Last week, the first year VET Cookery students attended an excursion at UNOX Australia.

During the first year of the course, the students learn all the various cooking methods and produce a wide variety of dishes.

The methods include wet and dry methods, from baking and steaming to frying and braising along with many more. In our kitchen in Frayne, we have various pieces of equipment that allow us to produce these dishes, such as deep fryers and steaming baskets. The College also has a combi oven made by the Italian company UNOX, and they provide full training and support. These ovens are unique in a way that allows us to use them for dry heat cooking, wet heat cooking or a combination of both. They have many features allowing for better quality, and in most cases, faster cooking.

The students had a full hands-on demonstration and were involved in producing various food items. Hamburgers, which included a beef patty, caramelised onions, bacon, cheese, hashbrown and burger buns were all cooked on separate trays in the same oven at the same time. Within 20 minutes, a delicious burger was produced and served.

Following the burgers, were dumplings, salmon fillets, steamed vegetables, rice and many more food items.

The students were fascinated by the functions on the oven.

Going forward, the students will be using our combi oven more for the dishes they are preparing and cooking. This will allow the students to be more industry ready at the end of the two year course.

The overall feedback from the students was very positive, with some even wanting to purchase their own for home!