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Breakfast Enchiladas with Sausage & Bacon

Need to fix breakfast for a bunch of people? Breakfast enchiladas are a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. Prepared in a CVap® oven, they are hearty and filling, and of course, deliciously easy.

Enchilada Facts

Of course, we like to nerd out a bit on our recipes. Like so many favorite foods, enchiladas come from Latin American cuisine. Although they were around much longer, enchiladas were first mentioned by Spanish invaders in the mid-1500s. Specifically, conquistadors were served enchiladas in the ancient Aztec capital, Tenochtitlán. Originally enchiladas were eggs in corn tortillas. The Spanish were quick to modify the native staple. They added meats and spicy sauces, to raise the flavor profile.

Cooking in Breakfast Enchiladas CVap

Admittedly, you don’t have to have a CVap oven to prepare enchiladas. However, if you need to serve more than a handful, a CVap oven will make your life so much easier. In this preparation, we prepared 40 enchiladas. But the recipe can easily be scaled up or down to suit the gang you are feeding.

Breakfast Enchiladas Ingredients

30 – Large eggs
4 cups (1 qt) – Half-and-Half
4 lbs. – Breakfast sausage of choice
1½ lbs. – Bacon of choice (or real bacon bits & pieces)
2 lbs. – Shredded cheese of choice
40 – 6” Flour tortillas
Salt & Pepper to taste

The Process:

Preheat your CVap oven to Vapor 200°F/ Air 350°F.
Pre-cook the sausage in a full 2” hotel pan (should take 15 to 20 minutes).
Pre-cook bacon on a full solid hotel pan (should take about 30 minutes).
Transfer sausage to a bowl. Using gloves, crumble sausage until all the large bits have been broken up.
Slice or chop bacon into small pieces. Reserve about 1/4 cup for top garnish. Add the rest of the chopped bacon to the sausage.
Add half of the cheese to the sausage/bacon mixture. Reserve the rest of the cheese for the topping.
Portion ¼ cup of sausage/bacon/cheese mixture onto each tortilla. Roll up and soldier into a hotel pan.
Mix eggs and half-and-half until well combined. Pour evenly over the rolled enchiladas.
Top with cheese and bacon garnish.
You can bake immediately. However, you can also prepare this ahead of time, cover it, and refrigerate it for baking the next day.
Bake in breakfast enchiladas CVap for about 90 minutes, or until the egg mixture is set and cheese is gooey and melted.

Chef’s note – Traditionally, breakfast enchiladas are made with corn tortillas. We opted for flour since it’s a little easier to work with, and tends to be a bit more popular. But by all means, prepare yours to suit your patrons’ preferences.

Essential Fryer Accessories Your Commercial Kitchen Needs

America loves fried food. It’s a love affair that’s persisted for decades. If your operation serves fried foods, you need a great fryer. And to make the most of that fryer, there are essential commercial fryer accessories that will make your job easier (and your fried food better).

There are many commercial fryer brands. Honestly, we’re not here to discuss the competition. The best commercial fryer is our Collectramatic®. Hands down.

What kind of equipment is used for commercial frying?

Like most fryer brands, Collectramatic fryers are available in two configurations: pressure and open. Likewise, the fryers offer 4-head and 6-head capacities. Deciding which configuration and size are right for you depends on your menu and volume.

Pressure Fryers

Pressure fryers serve a dual purpose. They speed the cooking process, and help tenderize the meat. Pressure fryers were developed and improved by such industry pioneers as Harland Sanders and Winston Shelton. During the post-war boom, fast food operations exploded in popularity. Fried chicken took the country by storm. The poultry of that era was quite different from modern breeds. Mid-century poultry was tougher, with lots of connective tissue. Cooking food under pressure helped to break down that connective tissue, while simultaneously speeding the cooking process.

Poultry has changed quite a bit. Today’s chicken bears little resemblance to its 1960s cousins. But the advantages of pressure frying remain the same. Of course, if you’re serving fried chicken, it’s a no-brainer to pressure fry. But the same advantages that make Collectramatic pressure fryers perfect for chicken also make them ideal for other proteins that have lots of connective tissue. Think ribs or pig wings. One advantage of Collectramatic pressure fryers is that they can be used to both pressure fry and open fry.

