RATIONAL Magazine.

The sous-vide and pasteurization kit fits all iCombi Pro models and opens up additional creative culinary options. It significantly increases food shelf life, recycling and safety, yielding new possibilities for food production, preservation, and existing kitchen processes.

If you are thinking about setting up a commercial kitchen, it can be pretty intimidating. But, with the right restaurant kitchen design, it can also be a really exciting opportunity. When setting up, there are some essential things to remember: every choice you make should maximise efficiency whilst minimising wastage of labour, space and materials.

It's no secret that healthy eating is important. People are becoming more aware of the necessity of eating right, exercising and avoiding junk food. But when you own a restaurant or run a commercial kitchen, how can you easily tailor your menus and adjust your cooking processes for those looking for a healthy menu that is still bursting with flavour?

From food scraps to broken crockery, restaurant waste is hard to avoid, and commercial kitchens have always been subject to high volumes of food waste, which is both wasteful and costly. Customers are also now more aware than ever of this! As a restaurant or commercial food business owner, you are responsible for reducing your waste as much as possible, from recycling to reusing, so there is as little environmental impact as possible.

Have you considered your restaurant's carbon footprint?

With the rise in focus on environmental impact reduction globally, many restaurant professionals are looking for ways to operate more sustainable restaurants while also ensuring they remain profitable! One way to accomplish this is by evaluating your supply chain, from produce to commercial kitchen equipment.

In the past few years, restaurant technology has exploded as restaurants strive to keep up with consumer demands and stay ahead of the competition. From tabletop ordering systems to self-ordering kiosks, many innovative technologies can help restaurant owners give their customers a better experience.

Have a look at your menu. Is it mindful of dietary requirements and restrictions?

Not particularly? Could do better? Well, don’t worry, you don’t have to start from scratch. There are simple ways you can accommodate people with alternative diets, such as offering dairy or gluten-free alternatives, clearly marking common allergens on your menu, and educating your staff about cross-contamination.

Have you ever dreamed of expanding your quick-service restaurant? Growing a fast-food concept to multiple locations is no small feat, but it's definitely achievable. But before replicating success across numerous sites, it's essential to understand some key tips for scaling operations like creating effective SOPs, investing in the proper commercial kitchen equipment and finding reliable staff.

Whether you need to fry, poach or pressure cook, you can streamline your cooking processes with a tilting skillet.

In this guide, we'll look at the benefits of a commercial tilting skillet in greater detail and explain the intelligent alternatives that could further simplify your cooking processes.

Have you considered offering a delivery or takeaway service instead of just a table service, but aren’t sure where to start? We’ll share some tips on how you can attract new customers, as well as loyal ones, looking to treat themselves when they fancy a night in!

Have you ever wondered if there's anything you can do to reduce food waste in landfills? Restaurants contribute almost 200,000 tonnes of food waste to landfills*, which are not only an eyesore but also a major source of pollution. Furthermore, customers understand the importance of sustainability to protect the planet and are committed to understanding where their food comes from and where discarded food can end up.

The new figurehead of the gastronomy: the face mask. Whether white or black, with bow, with elastic band, with logo, with embroidered mouth - there are no limits to the creativity, but there are limits to hygiene. Because after each shift, the mask must be either disposed of or disinfected.

“Welcome“, says master chef Thomas Wenger cheerfully. He welcomes us inside the newly established company restaurants at BHS Corrugated in Weiherhammer, in the Upper Palatinate district. The 44-year-old co-designed the two restaurants according to his own ideas. “News” on the ground floor for the employees and “Elements” for business customers and conference guests one floor above. His commercial kitchen is equipped with the latest SelfCookingCenter^® and VarioCookingCenter^® appliances, which are connected with the worldwide sites of the company through the digital platform ConnectedCooking.

Professional chefs know that, there is no stopping the digitalization of commercial kitchens. Now, the questions are which system effectively supports kitchen processes, and who sets new standards in product quality, reliability, automation, and service? RATIONAL developed ConnectedCooking, a free cloud-based network that gives new momentum to the collaboration between the chef and the appliance without forgetting its core task: cooking with imagination.

EU Sustainable Energy Week, which takes place every year from 30 May to 5 June, focuses on economic, social and environmental challenges at an international level. The week of action is based on Agenda 2030, which has been signed by all of the UN member states and sets out 17 goals for sustainable development.
Commercial kitchens fall within the scope of the 12th goal in this concept, which is "To ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".

Safe, ergonomic working conditions have long been a “must” in any commercial kitchen, yet many operations continue to cut corners. Of course, they often find that the decision comes back to haunt them—after all, the real victims of this cost-cutting policy are the kitchen staff.

Orthopedic surgeons see it day after day: it starts with back pain and, in the worst-case scenario, ends with a herniated disk. It’s no wonder that bone and muscle problems are one of the most common reasons for missing work among gastronomy professionals. Frantically working to prepare and serve food, slippery floors, inflexible work surfaces, lifting and carrying heavy pots... just a few of the many dangers facing kitchen staff every day.

But many of those risk factors are easier than ever to avoid. Just keep a few factors in mind when purchasing new kitchen equipment—the right technology can make all the difference. For example, RATIONAL’s team of globally renowned specialists in thermic food preparation place special importance on ergonomic details when developing the company’s two equipment lines. They can help minimize these five risk factors:

As the digital issue of Inc. reports, the US food truck market reached a volume of $ 2.7 billion in 2017. According to the website “foodtrucks-deutschland.de”, the European market has grown by 50 % since 2016. This is no wonder, since these restaurants on wheels are now found at festivals, farmers’ markets, and occasionally near offices at lunchtime. It is still fast food - but a unique kind. What exactly sets food trucks apart? For one, what often used to be associated with unhealthy food has now turned into an avenue for delicious, gourmet, and healthy cuisine.

Every child knows the phrase “You eat with your eyes!” It is obvious that this is more than just empty words. Dishes simply taste much better if they are plated in an appetizing way.
How does this work?
Here are some tips and tricks on how to properly plate dishes.

The golden rule is:

The more than 1,000 chefs on the job for RATIONAL go through the same processes that every other cook in the world does: cooking, tasting, discarding, starting from scratch. But do they listen to the same music, too? We asked a few of them—not a representative sample, but interesting all the same. One other important note: the music described here is what they play in the kitchen, never during service. It was very important to them that we mention that.

The population of vegetarians and vegans are increasing on a global level. It’s no longer just a cultural reasoning for turning to a plant-based diet, but a healthy or environmentally friendly lifestyle. This new dietary demand has made a significant impact in the hospitality industry, and vegetarian and vegan restaurants have doubled in large cities. What does this mean for traditional restaurants? Simple, a new opportunity to create a new meal and draw more customers. Many restaurants are already accommodating our vegetarian and vegan friends.