Cook-to-Hold Foods

Henny Penny holding cabinets

Cook-to-Hold Approach, what is it and how it benefits my restaurant?

Cooking to hold, or batch cooking, is where food is prepared in large quantities and then placed in a holding cabinets to keep it warm at an optimal temperature, texture, and quality until serving time. It is commonly used for fast food restaurants that cook or fry a big batch of fried foods such as fried chickens, fries and nuggets, to ensure fast serving time especially during peak hours.

How holding cabinets benefits my restaurant operation?

1. Precision cooking

Henny Penny holding cabinets come with a customizable program setting that allows, for instance, a SmartHold to keep barbecue ribs at a temperature between 140 and 160 degrees with about a 75% humidity, tenderizing the meat while you are working on other menus. This allows precision and helps when there are a few different staff working in a kitchen, on different days.

2. Time and labor efficiency

Holding equipment also helps you prepare complex menu items in advance, allowing more time to prepare other menus at the same time. Other than reducing customers’ waiting time, this also reduces stress and human errors especially during busy period, promo seasons, and when you don’t require that many manpower at all time to operate.

3. Consistent quality

Delicious and consistent food quality are what bring the customers coming back for more. As the holding equipment holds a big batch of the foods, operators get to reduce or eliminate the inconsistency in food quality.

4. Operational flexibility

Holding cabinets also offers flexibility and efficiency. If you need everything on the menu to be served at the same time in a specific way and immediately after the customer orders it, holding the foods would be the answer.

For instance, for a dinner event that serve a sit-down dinner, everything would have been scheduled and expected to be served at the same time. You would not want to have a few guests waiting while others have completed their meals!

5. Energy, cost savings, and reduces food waste

With reduced cooking frequencies, there’s less energy consumption that results in more cost saving for the restaurant owners. With the right holding equipment, freshly cooked foods don’t get cold quickly and the holding equipment temperature keeps the food warm and presentable at all times.

Read more on Holding Cabinets FAQ here

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