Open Fryers

As the name implies, open fryers are just that – fryers that don’t have a lid. They are ideal for foods that don’t require tenderization, such as tenders, poppers, fish, or shrimp. Open fryers offer a gentler cooking process and are perfect for cooking battered foods to crispy perfection.

What kind of commercial fryer accessories do I need for my kitchen?

Regardless of which Collectramatic configuration you choose, the essential frying accessories are the same.

Included Accessories

Every Collectramatic fryers ships from the factory with these accessories:

A clamshell basket (or quarter rack basket)
A drain hook
A pair of heavy-duty gloves
Two collector gaskets
A spatula

A Teflon brush
A long collector
A heat plate
Pressure fryers also include two lid gaskets

Optional Accessories

Winston Shortening Filter

Although it’s listed here as optional, Collectramatic owners really need to invest in a Winston Shortening Filter. These powerful filters are designed to quickly filter impurities from the cooking oil and pump the cleaned oil back into the fryer. Winston’s filters are designed to move easily, so you can service multiple fryers with a single filter.

Filter Paper

Of course, each time the cooking oil is filtered, the paper filter will need to be replaced. Filter paper can be ordered in a range of quantities.

Baskets

As mentioned before, Collectramatic fryers include a basket. But Winston also offers several specialty baskets, including open, chicken liver, shoestring, and fillet baskets.

Shelves and Sets

Quarter rack baskets are designed for loading and unloading with minimal tonging or handling. Acquiring additional shelves and frame sets can boost your commercial kitchen’s efficiency.

Tray Cart Basket Stand

The tray cart provides a space to easily hang open baskets and remove the cooked chicken.

Displacer Tool

The displacer tool is a simple but effective tool used to force oil out of the fryer’s collector. It displaces oil from the collector and into the drain, making the collector easier and safer to remove.

Collector Tool

As anyone who had removed a collector for a Winston fryer can tell you, the seal between the collector and the cookpot can be a challenge to break. This simple tool slides beneath the collector. Consequently, it allows you to leverage foot power, making the collector much easier to remove.

Although it’s possible for Collectramatic fryer operators to get by without some of these commercial fryer accessories, including them in your kitchen can help make boost your kitchen’s safety and efficiency. You’ve already got the world’s best fryer. Make the most of it with genuine Winston fryer accessories.

Collectramatic commercial kitchen fried foods fryer accessories frying equipment open frying pressure fryer pressure frying

Give Caterers an Advantage with CVap®

Caterers, like others in the hospitality industry, face their share of challenges. Among
them are assuring food safety, maintaining food quality, and providing fast
service. Critically, falling short in any of these areas can damage your reputation and threaten
your business. Winston’s CVap® equipment can provide solutions

Maintaining Safe Food Temperatures

According to the CDC, one of the top causes of foodborne illness is allowing food to remain at an unsafe temperature for too long. Consequently, the importance of maintaining safe food temperatures cannot be overstated. In fact, being the source of an illness outbreak can crush a business. Undoubtedly, CVap equipment is a powerful tool for serving food safely. CVap Cook and Hold and Retherm Ovens are engineered to efficiently transition food temperature through the danger zone well within FSIS guidelines. Indeed, all CVap holding and cooking equipment can reliably maintain food at safe temperatures for extended periods, without quality loss.

Bringing the Power of Heated Vapor to Caterers

Unique technology sets CVap equipment apart from other brands. All food is comprised mostly of water. Consequently, food’s high water content causes food moisture to behave like water when heated. Uniquely, CVap utilizes heated water vapor as its primary heat source. Thermodynamics dictates that once food temperature equalizes with the vapor temperature it cannot fall below it. CVap offers food temperature precision that is unmatched by our competitors. Additionally, add an optional food probe (Series 7 models) to collect food temperatures and utilize CVap’s integrated temperature collection feature to document all your HACCP data.

