Across the country there is a shortage of foodservice employees. Restaurant owners from New York to California are scrambling to find workers for a variety of food service roles. And as businesses increasingly reopen across the United States, addressing labor shortages is an industry-wide conversation. If you’re struggling to fill hospitality roles, you might not realize that your best employee might be hiding in plain sight.
As the hospitality industry tries to anticipate what a post pandemic future will bring, there are a few things that everyone seems to be on the same page about: opening back up to full capacity means extensive work and significant planning. Fortunately, the right kitchen equipment makes it easy to get back into the swing of things.
"From our many years of experience in the industry, we know that foodservice and hospitality labor shortages can lead to an enormous amount of stress in the kitchen, especially at busy times," says Billy Buck, National Corporate Chef at RATIONAL USA. Chefs know how vital labor-saving equipment can be in these situations. With an intelligent cooking system like the iCombi Pro combi-steamer, which can boil, roast, bake, grill and steam different dishes at the same time you can keep food consistency, cut back on food waste, and not feel the impacts of labor shortages in the kitchen. The labor benefit is that you don't have to monitor or turn food -- staff can put their energy and attention elsewhere while still achieving consistent, high quality results. And the automatic self-cleaning saves time and eliminates unpleasant tasks!
With the iCombi Pro it is easy to grill lamb and chicken together or to steam different vegetables at the same time. Thanks to its intelligence, the iCombi Pro checks the condition of the food against the desired result, calculates the cooking progress and intelligently adjusts the temperature. The iProductionManager, one of the iCombi Pro’s intelligent assistants, monitors each rack individually so that the cooking times are adapted to the quantity and desired result. This means that the same food quality is consistently achieved. Key features makes creating and executing a food production plan very efficient. It tells you which food items can be cooked together, when to load and take out different items, and lets the operator decide if food items should be cooked as quickly a possible or ready all at once. The unit will also alert the user when there is a need to take action so there is no need for monitoring or adjusting any settings .
Chef Billy points out another advantage of intelligent equipment, "The iCombi Pro works so independently that you can even leave it completely alone for a few hours or even overnight." If no one is in the restaurant during the day, the iCombi Pro can slow cook or simmer away in peace and perfectly prepared braised or roasted items can be ready exactly when needed. If the combi-steamer is connected to a network via ConnectedCooking, RATIONAL’s internet platform, the cooking progress can be remotely monitored from a mobile phone.
The iCombi Pro is one of the best examples of how intelligent kitchen equipment can provide support, especially during busy times or when short staffed.