But between work and the daily circus of family life who has the time to shop, chop and cook these winter warmers?

This winter leave the hard work to Thermomix, the world’s only one-stop-shop kitchen appliance.

Like a personal chef in your kitchen, Thermomix can deliver creamy risotto in a matter of minutes or piping hot soup in even less time.

Thermomix combines over 20 functions in one appliance and has already earned its place in some of the most famous kitchens in the world, including Gordon Ramsay’s Maze in London and El Bulli in Spain.

This feat of German engineering will de-clutter your kitchen rendering your old blender, mixer, grinder, steamer and slow-cooker obsolete.

And with all that extra space you can let your imagination run wild with Thermomix’s cookbooks to suit all tastes and diets.

Thermomix can chop, beat, mix, whip, heat, stir and even weigh. And the best news for busy families is its operation is practically fool proof.

Start making your own fresh sauces and condiments without nasty artificial additives and preservatives.

Make home-made pizza dough in a few minutes or start baking your own bread.

Curry, Goulash, Bolognese, Béchamel, Soft Polenta, Mash, Chilli Mussels, the list is endless. All made by you and Thermomix in minutes.

Put Thermomix to work in your kitchen this winter – leaving you free to actually spend time with your family and friends.

Visit thermomix.com.au to find out more about this revolution in the kitchen.

For more information, interviews or images please contact:

Ivona Gaspar

Magenta

08 9228 4111

0421 876 857

ivona@magenta.net.au

Wastage in the kitchen and environs can eat heavily into your profit figures. In short, much of your expertise and toil can spiral down your aluminum sinkholes if you have not the proper equipment, programs and efficiencies in place.

In next two editions of BISTRO, we put the key aspects of kitchen operations under the rangehood light and offer some possible ways to improve that all-important bottom line.

This issue we look at rationalizing your equipment and its maintenance, lighting, heating and cooling. Also we try to pinpoint the areas where you can improve your staff efficiency. In the next issue of BISTRO we will help you give all aspects of food wastage
the chop.

Some energy-efficiency improvements can be made with little or no investment. Other improvements require a larger initial investment but can pay for themselves quickly. In addition to lowering energy costs, efficiency improvements can enhance the comfort, appearance, and ambience of your restaurant or kitchen. Opening the batting, let us take a look at:

lighting

The use of mirrors throughout your establishment will maximize the effect of your lighting as well as give the illusion of increased space. We suggest a switch to fluorescent lighting wherever possible. Fluorescent lights use a quarter to a third of the energy that standard incandescent lights use and because they do not generate heat like incandescent, for every watt saved in lighting, you can also save a watt on air conditioning.

Using compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) is a helpful hint. If you use dimmable swag lamps at the tables, consider replacing them with dimmable CFLs. This costs more initially, but will last as much as 10 times longer than incandescent lighting and is available in a variety of colours to enhance the look of your table service.

Convert exit lighting to LED (light emitting diode) technology. Replacing your old incandescent exit lights with a low energy LED retrofit kit can save up to 88 per cent on the cost of energy.

Have you thought about installing lower wattage lamps? In areas where it is impractical to use fluorescent lighting, consider re-lamping fixtures with high efficiency halogen lamps that use lower wattage.

Switch to high-pressure sodium or low-wattage metal halide lamps for outdoor lighting.

One of the best ways to lower your energy costs is to turn things off when not in use. Install occupancy sensors in non-essential areas such as walk-in coolers and storerooms, parking area lighting, and timers on other outdoor lighting. Implement an equipment start-up (and shutdown checklist) and ask all employees to follow this routine.

kitchen equipment, and how it is used

Check regularly and identify any equipment that is switched on but not in use and report your findings back to staff. Encourage (train?) staff members not to switch equipment on until itís needed, and switch it’s off immediately after use. Consider pasting up signs showing the equipmentís preheat times. Ensure all equipment’s is insulated to maintain its correct operating conditions and make doubly sure all equipment is adequately ventilated to maintain optimum performance and, of course, safety.

Preventive maintenance should be carried out on a regular basis to ensure your equipment is working to maximum efficiency. Pump and fan applications should incorporate variable speed drives as this can also produce major savings. Speed control is a much more energy-efficient method of regulating flow than throttles, dampers or recirculation systems. When buying replacement equipment, make sure it is the most energy- and water-efficient. Check the whole life- cycle costing, including disposal costs. The purchase price can be as low as 10% of the whole life-cycle cost.