Although one might think that vapor heat would result in soggy food, that’s not the case. In fact, CVap technology also utilizes a second, dry air heat. Accordingly, this air heat serves to control moisture evaporation from the food’s surface. Consequently, air heat allows you to select the texture of food, from moist to crisp. Together, the vapor heat and air heat work in tandem to cook and maintain food exactly as desired.

Avoiding Contamination

According to the CDC, the other critical risk to food safety is contamination. Of course, contamination risks encompass areas throughout your operation. But keeping equipment clean is critical to reducing contamination risks. To that endeavor, CVap equipment is designed for easy cleaning.

To that end, rails and flues are easily removable. Stainless steel interiors are accessible and durable. Undoubtedly, daily cleaning assures equipment is free of illness-causing chemicals and residue. Indeed, not only does cleaning protect your patrons, but it also protects your warranty.

Serving Quality and Quantity

Indeed, caterers face the constant challenge of serving large numbers quickly. Clearly, they must do so without sacrificing food quality. Undoubtedly, nobody wants the infamous rubber chicken meal. Of course, CVap equipment offers capacities as large as 14 full-sheet pans. Clearly, large capacities, paired with precise food quality control, means you can serve dozens of meals quickly. Since CVap equipment maintains peak quality for extended times, you can prepare well ahead of serving, and still maintain just-cooked freshness.

Staging is another helpful process. For this purpose, food can be cooked and held at a precise setpoint and then finished in a few minutes on a grill or plancha. Undoubtedly, staging is perfect for proteins. You can achieve sous vide temperature precision. Food’s interior will be uniformly cooked, end to end and top to bottom. Finishing provides the seared exterior or grill marks diners expect. All can be done quickly, improving serving time.

Staffing, and Skills

Hiring and keeping competent staff has always been a challenge for caterers. Undoubtedly, the pandemic and its aftermath have exacerbated that struggle. Indeed, the nature of catering businesses tends to attract younger workers, such as high school and college students. Consequently, high turnover is a given. Skill levels can vary widely. Accordingly, equipment must be easy to use and require minimal training.

CVap ovens and holding cabinets have eight preprogrammed channels. Of course, these channels encompass the most common cooking and holding processes. Each channel can be re-programmed to custom-fit your menu. Additionally, controls can be locked to prevent unauthorized setting changes. Undoubtedly, push-button simplicity makes CVap easy to use, even for untrained new hires.

Because CVap automates so many tasks, it can even reduce the amount of labor necessary to execute events. In fact, ovens transition to an automatic hold, meaning no babysitting is needed. Without a doubt, extended hold times maintain high food quality until the staff is ready to serve. To be sure, overnight cooking and delayed startup mean your equipment is working even when nobody’s in the kitchen.

Serving sous vide? In fact, a single CVap oven can match the cooking capacity of a kitchen full of immersion circulators. Add in the fact that sous vide bags are optional in CVap, and you’ve got a serious labor (and space) saver.

Food Waste

Food waste is a huge problem across all sectors of the hospitality industry. For caterers, it’s a particularly daunting challenge. Food is money. Nobody can afford to waste it. But no caterer wants to host an event and run out of food. Walking that fine line of providing enough, but not wasting is a never-ending fight. Having to throw out food that’s of questionable integrity is even more painful.

CVap can help reduce waste. Our ovens can be programmed for high-yield cooking, resulting in better yields and more servings per primal cut.

Sizes and Configurations to Suit Every Caterer's Situation

Catering jobs come in all sizes, from small gatherings to large venues. In fact, CVap ovens and holding cabinets are available in a wide range of sizes, from the large 14-pan to the under-counter 4-pan model. Indeed, CVap Hold and Serve Drawers are designed for small spaces, perfect for kiosks, food trucks, and serving stations. Though they’re small, they deliver the same high performance as our larger CVap models.

Of course, mobility is a frequent necessity for caterers. To that end, CVap equipment features casters, making it easy to shift it where you need it. Optional transport packages enhance mobility with heavy-duty wheels, push-pull handles, evaporator cover, and cord wrap. The fact that CVap equipment doesn’t require a vent hood or permanent plumbing means you can use it about anywhere with sufficient power available. Prepare food in the kitchen and roll it to the serving area without unloading. It’s easy with CVap.

