Posted on Wednesday, 21ˢᵗ August, 2024
Aged care facilities are installing ‘smart’ combi ovens in their kitchens in increasing numbers. However, many chefs utilise only the limited functionality of these modern cooking tools without realising they can do so much more than a standard oven.
We spoke to RATIONAL Australia about what is possible with their RATIONAL iCombi Pro; a commercial kitchen combi oven like no other.
RATIONAL describes this innovative oven as applying the experience of more than 1,000 chefs and more than 1 million cooking systems. The iCombi Pro does it all while only taking up around 1 square metre of floor space.
According to RATIONAL, you can prepare many dishes using an iCombi Pro and get perfectly consistent results with the touch of a button. The technology allows you to bake, roast, steam, blanch, poach and much more, all in a single unit.
RATIONAL provides training and support to hundreds of aged care chefs and kitchen staff throughout Victoria, particularly in regional areas.
Here are their top 4 tips for maximising the potential of your kitchen with an iCombi Pro.
"The cooking intelligence of the iCombi Pro allows the unit to learn your preferences and cooking habits and then adjust its controls automatically to meet your needs. You won’t need to do any further checking or monitoring. What’s more, these settings can be saved to your unit so the same quality of food is produced each time, regardless of who is operating the unit."
The iCombi Pro is purpose-built for busy kitchens needing to prepare high volumes with consistent quality, texture and taste. As a result, it can solve 90% of the challenges experienced by aged care chefs, including training new team members to cook large volumes of food.
The iCombi Pro cooks almost every kind of food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can cook a tray of fried eggs for breakfast, croissants, braised beef, creamy porridge, pasta or a simple toasted sandwich, all in a single unit.
Working against the clock, chefs rarely have time to stand stirring a pot of porridge or making labour-intensive dishes like slow-cooked casseroles consistently. However, these dishes are everyday favourites residents hope to see on the menu.
Available in a range of sizes, the iCombi Pro is powerful enough to work 24/7. It can cook overnight without supervision and clean itself. It also helps reduce OH&S risks in the kitchen by eliminating common lifting hazards, such as lifting heavy pots of water.
Cooking with an iCombi Pro often gets the tick of approval from dieticians. Fish and chips are a great example. Traditionally, you would cook this in a deep fryer using high quantities of oil. There is very little oil required to create the same result in the iCombi Pro. Similarly, vegetables can be steamed to a soft texture without losing the nutritional benefits.
Many dishes can be enhanced with calcium and protein without changing the end result. Even when it comes to scrambled eggs, the oven will intuitively adjust to deliver creamy, soft eggs. Adjusting cooking times for texture-modified diets is also easy to do with the unit.
With iCombi Pro, you can expect consistent colour, texture and evenness across all racks.
Great food is essential for aged care residents, and Australian aged care kitchen staff are motivated to deliver delicious, healthy meals. Combi ovens such as the iCombi Pro are now enabling this and making it easier than ever to serve quality meals with far less stress.
To help ensure the iCombi Pro is used to its maximum potential, Academy RATIONAL events offer face-to-face workshops and online forums.
Visit ConnectedCooking to access online resources with step-by-step guides and recipes for all your cooking needs.
To learn more about the iCombi Pro or Academy RATIONAL, call 1800 035 327.
Disclaimer: The content of this article is created for inspiration purposes only. It is not intended as clinical, medical or nutritional advice.
