COMBINATION COOKING
July 9, 2013The recent purchase of a Cleveland Convotherm oven allows the cooking staff at Helen Hayes Hospital to take advantage of the latest in combination cooking technology. Combination cooking is a method that employs a combination oven. A combination oven allows the cook to prepare food by steam mode, dry roasting mode or a combination of the two modes.
In addition to the traditional steam, dry roast and combination modes, the Convotherm has a “Crisp and Tasty” feature. This feature allows the cooks to prepare traditionally fried foods without the use of oils or fat. This allows patients on certain therapeutically modified diets to enjoy foods that they may not have been able to when prepared by traditional methods.
The Convotherm comes with eighty pre-programmed recipes that can be used as programmed or edited to meet the Dietary Department’s specific standards. The cooking staff can program an additional two hundred fifty recipes based on the Department’s patient menu cycles. This feature ensures that recipes are always prepared according to standards, regardless of who is preparing them.
The final step in cooking is the clean up. Much to the delight of the cooking staff, the Convotherm is equipped with a self-cleaning system. This system is so efficient that at the end of every day, the Convotherm looks as bright and clean as the day it was installed!
Here in the Dietary Department at HHH, our goal is to provide the very best tasting food, of the highest quality, to all of our patients, in accordance with their dietary needs. This new oven helps us do just that.
-Peg Perry
Nutrition Services Administrator