Critically, Winston offers CVap in the size, configuration, and option levels that caterers need, whatever your volume or budget.

Need help deciding what equipment is best for your catering business? Contact us for one-on-one help to equip you to succeed. We’re happy to help!

caterer caterers catering events holding holding food large capacity serving food weddings

How to Pick a Holding Cabinet for a Commercial Kitchen

No matter what type of commercial kitchen you’re operating, there’s a holding cabinet that can benefit you. Holding cabinets are a crucial part of any kitchen that serves hot food. They save time and labor. Consequently, holding cabinets can increase your bottom line.

What is a holding cabinet?

Basically, holding cabinets are heated appliances designed to hold cooked foods at a safe serving temperature. Some warming cabinets do this well and some do not. Of course, the quality depends on the manufacturer and design.

Notably, people sometimes refer to holding cabinets as hot boxes, warmers, insulated warmers, hold and serves, warming cabinets, and other titles. Nonetheless, their function is the same.

Winston’s CVap® technology started as a holding technology. Colonel Sanders (yes, really) challenged our founder Winston Shelton to invent a cabinet that could hold his famous chicken for an extended time. Critically, the chicken had to maintain the infamously high quality that Sanders demanded. Shelton was up to the challenge.

Although the Colonel didn’t live to see the final product, CVap technology was the result. It revolutionized the foodservice industry. Nearly four decades later, CVap is still the pinnacle of holding cabinets.

All holding cabinets have the same job; keeping food hot until it’s served. Clearly, some do this better than others. It’s dependent on their design. Holding cabinets fall into four basic categories:

Dry holding cabinets
Passive humidity cabinets

Humidified holding cabinets
Controlled vapor holding cabinets

Dry cabinets

Dry cabinets are heated metal boxes. They’re relatively cheap, compared to other designs. Consequently, they don’t perform well. Heat causes evaporation. With no water reservoir in the cabinet, the evaporation is from the food itself. Food can only be held for a brief time before it starts to dry out. Since evaporation is also a cooling process, the food’s temperature can’t help but fluctuate. Dry cabinets can work for operations that only need brief holding periods. They work for operators who, frankly, don’t prioritize food quality.

Passive humidity cabinets

Passive humidity cabinets are a step up the sophistication ladder. These cabinets feature a small water reservoir within the cabinet. Typically, passive cabinets don't control the water temperature of the reservoir. Consequently, they don’t do a fantastic job at precisely maintaining food temperature. But they do provide a humidity source. Food isn’t the sole source of evaporation. Passive cabinets offer a longer hold than dry cabinets. Therefore, they cost a little more than dry cabinets.

Humidified holding cabinets

Humidified holding cabinets are another level up on the cabinet hierarchy. These offer a larger water reservoir than passive cabinets. Although many humidified cabinet makers boast an ability to control relative humidity (RH), that’s an empty claim. Controlling RH frankly doesn’t have much effect on food temperature or quality. It’s true, humidified cabinets are an improvement on both dry and passive cabinets. But they also typically come with a bigger price tag. Humidified cabinets aren’t bad. They’re just really not worth their premium price.

controlled vapor holding cabinets

Ultimately, the mac daddy of holding cabinets is controlled vapor holding cabinets. Namely, CVap holding cabinets. CVap cabinets feature a dual heat system of moist and dry heat. Consequently, they precisely control food temperature and moisture evaporation. As a result, they offer some of the longest holding times in the industry. Depending on the food product, CVap cabinets can hold for hours, with minimal loss of food quality.

What Can I Use a Holding Cabinet Holding Cabinet For

As the name implies, holding cabinets are used for keeping food hot while serving. Although they’re found in all sorts of commercial kitchens, they’re particularly well suited for high-volume operations. These include fast-food establishments and institutional kitchens (schools, hospitals, prisons, etc.).

