GAP Ministries. Tucson, AZ, USA.
Preparing 200,000 meals for people in need every year.
A lifesaver in the kitchen.
GAP Ministries is a nonprofit organization that provides vitally needed social services to residents of Southern Arizona. Its 10-week culinary arts certification program teaches second-chance individuals marketable job and life skills, while the GAP community kitchen utilizes thousands of pounds of good quality, highly perishable donated food each week to prepare meals for low-income children, adults, and residents of GAP Ministries group homes.
GAP Ministries Executive Chef John Hohn has several decades of culinary experience, much of it at five-star resorts and restaurants, and worked in kitchens with RATIONAL combi ovens for years. When he left his job at an intensely busy property in search of a new opportunity that would enable him to spend more time with his family, he made it known during the interview process that if he were to work at an establishment, he would require a RATIONAL combi oven in the kitchen.
“If my job as a chef is to be financially responsible, to make my team better, and to execute meals for guests, then I have to have this tool in my tool box,” Hohn said. “If not, we cannot be as successful as I want to be.”
He found the rewarding work he was seeking when he joined GAP Ministries in 2015. Today, his kitchen is equipped with two RATIONAL SelfCookingCenter® combi ovens that work around the clock to prepare meals for people in need.
“It liberated us mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally and financially.”
John Hohn, Executive Chef, GAP Ministries.
Volume, speed and quality.
How are two people able to generate 200,000 meals a year? The RATIONAL SelfCookingCenter® makes it possible. Hohn and his sous-chef produce large quantities of food, then portion it into individual serving trays that are frozen and rethermed using the Finishing® process. “You can reheat your product at the same or better quality, and not overcook it or dry it out,” he said. “The RATIONAL is an amazing tool that I use every day.”
Hohn creates and saves his own cooking programs for most of his menu items, and when he encountered difficulty uploading pictures of food to accompany his pre-set programs, he called the RATIONAL ChefLine, where an expert helped him resolve the issue on the spot.
He uses the RATIONAL combi ovens for almost everything prepared in the GAP community kitchen, from pan-seared seafood and pasta to bone-in chicken, rice and steamed vegetables. He roasts pork or chicken overnight that comes out moist and fragrant for shredding in barbecue sandwiches or a baked enchilada casserole.
Most of the food is delivered to low-income schools where children can take home snacks and hot meals, to GAP Ministries foster homes, and to other community programs.
- Industry:
Nonprofit organization - Core business:
Social services
- The challenge:
Produce an average of 550 meals daily for low-income schoolchildren, adults, foster children and volunteers. - The solution:
2 × SelfCookingCenter® 62 with an UltraVent Plus hood - Customer benefit:
Tremendous savings in time and labor.
Four times the cooking capacity in the same footprint as a single convection oven.
Provides the flexibility to execute multiple cooking applications.
Finishing® process generates consistently excellent results with no loss of quality.
The RATIONAL ChefLine provides users with immediate, expert culinary support.
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ChefLine®
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