By guest contributor David C. Koelling, President of Strategic Dining Services | www.strategicdining.com
A Steam Table is Not a Food Holding Tool!
It’s a landing area for plating hot food. Steam tables were not designed for the way they’re used in most operations. A steam table does a fine job holding most liquids, soups, stews and sauces but was never intended for holding solid or dry products. A steam table works by providing heat (steam) to the bottom of a pan inserted into the frame. If a product in those pans is not touching the bottom or side of the pan, little if any heat is getting to those products. Picture if you will a pan full of oven roasted potatoes that come out of the oven crispy and golden brown. After being dumped into the steam table only the potatoes on the bottom of the pan are being warmed, the rest are cooling by the second and are becoming soggy from the high moisture environment of the table. In 15 minutes you’re serving luke-warm, texture less potatoes.
Keep in mind even when appropriate food is being held in a steam table it continues to cook. A perfectly cooked product will be perfectly over-cooked after 30 minutes in a steam well.
Think of your steam table as a landing area. We have to put the food down somewhere in order to plate it. But don’t use it as a holding area. Challenge your staff to come up with better solutions for holding foods. Or better yet…make it to order! You’d be surprised how close you can come to fresh, made to order cooking at any volume level with a little planning and know how!