Notably, holding cabinets cannot be used to reheat food – that’s a food code violation. But used with a little forethought, holding cabinets can reduce labor by allowing staff to prepare food ahead of rush periods. Depending on which type of cabinet you choose, holding cabinets can help you serve fresh hot food to all your patrons.

How to Select the Right Select the Right Holding Cabinet

When it comes to selecting the right cabinet for your commercial kitchen, there are several factors to consider. In the interest of transparency, we’re only talking CVap holding cabinets here.

Your Volume

How much traffic do you see in a typical day? Is it spread throughout the day, or does it come in rush periods? If your volume isn’t particularly heavy, you may be able to thrive with a smaller CVap unit, such as a holding drawer or half-size holding cabinet. There’s no point in paying for more capacity than you need. On the other hand, higher-volume operations may want to consider larger cabinets, such as an HOV5-14UV or HOV3-14UV. Clearly, larger cabinets increase your holding capacity, so you can maintain food at high quality throughout meal periods.

Your Space

How much room is available in your commercial kitchen? If you’re in a confined space, such as a food truck or concession stand, you obviously don’t have a lot of room to work with. Smaller CVap cabinets, such as warming drawers, holding bins, or under-counter holding cabinets are a good solution. Likewise, larger spaces can accommodate bigger cabinets, from the half-size HOV7-05UV up to the HOV5-14UV. CVap holding cabinets don’t require vent hoods, so there’s no need to utilize that valuable space. Optional stacking kits give you the option of stacking two cabinets, doubling the footprint capacity. There’s a perfect size for any operation or workspace.

Your Menu

What food products are on your menu? CVap holding cabinets provide an extended hold on any food products. CVap truly excels at moist foods, such as soup, pasta, and seafood. The moist vapor environment inside CVap cabinets really interacts with the food’s moisture, locking in freshness for a long time. Foods that you wouldn’t consider particularly moist, such as pizza, burgers, or steaks will also hold fresh for an extended time. Nothing can hold forever, but these foods will hold for a substantial time before losing quality.

At the upper end of the scale are crisp foods, such as french fries. Again, CVap provides a respectable hold. But the high differential temperature required to properly hold crisp foods will inevitably cause food evaporation to creep up. This shortens the time before quality starts degrading. Don’t get us wrong, CVap cabinets still provide a respectable holding time. But it’s important to realize that even the best cabinets have their limits.

Does your operation offer baked goods? CVap holding cabinets are also excellent proofers. You can proof and hold in the same cabinet, getting double duty from the same footprint.

Your Budget

The brutal reality of today’s world is that everything is getting more expensive. Geopolitical turbulence (we’re looking at you, Russia), persistent pandemics, and supply chain strain is ratcheting up the cost of everything. This is particularly true of stainless steel. Naturally, stainless steel is the primary component of virtually every holding cabinet.

Money is always an issue. But at rocky times like these, you may be tempted to go with the cheapest cabinet you can get, namely a dry or passive cabinet. But you need to look beyond the initial cost. Buying the cheapest cabinets will save money up front, but over the life of that cabinet, the decrease quality of the food served from it will add up costs over time. In the end, it may cost you more than you saved by buying the el-cheapo cabinet.

CVap cabinets’ precision and elevated food quality really are the better option. We admit, CVap isn’t the cheapest brand out there. But it is the best. CVap in your commercial kitchen gives you the assurance that you are serving food at the absolute peak of quality.

Winston offers CVap holding cabinets in three feature levels, tailored to fit a range of budgets.

Our lowest tier is Series 3. The 3s feature simple membrane controls. They’re easy to operate, even for untrained staff. Although they’re the simplest CVaps, they still deliver the precise hold that people expect from CVap cabinets.

Next up are our Series 5 cabinets. The 5s have capacitive touch controls, desktop programming, a USB port for programming uploads and data downloads. Eight programmable channels cover about every type of menu. Convection fans minimize hot and cold zones with the cabinet.

