08 February 2010
Lincat Opus Combi Steamers revolutionise cooking at Tollbar College, Grimsby
With over 2000 pupils to provide for on a daily basis, caterers at Tollbar Business and Enterprise College, in Grimsby, were looking for something special when it came to replacing their ovens.
Their decision to invest in Lincat Opus SelfCooking Centers has revolutionised their kitchen and allowed them to branch out into banquets and conferences at the college’s Business Centre.
Tollbar’s Catering Manager, Mandy Davidson, was introduced to the Opus SelfCooking Center by Lincat catering equipment dealer CRS, who invited her to attend a live cooking workshop at the Lincat factory prior to purchasing any equipment.
She was impressed by the SelfCooking Centers’ technology, which enables the user simply to select the food and how they want it cooked, with the SelfCooking Center taking care of the rest. Perfect for roasting, baking, poaching, grilling or pan frying, it was clear that it would meet all of the school’s requirements. In would also enable them to offer catering support to the school’s newly emerging conference business.
Mandy said:
“When CRS invited me along to the hands on workshop I had no idea what even a basic combi-steamer could do. I quickly discovered that you don’t have to be an expert cook to get the most out of a Lincat Opus SelfCooking Centre. You can even cook different items at the same time, since each rack is equipped with an individual timer.”
She was also attracted to the SelfCooking Center’s ability to do the job of several different pieces of cooking equipment and clean itself at the end of the shift!
“I could see immediately that it would allow us to cook a wide range of foods, which would come out to the same high standard every time. The workshop was very valuable and certainly influenced our decision to buy. I was so impressed that we initially purchased a 20-grid and three 10-grid models followed later by the 40-grid machine.
As a result the kitchen is now equipped with five Opus SelfCooking Centers and an Opus 700 boiling top.
Mandy explains…
“We can produce everything we need using just our combis and a boiling top. The combis are so versatile and enable us to cook in advance. We can therefore set our meat to cook overnight and it will be ready the following day, succulent and perfectly cooked. This morning I cooked 65 puddings, and every single one was fantastic. The consistency is a major benefit.”
She added…
“They have also enabled us to extend our catering service, so that now we can provide meals for special events and even for banquets in our newly-refurbished function suite. We could not have done so without the SelfCooking Centers. We know that our food will always be of a consistently high-standard which is enabling us to build on our reputation. They really do take the stress out of mass catering and they ensure that our standard of food is consistently high, no matter who is cooking it. We cannot sing Lincat’s praises highly enough for providing us with such dynamic equipment.”
Mandy also appreciates the fact that Lincat SelfCooking Centers clean themselves. The four 10-grid models are equipped with CleanJet, whilst the new 40-grid model is equipped with CareControl. This is a new system, which eliminates the need for costly separate water softeners and manages its own cleaning and care processes. It is designed to ensure that Opus SelfCooking Centers are maintained, at all times, in perfect operational condition.
“Our first combis are now two years old and they still look brand new,” said Mandy.
Lincat’s Development Chef, Paul Hickman, together with his team of Application Chefs, is responsible for supporting new Lincat SelfCooking Center users wherever they are. They provide an onsite training session free of charge with every new Lincat SelfCooking Center. Paul said:
“It’s a pleasure to be able to work one to one with new customers to ensure that they are able to make the most of their new investment as quickly as possible. Our training is hands on and covers every aspect of combi cooking, HACCP retrieval, cleaning and maintenance. We also help customers to recreate their favourite dishes in the SelfCooking Center. The resulting cooking processes can then be stored in the combi’s memory in order that they can be recreated, to the same high quality, time after time.”
Lincat’s range of Opus Combi Steamers utilises the very latest advances in combi steaming technology to bring a host of powerful benefits into the busy commercial kitchen. There are 12 Opus SelfCooking Centers in the range, with a choice of gas or electric models. Each Opus Combi Steamer is supplied with the added benefit of a full two-year on site parts and labour warranty.