Food-Service-Manual-for-Health-Care-Institutions

Food Service Manual for Health Care Institutions
676
Tray Heater Cart
The tray heater cart uses specially designed disposable tableware on which hot and cold foods
are placed at serving temperatures. Trays with resistance heaters built in at the dinner plate and
bowl locations keep hot foods hot. When the loaded trays are placed into the battery-powered
cart, the resistance heaters are activated. The heating of individual food items is regulated by
preset push-button controls. The tray heaters do not affect the temperatures of cold foods, but
no refrigeration is provided in the cart. The heaters are automatically disconnected as each tray
is removed from the cart. Hot beverages are delivered in insulated containers. The cart’s batteries,
which provide the electricity for heating and moving the cart, must be recharged between
uses. This system is more complex than the others described and may require more maintenance.
Because specialized disposable tableware is used, operating costs may be higher than for
some of the other heat-maintenance systems.
Chill-Delivery and Food-Rethermalization Systems
The next four delivery systems listed in Table 20.1 are available for use with cook-and-chill,
cook-and-freeze, or assembly-and-serve production systems in which foods are portioned cold
and reheated in galleys in the patient areas. These delivery systems are designed to maximize
food quality by reheating the food just before service, without extended hot-cold conditions
required in the heat-maintenance systems. Labor time and costs may be reduced due to the system’s
greater scheduling flexibility in food portioning and tray assembly.
Foods held and delivered cold can be rethermalized by using a heat-support cart or insulated
trays or components. The heat-support cart controls the amount of energy needed to
rethermalize the food on the plate and in the bowl. However, foods must be plated in a specific
way. The cart keeps the food hot until the tray is removed from the cart. Each cart has an insulated
drawer for ice cream and other frozen products. However, the temperatures of other cold
foods cannot be properly maintained. Insulated trays and tray components may be used for
heating dinner plates. Mugs for hot and cold beverages also are available.
The features common to most of these systems include the transport of chilled or frozen
foods on fully assembled trays to floor galleys. The types of carts used include enclosed nonrefrigerated,
insulated, refrigerated, and carts on monorails. When nonrefrigerated carts are
used, refrigeration is provided in the floor galley.
Several types of specialized equipment can be used for the rethermalization of foods: convection
ovens, microwave ovens, tunnel microwaves, infrared ovens, and conduction ovens.
Microwave ovens currently are the most commonly used rethermalization equipment. Service personnel
must be trained in proper reheating procedures to attain the best food quality possible.
Several factors should be evaluated in selecting a tray delivery system:
• The system’s ability to maintain the desired level of food quality
• The system’s compatibility with the existing production system and facility layout
• The number of work hours and level of skill or training needed to operate the system
• The space requirements and mobility of system equipment
• The initial costs for equipment, maintenance, and leasing
• The costs associated with the purchase of specialized or disposable tableware
• The cost of renovating an existing facility to accommodate the system
• The flexibility of the system to accommodate a change in production system, number of
meals served, or menu pattern
• The system’s energy requirements
Tray Service
Once a tray has been delivered to the designated location, it must be presented to the patient
for whom it was assembled. Traditionally, this has been a function of nursing department
employees, but this approach can result in delays in meal service that negatively affect food