Magdalen House Nursing Home, part of the Gloucester Charities Trust, aims to provide a high standard of care in a safe homely environment. Family and friends of residents are encouraged to join in activities and stay for meals.
Nutrition is very important, the catering team sets out to offer a wholesome choice of meals produced from locally sourced ingredients over a rolling five-week menu plan.
Over the summer of 2016 the kitchen underwent a total refurbishment and head chef Jo Galling took the opportunity to look at what new modern cooking equipment was around to streamline the operation. She attended a Frima CookingLive event and was impressed with what the multifunctional Frima could do, but space was an issue in the small kitchen at Magdalen House.
The kitchen may be small but the catering requirements are not. With 29 bedrooms there are 55 to 60 meals to cater for at lunchtimes when the Dementia Club is in operation in the day centre. Then later in the day there’s a cooked supper for all the residents as well.
Frima recommended the compact 112T countertop model, a modern, high-tech piece of cooking equipment that combines all the functions of a boiling kettle, fryer, griddle, bratt pan and pressure cooker in one unit. It also replaces large pots and pans. Measuring just 962mm wide by 800mm deep and 400mm high, it has two 14 litre pans which can be used to boil, grill, fry, low temperature cook and deep fry, precisely and easily.
At Magdalen House the Frima 112T is sited on a worktop and is used alongside a Rational combi oven to produce all the meals. “The Frima works very well for us,” says Jo. “We use it for boiling vegetables, for making gravy and stocks and it’s especially useful for casseroles and hot pots.”
“It’s very versatile we also use it for custard and white sauces. The joy of it is that once everything is in the pan and mixed up we can walk away confident that the Frima will take care of the cooking. Nothing burns or sticks,” she adds. “We don’t have to stand over the pot watching what’s going on. This frees up staff to get on with other kitchen duties.
Frima’s VarioBoost heating system ensures that heat is transferred evenly all over the pan bases so there are no hot spots. Built-in cooking intelligence constantly monitors the process ensuring nothing boils over, sticks or scorches. It even tells chefs when to turn chicken breasts and other shallow fried items. It automatically lowers pasta and vegetables into boiled water and lifts them back out when done.
“The overnight braising is great. We can prepare the ingredients and load up the pans the night before and come back in Sunday morning to find it all cooked and ready, just how we want it.
“I know there’s an awful lot more I could be doing with the Frima. I’m still learning. It’s just a question of trying out new ideas and seeing how they work. When we have Sunday dinners some of the residents invite family members to join them and the ease of cooking with the Frima really takes the stress out of producing these meals. The quality is outstanding.”
Time is always a pressure in kitchens and care homes are no exception. When residents have activities to go to or medical appointments lined up they don’t like to be kept waiting.
“I’ve definitely noticed how much quicker it is to use the Frima,” says Jo. “It’s eased up the workload in the kitchen, improved the quality of the food and makes getting the meals out on time much easier.”
Frima is part of Rational UK.
For information and brochures, or to come to a free Frima Cooking Live demonstration, call 01582 480388, email info.uk@frima-online.com or visit our website