Rieber’s new Thermoport Midi Range has proved a winner with kitchen staff at Rise Park School, Romford.
Kitchen Supervisor Lauren Humphrey leads a team providing 270 junior and infant meals daily, 170 of which need transporting across the road to the infant section of the school, usually achieved with the two boxes illustrated unless the meals are particularly bulky.
The in-built heating system helps to hold food up to +85degC in each of the stackable boxes. Rise Park’s model also features heavy-duty castors to cope with the uneven path to the infant school.
Says Lauren, “Paul Franks from BGL Rieber provided training and a demonstration of how to pack and move the boxes when they were delivered.*
“Temperatures are checked before and after delivery. On average, the meals lose about 8degC, but some foods perform differently. Cottage pie for example can go in the box at 91degC and be 80.9degC at the serving point, way above the minimum temperature required here of 63degC.
“The bigger wheelbase helps with the bumps; they are easy to clean and pull along to the infant school, great product.”
The Thermoport Midi range is designed for hot and cold meal delivery, transport and serving. Thermoports are available in orange or black, as a top or front loader, heated or unheated, Thermoports are stackable and easily wheeled from the kitchen to their destination, on various trolleys and castor bases dependent upon requirements. The Thermoport Midi range has a combined fill volume of approximately 104 litres.
Dennis Brewin, Catering Operations Manager, Catering Services, London Borough of Havering is responsible for the Education catering at 65 Schools in the borough and also manages Havering’s Meals on Wheels service.
“I have used Thermoport containers for many years and know them to be robust and entirely reliable when it comes to maintaining temperature.
“The Rieber Thermoport Midi range units were chosen for Rise Park and numerous other schools within the borough because they have the additional capability of heating and holding the chamber up to 85degC, which provides useful additional hot storage for the kitchen and ensures the meals are served piping hot from start to finish during the serving process. I am reassured that even on the coldest days and if there is a delay in service, the meals served will be up to the high standard parents expect.”
*Paul Franks, pictured right with Lauren Humphrey
Paul’s Fish finger tip (courtesy of Dinner Ladies across the UK): Stack them on their side, not lie them flat, for cooking. This allows more to be cooked at once and more to be packed into the Thermoport boxes. It is also easier to portion 2/3 at a time if they are on their side.