In this age of mod-cons, have you thought of actually air-drying your dishes? Do you need them power-dried at the end of the washing cycle at all times through the day? During slow periods or at the end of the night, leave the dishes to air-dry, therefore saving energy and reducing your operating expenses.

Fully load the dishwasher at all times. It takes as much heated water to wash a partially full dishwasher as it does a fully loaded machine. Install low-flow pre-rinse spray nozzles.

Turn fryers off, or cover and reduce them to idling temperatures during slow periods.

Turn thermostats only as high as necessary to reach frying temperatures. Temperatures ranging from 325°F (163°C) to 350°F (177°C) are ideal in modern high-speed fryers. If temperatures are too high, oil will break down.

Regularly check the temperature of cooking oil with a reliable commercial thermometer to ensure heating elements and thermostat controls work properly. High efficiency frying equipment can deliver extensive energy savings!

Retrofit exhaust hoods with a two-speed blower. When the entire grill/fryer is not being used, you may be able to lower the ventilation rate over the appliance and reduce both make-up air and the energy needed to condition it.

If possible, locate exhaust hoods on walls – wall-mounted exhaust canopies require lower air velocities to do the same job. Lower air velocities mean smaller fan motors and less make-up air to heat or cool.

Install ‘smart’ exhaust hood controls. Most kitchens operate at less than 25 per cent capacity during the day, but the exhaust hood runs at 100 per cent capacity. These controls sense when the exhaust hood needs to be on, based on exhaust air temperatures and smoke loads using a temperature and an optical sensor.

Phew! We realize that’s a fair bit to take on board but we insist we are only here to help you and your bottom line.  Now, let’s examine your establishment’s:

water heating

We checked with the experts who suggested your water heater thermostat should be on the lowest point allowable by your local health department guidelines. The standard is 140°F for dishwashers, but only 110°F for hand washing. Consider using chemical sterilizers instead of higher water temperatures in dishwashers.

If your dishwasher is a continuous fill and drain, consider installing a gray water heat recovery system. (More information can be found on http://www.futureenergy.org)  This system will recover some of the heat from the drain water and use it to reheat the supply water to the appliance. Now that is a neat party trick, don’t you think?

Buy water-efficient dishwashers and glass-washers. Dishwashing in a typical restaurant accounts for over two-thirds of total water use. Nearly one-half of this water can be used for pre-rinsing. Best practice commercial dishwashers can be 30% to 70% more efficient than typical machines, saving anywhere between 70L to 700L per hour.

Without further ado, dear Wa$tage Warrior$, we will now move along to your:

heating and cooling

Many air-conditioning systems are designed to work at a low rate even when the temperature is perfect, just to keep airflow moving. If you can open windows and doors on a nice, breezy day, why not switch your A/C off altogether? Makes perfect sense. Doors can cause substantial heat loss, so ensure that external doors have automatic closures, and in areas of high usage consider fitting a draught lobby or porch.

Consider fitting plastic strip curtains as they reduce heat loss and create a visual security barrier while still allowing easy access.

Ensure easy fast access to the storage areas, as this will keep deliveries at the correct temperature, thus reducing the workload on the refrigeration plant. Stack food in such a way that it makes maximum use of the chilled space available without enclosing the evaporators, as this will cause the plant to work harder.

Allow hot food to cool before storing it in refrigerators and freezers. Do not overfill refrigerator shelves. Proper cooling occurs when air can circulate throughout.

Refrigerated storage should be located in unheated areas which are well ventilated and don’t attract a lot of solar gain from windows and roofs. Ensure that refrigerated cabinets are the correct distance from the walls and ceilings to provide the necessary airflow around the units.

Use the thermostat factory set points. Leave the thermostat settings at 76°F for cooling and 68°F for heating. Each degree of heating or cooling can cost an additional four to five percent in energy costs. Leaving the thermostat at the factory set points will maintain comfort without breaking the bank.

Use the night setback feature on the thermostat. Set the thermostat to bring your restaurant to the desired temperature no earlier than needed.

Consider adding a heat-pipe system. This can dramatically improve the moisture removal capabilities of many air-conditioning systems, and actually lower power bills at the same time.

Air can be pre-cooled by simply transferring heat from the warm, incoming air to the cool, supply air. Heat is removed from the warm upstream air and re-routed to the cool downstream air. This heat, in effect, bypasses the evaporator – although the air containing the heat does indeed pass through the A/C coil.

