PRODUCTS: April 2015

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

Kathy Kane, director of food and nutrition services for Valparaiso (Ind.) Community Schools, uses 5-compartment Styrofoam trays in 7 of the district’s 11 schools. “The district had been using permanent trays, but the logistics to pick up and return hundreds of trays to and from our high school [where the district’s dishmachine resides] really wasn’t working well,” she explains.

At her former position with Michigan City, Ind., schools, Kane originally came upon Foodservice Sustainability Solutions’ StyroGenie at a trade show. She became one of the Marietta, Ga., company’s early adopters and was so impressed with the unit that she purchased one for Valparaiso schools when she took over the director job in 2014. StyroGenie, measuring 46-in.W x 37 1/8-in.D x 5 1/2-ft.H, can be set up outdoors or on a loading dock. It’s made of solid stainless and uses just 1,800W to slow-melt up to 1,200 Styrofoam trays a day into 2 hard polystyrene briquettes. 

“If you laid the 200,000 Stryofoam trays we use annually end to end, they’d run nearly 40 miles,” she says. “Instead, this machine melts every 600 trays back into a liquid and forms it into a compact solid polystyrene briquette that measures a little more than 14-in. square.”

The district uses them for paving stones around the schools, but they could be recycled into anything that can be extruded, from picture frames to crown molding, according to the company. Kane likes the fact that the machine doesn’t require any change of routine at the schools. Kids still “tap and stack”—tap trays over a garbage can and then set the soiled trays in a stack. “The unit accepts the trays, food residue and all,” she says. “We don’t need to rinse them off.” 

The district truck driver picks up soiled stacks when he makes deliveries and brings them to the StyroGenie, also housed at the high school. Kane figured out that the costs of fuel, labor, goods, water and more she saves by using and recycling Styrofoam will give her a return on her $15,000 investment in 14 months.

fs-sustainability.com

SANDWICHES MADE EASY
The CRMR60 features stainless construction on front, sides, top and interior floor with anodized aluminum back and interior sides. A front-breathing refrigeration system allows the unit to install with zero side or rear clearance. Doors feature a recessed, magnetic gasket that removes for cleaning; doors close with a spring assist self-closing mechanism. A non-electric evaporation system removes condensate. The unit measures 60-in.W x 30-in.D x 45 1/5H and accommodates 8, 12 or 16 pans with each additional 4 in. of depth. An innovative air-distribution system distributes air evenly around the pans to maintain temperatures between 33°F and 41°F at 86° ambient room temp. The unit has a 3-yr. parts and labor/5-yr. compressor warranty.
Hoshizaki America
hoshizakiamerica.com

A COOKING GENIUS
Eloma’s Genius MT combi oven-steamer cooks meals 30%-50% faster than conventional cooking equipment. It features a high-resolution, 7-in. color monitor with MultiTouch touchscreen technology. A fully automatic cleaning system eliminates the need to handle any cleaning chemicals, and the unit doesn’t have a boiler so there’s no limescale buildup to clean. Its Last 20 feature lets you quickly access a list of the last 20 cooking programs used to cook regular menu items. The Climatic MT element allows you to precisely control cooking temperature, humidity and time to deliver a consistent result, every time.
Eloma/Ali Group
eloma.com/us

BLEND MORE, FASTER
Int’l. Food Blenders announces the release of its 12-qt. (3.17-gal.) triple-blade food blenders, distributed by Smart Kitchen Solutions. With larger blades, all-stainless construction and a high-torque AC induction motor, the blenders provide fast, high-quality puréeing. The unit also is available in 3- (0.79-gal.) and 5-qt. (1.32-gal.) sizes.
Int’l. Food Blenders
smartkitchensolutions.com

REFRIGERATION FOR THE FUTURE
Traulsen’s Blast Chillers can chill food from serving to storing temperature (135°F to below 41°F) in about 90 min., helping to ensure freshness and food safety. The Epicon visual interface helps reduce staff confusion because it requires only a few simple steps to create and manage custom food-chilling programs. Whether the blast chillers are operating in auto or manual menu mode, key batch data displays on the run screen so anyone in the kitchen can check start and finish temperatures, chill times, product names and the username assigned to the batch. Additionally, a built-in USB port allows you to upload and download recipes and history between the blast chillers and a PC. The chillers are equipped with an on-board printer that provides documentation needed to meet HACCP requirements.
Traulsen/ITW FEG
traulsen.com

INNOVATIONS IN WASTE COLLECTION
The InSinkErator Waste Collector provides a powerful pre-rinse solution to more efficiently clear dishes and serviceware prior to loading into a dishmachine. Serving as a flexible alternative to a pre-rinse sprayer, the new Waste Collector generates a powerful plume of recirculated water over wares to send water-soluble food waste harmlessly down the drain while collecting food-waste solids for use in a composting or renewable-energy program. The Waste Collector requires less than 1 gpm of fresh water to run and offers multiple plume-spray options for a range of operations.
InSinkErator/Emerson
insinkerator.com

LOAD, SET AND FORGET!
Recently UL-listed and certified, FWE’s new generation of Low Temperature Cook and Hold Smoker Ovens (LCH-SK) features operator-friendly controls that allow you to simply set the cook cycle on the display controls, load the tray and walk away. Smoke, cook, hold—just choose the oven setting you need. The addition of a built-in smoker drawer in these LCH-SK models now offers the flexibility to apply “low and slow” hot smoking as well as cold smoking to a variety of menu items.
Food Warming Equipment
fwe.com