognised brand – the major manufacturers are
often the most innovative and have developed machines with intelligent features
that are time/labour saving and energy efficient too. So, choose a leading
brand with an established reputation – don’t be tempted to go down the cheap
import route.
To
choose the right kind of equipment, operators should look at their menu and
decide what tasks the oven should undertake. If to be used mainly for the
simple reheat and defrosting of foods then a straight Commercial microwave will
suffice. However, if you wish to reheat and cook food products then a
convection oven or combination microwave oven is well advised. Items such as
pastry will become soggy if reheated in an ordinary microwave whereas using a
combination microwave the crisp, golden brown and conventional finished result
will be achieved in microwave time! It is very important to choose the correct
microwave oven wattage. You need to choose an oven with sufficient power, but
just as importantly, do not over specify. If too low, you can be frustrated by
delays, and if too high, it will be difficult to judge the timing of small
portions. Whilst it is common for caterers to choose speed (the higher the
output the faster reheat times), it is also very important to understand that
for some food products too much speed will destroy smaller portions of food or
the delicate and sugary types of products.
Modern microwaves will
typically operate from an energy efficient 3kW plug in supply, however some
combination microwaves can require a much higher, hard wired power supply. The
Maestrowave Combi Chef 7 offers all the benefits and versatility of a
combination microwave, but operates from a single 3kW supply. The new Sharp
R7500M Inverter Microwave has also been designed with energy efficiency in
mind, with inverter technology providing savings on traditional microwave
technology and other enhancements such as LED lighting.
What features
are most useful?
Built in features to look
for that save time and energy include: Programmable models – useful to reduce
errors and wastage. Variable power – ideal for denser food products. Double or
Triple quantity facility for multi portion cooking.
The Maestrowave Combi Chef
7 has many features to offer including the latest Menu Creator 2.0™ software
package, which allows you to ‘create your own menu’ and programme up to 99
menus using any method of oven, microwave, grill or combination and with or
without the turbo fan! This oven is the most flexible, efficient and easy to
use oven yet and will help you produce the best results ever, in super quick
time – it’s really an oven that can do it all and produce consistent results
time after time. Fitting into a skilled or non-skilled kitchen with complete
ease, this piece of equipment is very easy to operate with sophisticated
results being possible within both operations. The model sits on a counter and
operates from a single 13 amp supply. We have produced a brand new video
showing all the features and benefits of combi cooking using the latest and
innovative Maestrowave Combi Chef 7. Simply log on to www.rhhall.com and follow
the links from the home page.
Understanding is still the
key to success with any cooking. To maximise usage of a microwave or oven
effectively, I think it is paramount that all caterers are educated as to the
full potential of their unit. By fully understanding a microwave and getting
the right techniques for each type of food, succulent meat, poultry and fish
together with perfectly cooked vegetables that retain taste, texture and
nutritive value are all possible. Many of the techniques used in microwave
cooking are the same as used in conventional cooking, but with a few minor
adjustments. There is a great deal of diversity of dishes that can be prepared
quickly and easily from fresh ingredients. We recommend that the correct
training of staff on how to use and look after the equipment in the first instance
will definitely help the life span of any equipment. In addition, simple
regular low cost maintenance and cleaning will keep it in peak health and
condition. At RH Hall we train our distributors to be able to offer the best
advice and training to the end user. Such advice as to when and how to clean
the oven, service interval recommendations and the best use of the oven are
just part of the training given to customers. We also have an extensive
facility at our HQ fitted out with all the very latest equipment so clients and
distributors can see and operate a number of microwaves in addition to a very
wide range of kitchen equipment.
www.rhhall.com www.maestrowave.com www.microwaveassociation.org.uk
FOR PRESS INFORMATION CONTACT: Emma Smith emma.smith@rhhall.com 01296 663400
R H Hall, Hallco
House, Beacon Court, Pitstone Green Business Park, Pitstone, Beds, LU7 9GY
T: 01296 663400 F: 01296 663401 E:
sales@rhhall.com W: www.rhhall.com