The top of the line are our Series 7 cabinets. Series 7 have all the bells and whistles as the Series 5s, plus a few more. Wireless NFC programming enables you to reprogram the cabinet with the wave of your Android phone. Convection fans can be turned on and off. And a probe option gives you accuracy the is simply unrivaled.

As you can see, there’s a CVap holding cabinet to suit every budget.

Your Mobility

Sometimes you have to move it, move it. CVap cabinets come stock with casters, so moving them around your kitchen, whether to clean or to rearrange, is no problem. If you need to really move it around, consider adding the optional transport package. This includes 5” heavy-duty casters, push-pull handle, cord wrap, and evaporator cover. It’s perfect for commercial kitchens that need to move hot food from one area to another, such as from a school kitchen to a classroom.

Ultimately, It’s Up to You

Nobody knows your operation as you do. In the end, you are the best judge of what you need. But if you need a little guidance, contact us. We’ll be glad to discuss your needs and options and suggest the best solutions for your commercial kitchen.

Cook & Hold CVap holding cabinet Oven School Nutrition winston

Wet Bulb, Dry Bulb, and the Science of Cooking with Water

Cooking, in all its forms, involves controlling water. That’s a basic fact. Heat’s interaction with internal moisture causes changes to food as it cooks. After all, food is mostly water. Notably, some foods are more than 90 percent water. So, it makes sense that food behaves like water when heated. Let’s delve into wet bulb, dry bulb, and the science of cooking with water.

Dry Bulb

Dry-bulb temperature is measured by a bare thermometer with no radiant heat affecting it (sunlight, radiators, Chippendales dancers, etc.). It’s what we think of as the air temperature. Wet-bulb temperature is a little trickier. Simply put, wet bulb is the lowest temperature possible under ambient conditions by the evaporation of water only. Sounds complicated, but it’s not.

Wet Bulb

Wet-bulb is measured with a thermometer covered by a water-soaked wick or other porous fabric. Remember, evaporation is a cooling process. Therefore, the drier the air, the faster moisture evaporates, and the lower the web-bulb temperature. Wet-bulb is always lower than dry-bulb. However, there is an exception. At 100% relative humidity, wet-bulb and dry-bulb temperatures are equal. Certainly, it’s physically impossible for the wet bulb to be higher than the dry bulb.

Author Nathan Myhrvold eloquently described the role that water plays in cooking in his book series, Modernist Cuisine:

Water is also the medium in which most cooking is done. Sometimes we use it directly, as when boiling, steaming, extracting, or cooking sous vide. Water plays a role in ostensibly “dry” processes such as roasting and baking as well, yet many chefs fail to account for its effects. Whether it’s a liquid boiling or simmering in a pot, a vapor rising from a steamer, the humidity in an oven’s air, the liquid circulating in a cooking bath, or the crushed ice in a blender, the unique properties of water come into play in all manner of culinary operations. Faced with such powerful and ubiquitous phenomena, cooks must learn how to manipulate water or risk being foiled by it.

Long before Myhrvold, our founder Winston Shelton discovered water’s role in cooking. He deduced that to control food’s temperature, you must control food’s internal moisture. This led to the invention of CVap^®(Controlled Vapor Technology). Shelton developed it as a hot food holding technology. But he realized it could also revolutionize cooking.

New Technology, New Words

Never limited by existing language, Winston fondly coined new terms. A significant Winstonism was thermoisturization. He defined it this way:

Thermoisturize: Taken from the words thermalize and moisturize…to mean the process of thermalizing while moisturizing. Also, ‘thermoisturization.’ The scientific world uses ‘thermalizing’ to represent the heat transfer phenomena in each of the processes. ‘Thermoisturization’ is coined to represent the simultaneous thermalization and moisturization of foods.

Our Corporate Research Chef, Samantha Brown, explains thermoisturization in more layman’s terms here.

The Laws of Thermoisturization

Shelton wrote The Laws of Thermoisturization. These explain the mechanics of controlling wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures inside an oven utilizing two heat sources. Ultimately, the reason wet bulb temperature control is more important is as follows:

The large amount of moisture in all fresh foods.
The enormous heat energy in water vapor.
The ability to accurately control the amount of water vapor in the food’s atmosphere.

