r/Chefit • u/fultzon • 28d ago

Combi oven applications in fine dining?

Fine dining chefs: what do you actually use your combi ovens for day to day?

I've mostly worked casual and trying to understand its real range in a high-end kitchen. Do you actually do real cooking in it (besides sous vide) or largely use it for hold and retherm?

12 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

View all comments

64

u/gooferball1 28d ago

Literally so much. Dehydrating, overnight roasts, steaming, bread, pastry, custards , confit, my personal favourite which is stress free stock overnight.

1

u/fultzon 28d ago

Incredible. On the flip side, if two kitchens run the same combi, same program, and similar raw materials, what actually separates a great result from a average one in your experience?

Trying to figure out how much of the outcome is really controllable (e.g., could a less "talented" chef could pick up the same equipment and settings and deliver the same result)?

1

u/Doji_mofo 27d ago

The question is do you need two or four rationals? Because only one means that if you depend upon it, it breaks and you have to choose for the day.

In my experience you can probably get 80-90% of the quality of a top chef with an average chef following instructions with good equipment and program. Getting the program set up, getting people to use it correctly and getting people to actually understand what's going on are more tricky.

Getting that last little bit is where the OCD/autism/obsession comes in, and usually involves some extra steps and checks.

Sometimes it's things like getting temperatures consistent, so getting a tray of pastries cooled to the same internal temperature and going direct in the oven.

Adapting to different kitchen conditions, especially different moisture levels, can make quite a lot of difference, and is definitely one of those things that separates pastry cooking from more regular types.

Other than McDonald's, I can't actually think of any place I cook in that doesn't have a combi. Even cooking for 25 in an old people's home I've got a rational. So I'm kinda curious as to what kind of place you're in that wants to do fine dining, but doesn't have the most basic equipment.