What is meant by Cook and Chill?
"Cook & Chill" refers to a method in food production where meals are cooked (Cook) and then quickly cooled (Chill) to maintain freshness, quality, and extend shelf life. This method is particularly used in large kitchens, catering companies, and the food industry to ensure optimal production planning and safety.
Typical Software Functions in the Area of "Cook & Chill":
- Recipe Management: Creation and management of recipes, including quantity calculations and preparation steps.
- Production Planning: Planning cooking and cooling processes based on demand and production capacity.
- Temperature Monitoring: Real-time monitoring of temperatures during the cooking and cooling process to meet quality standards.
- Regeneration planning: Planning and control of the reheating process before serving
- Inventory Management: Integration of chilled meals into the inventory management system for stock control.
- Process Documentation: Automated recording of cooking and cooling processes to meet legal regulations and traceability requirements.
- Shelf Life Management: Calculation and management of shelf life for cooked and chilled meals.
- Resource Optimization: Analysis and optimization of resource usage such as energy and time.
- Interface Integration: Integration with cooling and cooking equipment for process automation.
Examples of "Cook & Chill":
• Hospital catering: Centralized preparation of patient meals with flexible serving on the wards
• School catering: Preparation of school meals in a central kitchen and distribution to various schools
• Corporate restaurants: Production of meals for multiple locations in a large kitchen
• Event catering: Preparation of large quantities of food for events with time-delayed serving
• Senior homes: Flexible meal provision for residents with different meal times
• Airline catering: Production of in-flight meals with subsequent cooling and later regeneration on the aircraft