Certainly, that’s a lot of scientific jargon. A much simpler explanation of CVap can be found in this quirky video.

CVap generates heated vapor from a water reservoir at the unit’s base. We refer to it as the evaporator. If food is cooler than the evaporator, the heated vapor condenses on food, heating it. On the other hand, food that’s hotter than the vapor temperature evaporates moisture, cooling it. Since evaporation and condensation are highly effective heat transfer phenomena, food temperature must equalize with the vapor temperature. Ultimately, food temperature is affected more by the vapor temperature than the air temperature. Food simply can’t drop below the evaporator temperature. This differs from other so-called “humidified” equipment. Only CVap directly controls food temperature via controlled-heat vapor.

Conventional Cooking vs. CVap Cooking

In a conventional oven, evaporation increases exponentially with the food’s temperature. Evaporation slows as food’s interior moisture decreases. As a result, the food dries out.
Indeed, evaporation is counterproductive for several reasons:

Evaporative cooling hampers the heating process.
Energy is wasted evaporating moisture instead of heating food.
Food quality decreases as moisture evaporates.

In order to serve at peak quality, food must be removed from a conventional oven as soon as it reaches the desired endpoint temperature. If not, food overcooks.

CVap Cooking

In a CVap oven, food moisture cannot evaporate until food reaches vapor temperature. Critically, food heats more rapidly in the absence of evaporative cooling. As food reaches the selected endpoint, its temperature stops rising. For that reason, food can remain in a CVap oven for extended periods without overcooking.

Relative Humidity is Bull$h*t

Some manufacturers throw the term “relative humidity” around. They claim better control over food quality via relative humidity. However, when it comes to food, relative humidity is BS.

Relative humidity is simply a measurement of how much moisture air can hold before becoming saturated. But it changes, depending on the temperature.

“Controlling” Relative Humidity?

“Controlling” relative humidity is a bit of a misnomer. Relative humidity can be the same percentage at a wide range of temperatures. You can have an RH of 50% with a dry-bulb temp of 62°F or 86°F or 150°F (and so on), depending on the wet-bulb temperature. Consequently, relative humidity’s effect on food temperature and quality is indirect, at best.

CVap is Different

That’s why CVap technology is so different. The other guys attempt to affect food by manipulating the oven’s air. But they have it backward. Only CVap directly controls vapor temperature, which dictates food temperature.

After all, do you want to heat air, or do you want to heat food?

CVap thermodynamics wet bulb

Retherming Brisket in CVap®

Brisket. Is there a better product to cook to celebrate May’s National BBQ Month? Brisket is incredibly popular, with a 23% increase in menus over the last decade. Whether you’re preparing these babies in-house, or are opting for commercially produced products, CVap ovens are great for retherming brisket without sacrificing quality.

To test the full range of products, we rethermed two brisket types. The first was a fully cooked, house-smoked, whole unsliced brisket. The other was commercially produced Hormel sliced brisket. Notably, both briskets were whole, smoked, and fully cooked. But the commercial product was smaller, roughly seven pounds. Additionally, it came presliced. On the other hand, the homemade product is unsliced and was about 14 pounds. We set them up in the same CHV7-05UV oven, with the same program: Vapor 170°F/Air 200°F. We wrapped both briskets in foil and placed them into the preheated oven.

Retherming Brisket - The Same, But Different

Although these were both whole briskets, they fell under different Food Code 3-403.11(C) requirements. The code requires that rethermed proteins hit their required safe temperature in two hours or less

Because the Hormel brisket was a commercially produced product, the code requires it to reach the minimally safe temperature of 135°F. Our CVap oven easily hit the mark. The Hormel brisket reached safe temp in a little under two hours. Clearly, the lower retherming temperature requirement, coupled with CVap’s high humidity retherming program, and the added ingredients (like phosphate) helped keep this pre-sliced brisket perfectly moist.

