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Objective: The objectives of this study were to determine what variables hospital foodservice directors consider when selecting a conventional or cook-chill system, to determine the importance of each variable considered, and to compare decision variables by type of foodservice system., Design: Survey questionnaire., Subjects/setting: Hospital foodservice directors in general, medical-surgical hospitals who had been involved in the decision to select a conventional or cook-chill system (N = 127)., Statistical Analysis: Analysis of variance and chi 2., Results: The decision process used by foodservice directors who selected a conventional system appears to differ significantly from the process used by directors who selected cook-chill systems. However, directors in this study who selected a cook-chill system were more likely than those who selected conventional systems to consider more issues in the decision process, visit other operations, place more importance on return on investment and projected labor costs, calculate more values, consider both conventional and cook-chill options, and use nonfoodservice personnel such as manufactures' representatives and consultants., Applications: Results of this research suggest that the decision process to select a foodservice system in hospitals is complex and is one that foodservice directors will likely be involved in several times throughout their careers. Directors who have made such decisions appear to consider many issues, both quantitative and qualitative, when selecting either a conventional or cook-chill system. Regardless of the system chosen, directors indicated that numerous issues were important in the decision.

Energy used to reheat 3 kg of a standard beef stew to 74 degrees C was measured to determine (a) the benefits of a retort pouch packaging processing system that keeps food microbially safe at room temperature compared with a system that packages food in a plastic bag that requires refrigerated storage; (b) the most economical form for reheating (in bulk in bags, in bulk out of bags, or in portions); (c) the most economical equipment for reheating (convection oven, infrared oven, microwave oven, compartment steamer, or steam-jacketed kettle); and (d) the influence of storage time (7, 28, or 85 days). Energy used for reheating the retort product was 18,883.7 British thermal units (BTU) compared with 31,035.6 BTU for the plastic bag product. Reheating in portions used 6,857 BTU; reheating in bulk out of bag used 23,419 BTU; and reheating in bulk in bag used 64,247 BTU. The order of least to greatest energy use for equipment was microwave oven, 324 BTU; infrared oven, 5,406 BTU; convection oven, 11,399 BTU; steam-jacketed kettle, 30,713 BTU; and steamer, 51,412 BTU. Storage time in the plastic bag significantly (P less than .05) affected initial product temperature and the energy required for reheating; this was not true for the retort product. Our findings indicate that microwave heating, heating in portions rather than in larger quantities, refrigerated storage of 7 days instead of 28 days, and use of retort pouch products achieve the least energy cost in reheating a product such as beef stew.

Plain muffins, yellow cake, baked custard, apple pie, tuna casserole, frozen tuna casserole, cheese soufflé, and meat loaf were baked in preheated and non-preheated standard gas, continuous-clean gas, standard electric, and self-cleaning electric ovens. Products generally required 5 min. or less extra baking time when cooked in non-preheated rather than in preheated ovens. The variability in baking times often was less between preheated and non-preheated ovens than among oven types. Calculated energy consumption values showed that usually less energy was required to bake products in non-preheated than in preheated ovens; savings averaged about 10 percent. Few significant differences were found in physical measurements or eating quality either between preheated and non-preheated ovens or among oven types. Overall, for the products tested, findings confirmed that preheating the oven is not essential for good product quality and, therefore, is an unnecessary use of energy.

Beef top round roasts weighing approximately 2.3 lb. each were cooked from the thawed and frozen states in a countertop microwave oven (115v; 2,450 mHz) at the cooking power levels of "high" (553 watts) and "simmer" (237 watts) and also in a conventional oven at 163 degrees C (325 degrees F). Cooking times, energy consumption, cooking losses, and palatability of cooked products were compared. In general, no notable advantages were found in cooking at microwave "simmer" vs. "high".

Patties from ground round, ground chuck , and regular ground beef containing 14%, 19%, and 24% fat, respectively, were cooked by six different methods and analyzed for compositional differences. Cooking methods were electric broiling , charbroiling , roasting, convection heating, frying, and microwave heating. Percent yield, fat, and moisture of cooked patties were significantly affected (p less than .05) by the interaction of fat level and cooking method. Except for patties cooked by broiling or convection heating, patty yields decreased with increasing fat levels. Leaner formulations of ground beef increased in fat percentage with cooking, while patties processed to contain more fat initially decreased in fat percentage following cooking. Microwave cooking always produced patties containing the least fat and caloric content in comparison with other methods. Increasing levels of fat in the raw patty formulation did not appear to affect substantially the total caloric value of the patties following cooking. Cooked patties processed to have 14% fat contained slightly more water and less fat than patties having 24% fat. At current retail prices, cooked patties made to have 14% fat cost +0.20 more per patty than patties produced to contain 24% fat, regardless of the method of cooking.

In the microwave-heating subsystem of the simulated cook/chill food service, 100-gm. portions of precooked beef loaf were heated 80 sec. (2,450 mHz; 237 V.; 3,003 W. input power; 1,407 W. output power) to a mean internal end temperature of 82 +/- 9 degrees C. Mean input power to the microwave oven during heating, controlled by a transformer, was 240 kJ. per 80 sec. Fifty-three percent of the input power to the microwave oven was used to operate the oven. Of the 47 percent output power available to heat the beef loaf, 12 percent of the total input power was estimated to heat beef loaf, 17 percent was estimated to evaporate water from beef loaf, and 18 percent was attributed to miscellaneous energy losses.

Data on labor time for food production can be used as an effective management tool. It is essential for foodservice managers to know how labor time is being used (1). A continuous time study was conducted to determine total labor time for the production of eight vegetarian entrées in a hospital foodservice system. Two work areas were observed: the ingredient assembly area and the cooks' production area. Times were recorded by work function to identify how labor time was distributed. Results showed (a) observed frequency for each work function, (b) time expended in seconds per portion for each work function, (c) percentage distribution of labor time by work function, (d) total time for each employee involved in entrée production, and (e) percentage of total time in which each employee was involved in the production of each entrée. Total labor time varied by type of entrée, ranging from 39.97 to 19.33 seconds per portion. Entrées with the highest labor time required the largest amount of hand labor. A one-way analysis of variance indicated significant differences in mean labor time among the eight vegetarian entrées for direct labor time (p = .0009), and total labor time (p = .0018). No significant differences were found among entrées for indirect labor or delay time.

The effects of replacing 30 percent of the ground beef in meat loaves with boiled ground soybeans or textured soy protein (TSP) were studied. The substitutions were equally effective in increasing yields of freshly cooked, raw frozen and cooked, and cooked, frozen, and reheated meat loaves. Scores for several palatability characteristics, including general desirability, were higher for meat loaves containing soybeans than for loaves containing TSP. The mixtures and loaves contained similar amounts of protein and thiamin. Cooking losses and mean palatability scores indicated advantages for freezing raw loaf mixtures rather than cooked loaves.