Lincat Opus SelfCooking Center makes healthy eating a possibility
North Somercotes Primary School in North Lincolnshire has overcome what had appeared to be the insurmountable obstacle of having insufficient space to build a kitchen, and begun to produce healthy school meals on-site, thanks to Lincat’s Opus SelfCooking Center.
The ability of the 10-grid combi steamer to
do the job of several different pieces of cooking equipment made it the
ideal choice for the school’s new kitchen, fitted in a former store
cupboard measuring just 4.5m x 2.5m.
The school’s head teacher Mark Redmile and key colleagues were introduced to the Opus Self Cooking Center by catering equipment dealer CRS, who invited them to attend a live cooking workshop at the Lincat factory. They were impressed by its push button technology, which enables the user to simply select the food and how they want it cooked, with the combi doing the rest. And because it’s perfect for roasting, baking, poaching, grilling or pan frying, it was also clear that if they invested in an Opus Self CookingCenter they would need very little else.
In the event they selected a Lincat OSC101 ten grid SelfCooking Center, together with an electric boiling top from Lincat’s Opus 700 range. The only other items of equipment in the compact kitchen are: a mixer, a vegetable peeler, dishwasher and mobile serving unit.
Sharon Wilkinson, who had never used a combi steamer before, was appointed as Cook in Charge during the summer. However she didn’t have to struggle alone. Lincat’s Development Chef, Paul Hickman, together with his team of Application Chefs, is responsible for supporting new Lincat combi users wherever they are. They provide a day’s training free of charge with every new Lincat Self Cooking Center model. An on-site session was therefore arranged for Sharon, which went perfectly!
"Paul was very good, he came and showed me just how easy it was to use. Within half a day, I really began to understand how to make the combi work for me. Paul helped me to produce everything I needed in the combi. I realised that I didn’t have to change or limit what I do, just think about it a little differently. Once I had grasped the essential principles, I was able to start developing ways of doing things for myself. The benefits are enormous in terms of speed, flexibility and the quality of the end result – there’s no drying up and practically no shrinkage. I genuinely wouldn’t have believed that a single piece of equipment could do so many things well, and be so simple to operate."
Sharon quickly got to grips with the food planning and service. With just one assistant, Amanda Porter, she now caters for up to 120 children on a daily basis. All of the food is freshly prepared on site, close to time, and held for a short period in heated cabinets prior to service. Everything is eaten, or disposed of, on the day in question. New menus are devised at the beginning of each term, for the whole of the period. Each day the children have a choice of a main meal with a vegetarian option and desert, including a variety of fresh fruit. Sharon is responsible for both food production and stock control. Her carefully honed daily production process follows a strict routine. First the meat is cooked, then the puddings, followed by baking, sauce production and last, but not least, the vegetables. Sharon is thrilled with the way things have gone:
"I’ve really grown to love my Lincat combi! I wouldn’t choose to go back to cooking with a traditional oven and hob. Everything goes through the combi, including breaded products, biscuits and sponges. I can even ‘boil’ or, to be precise, steam eggs and vegetables, and make sauces and custard! You can grill, roast, bake or steam in a combi, getting everything done on time and to a high standard. It’s amazing that the flavours don’t interfere – even with fish! Better still it cleans itself, coming up like a brand new machine when you’re finished!"
There is no requirement for the children to take a school meal each day, but the overall take-up rate is over 50% and Sharon is confident that figure will continue to rise:
"The kids love the healthy foods and have really taken to them. Hopefully, with further developments to the menu offering, we can really build on that."
Lincat’s Development Chef, Paul Hickman, concluded:
"In the space available the SelfCooking Center was definitely the best option for the school. In fact I would go so far as to say that it is really the only way that they could produce such excellent food for 120 children, day in day out, in such a compact space. Congratulations to everyone. We wish them every success with the development of their healthy eating programme."
In total there are twelve Opus SelfCooking Centers to choose from, ranging in price from the OSC61 (6 x 1/1 GN) electric model priced at £6,620 to the OSC202 G (20 x 2/1 GN) gas version at £24,999.
Lincat Ltd is part of the Lincat Group of companies. Sister companies IMC Ltd and Britannia Kitchen Ventilation Ltd operate in the commercial catering equipment sector. Lincat Group company Mercury Appliances Ltd designs and manufactures domestic cooking appliances.
For further information please contact:
Picture caption: Left to right: Lincat’s Paul Hickman with Sharon Wilkinson (Cook in Charge)
Sales information:
Nick McDonald
Marketing and Export Director
Lincat Limited
Tel: 01522-875500
Fax: 01522-875530
Email: nick.mcdonald@lincat.co.uk
Publication or editorial enquiries:
Julie Leydon
Press Officer for Lincat Limited
Tel: 01482-649343
Fax: 01482-646644
Email: julie@bluestormdesign.co.uk