The total amount of cooling is slightly reduced and some of the air conditioner’s sensible capacity is therefore exchanged for additional latent capacity.

Perhaps you would consider adding a solar heating capability to your system, while keeping the existing conventional hot water service? You will be contributing to the improvement of the Australian environment and, simultaneously, saving money on your energy bills.

maintenance and cleaning

Here’s an area you might not have embraced in your efforts to stem the money drain in your kitchen. The coils on the back of your refrigerators and coolers work far less effectively when clogged with ice, dusts and grease. Clean the conditioning and refrigeration condenser/evaporator coils every three months.

Check the refrigerant charge and fix leaks if necessary. Regularly clean or replace air filters on ventilation and heating/air conditioning equipment. Clean grease traps on ventilation equipment. Check freezer and walk-in seals for cracks and warping, replacing if necessary. Defrost freezers on a regular basis as frost build-ups can seriously reduce efficiency. Regularly clean grease and food particles from exhaust hoods.

When cleaning, your trusty BISTRO team suggests you at least consider the use of non-chemicals: use super-heated steam cleaners instead! With the growing concern of the effects of cleaning chemicals on our health and the environment, these cleaning machines use water and electricity to produce high temperature (120C) pressurized steam (3-4 bar) that is able to clean and disinfect virtually any surface. Water at this temperature is a powerful solvent and the steam head cloth removes the dirt released by the action of the high-pressure steam.

You can also reduce chemical usage in the kitchen areas by using micro-fiber cleaning cloths, which comprise minute fibers that are split in such a way to trap dirt, dust and moisture from surfaces.

Train your staff in using chemical products efficiently, according to the manufacturer’s guidelines. People often have no idea about concentration. We suggest you have an instruction sheet handy, or at least have one up on the wall. Keep a standard measuring cup available and insist your staff members use it. And now for one of the biggies:

staff efficiency

Using labour skills in an efficient way is a big part in success of any commercial kitchen. Overbooking staff will obviously result in wage wastage. On the other hand, you risk losing customers if you cannot provide fast and efficient service.

Each restaurant and bar operation has its own specific demand patterns and seasonality, constituting a variable business cycle that can be managed. For many restaurants, for example, dinner is a busier time than lunch; Saturday nights are busier than Tuesdays etc. In well-managed venues, purchasing decisions, par stock, and staffing schedules all reflect those daily, weekly, and seasonal patterns.

Another aspect of managing your labour costs is in fully engaging employees during their shift. Employees must be engaged not only when the venue is full, but also during down times when no service-seeking customers are present. The effort to manage this labour inventory occupies considerable management attention in the form of developing schedules. Efficient scheduling of the tasks throughout the day is essential.

Another approach is to reduce peak load i.e. give customers incentives to eat and drink off-peak, either earlier or later than when the bulk of your crowd comes in. This approach also contributes to efficient use of labour. Early Bird Specials are one attempt at this. Price-based incentives like these can be useful, but their value can be limited.

Reductions in wages can be accomplished through any number of management decisions such as employing more functional kitchen equipment, or more efficient ware washing machinery. You will need to make use of a professional point-of-sale system, as well as an accounting system. Automation in the ordering process can increase efficiency and reduce confusion for employees.

Consistent attention should be made to staff training in such areas as table resets, efficient service and delivery techniques, or awareness of production timing. Even a proper menu design, one that includes items with easy preparation, short cooking times, or balanced workloads among stations, will have a positive impact on the service-cycle time, hence minimize wastage.

Reduce randomness, if possible. Hey, say again? All table-service restaurants should adopt a reservation system. Contrary to what some customers might think, reservations are not merely a customer convenience. Instead, they provide a valuable way for venue managers to control patron’s arrival, thereby beginning the service cycle.

Besides giving a venue manager a better idea of how busy the place will be, it also reduces potential queues.

How are you going so far? Do you feel you have already saved some cold, hard, folding stuff? Improved that bottom line?

Although not definitive, the following lists contain suggestions that should be considered at the design stage, and when carrying out energy and sustainability audits.

There are clearly a myriad of ways you can improve your kitchen operation and year-round efficiency. If you spend the time and effort to put some systems in place and maintain them you can save a significant amount of money over a period of time. Before long, the savings will be tangible and you will have graduated as a fully-fledged wastage warrior.