Healthy cooking in hospitals at the touch of a button

Rational’s SelfCooking Center makes healthy cooking quick and easy
 
Recently there have been many initiatives from healthcare management bodies for hospitals to offer healthy options for both patients and staff alike. This puts pressure on the catering department to deliver more nutritionally balanced meals without incurring extra cost or lengthening and complicating the overall preparation and cooking time.

Rational’s SelfCooking Center has been developed not only to simplify the cooking procedure, but also to cook items more healthily and with less wastage than conventional cooking appliances. For example, at the touch of a button, the SelfCooking Center cooks vegetables in an ideal ‘climate’, with exactly the right combination of wet and dry heat, to retain vital vitamins and nutrients as well as full flavour and colour.

With meats, the SelfCooking Center calculates the optimum energy input needed to cook the meat perfectly. Its carefully controlled cooking processes such as ‘Gentle cooking’ or ‘Gentle roasting’ allow the meat to retain its food value and stay extremely succulent with up to 22 per cent less shrinkage.

With the SelfCooking Center totally fat-free grilling is possible. Specially designed accessories have a non-stick coating so that fat is no longer needed to prevent sticking. Even foods that nutritionists frown on, such as deep-fried products, can be included on a healthy menu through the use of Rational technology. For example, French fries cooked in the SelfCooking Center contain up to 36% fewer calories and up to 80% less fat than conventional chips from a deep-fat fryer.

The simplicity and speed of operation of the SelfCooking Center means that it frees up staff in the kitchen for other duties such as preparation and finishing. The chef/manager will also have more time to plan weekly menus and nutritional goals.

Another huge time-saving feature of the SelfCooking Center is its CareControl program, which continuously monitors the cooking process and tells the kitchen staff exactly when it needs cleaning. At that point all they need to do is pop in the Special CareControl tabs and start the fully automatic cleaning program.