However, the food code requirements for previously cooked homemade brisket are more stringent. Code dictates that it must reach a minimum safe temperature of 165°F for 15 seconds. Our initial test reveal that this much larger brisket missed the mark on cook time. Unsurprisingly, this brisket, being twice as large as the Hormel product, took nearly twice as long to hit 165°F in the thickest part of the roast, between the point and flat. But no test is a failure, even if the results are not what we wanted. We headed back to the drawing board.

The solution was simple. We separated the whole brisket into the point and flat and wrapped them separately. Consequently, the two smaller cuts reached the required temperature within the two-hour limit. Although we didn’t test it, you could probably optimize the program by either decreasing the vapor and air temperatures or minimizing the temperature differential between the two (for example, Vapor 180°F/Air 190°F, or Vapor 190°F/Air 200°F).

Why Retherm?

What’s the practicality of retherming briskets instead of serving scratch cooked? Time. Briskets are a classic example of a protein you must cook low and slow to achieve the best results. Unless you can perfectly predict how much your operation needs on a given day (and plan accordingly), it is impractical to cook on-demand. But cooking ahead of time and properly refrigerating reduces the time it takes to retherm and serve. Think of it as a form of staging. Ultimately, anything that helps you serve faster and turn tables is beneficial.

barbecue BBQ beef brisket brisket CVap Barbecue holding cabinet retherm

Barbecue in a CVap® Oven – Smoking & Holding

CVap^® ovens are well-known for their versatility and precision. These qualities make them particularly well-suited for barbecue operations. Barbecue is the realm of low and slow cooking. And nothing does low and slow better than CVap.

We wanted to test the most popular proteins for most BBQ joints, pork ribs, beef brisket, and chicken. First, we needed the perfect rub.

The Seasoning Blend

Brown Sugar – 2 Cups
McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning – 1 Cup
Smoked Paprika – ½ Cup
Granulated Garlic – ¼ Cup
Granulated Onion – ¼ Cup

Prepare the seasoning blend and set it aside.

The Proteins

Pork Back Ribs – 3 to 4 Lbs.
Whole Chickens – 3 Lbs.
Whole Brisket – 17 Lbs.

The Barbecue Process

Pork Back Ribs – RTV5-14UV with the Winston Smoker Box

Cook Time approximately 5 hours
Cook Vapor 190°F / Air 220°F

Hold Infinite
Hold Vapor 135°F / Air 145°F

Holding ribs for an extended time in CVap ovens is beneficial to food quality. The long, slow heat dissolves the connective tissue within the meat. For pull-off-the-bone tenderness, we recommend a five-hour hold. To get fall-off-the-bone tender, extend the hold to six hours.

It’s important to remember that the cooking time depends on the size of the product and the orientation of the product in the pan. Here are a few helpful tips:

Get similar-sized ribs for a similar time cook. We used 2.75-3.25 Lbs.
If you get larger or smaller ribs, just adjust the time accordingly:
- Increase time for larger ribs; >3.5 Lbs. +.
- Decrease time for smaller ribs; <2.5 Lbs.
Increase time if preparing more than 5-6 ribs
- Increasing the thermal load increases the time it takes to reach the desired temperature and texture.
If you shingle the ribs to get more per shelf, you’ll need to increase the cooking time.

Remove back ribs from packaging.
Score backside (bone side) with a paring knife.
Liberally season both sides of each rib. Allow the seasoned ribs to rest for 10 to 15 minutes.
Place ribs onto a rack in the preheated oven. Keep placement in a single layer, bone-side down.

**Chef’s Tips – We recommend placing a foil-lined sheet pan on the bottom shelf, just above the smoker. This will catch the product’s drippings and make cleanup easier.

Engaging Barbecue with the Winston Smoker Box

Plug the timer into the wall and ensure the smoker box is connected to the timer. We like to use mixed wood pellets as the smoke medium. However, sawdust or smaller chips (no bigger than a fingernail) can be used.
Adjust the timer to start the heating element, and add your smoke medium onto the heating element inside the smoker box.
Place the smoker box on a sheet pan inside the oven on a bottom rack, just above the evaporator. The box takes about 15-20 minutes to preheat and start smoldering. We smoked the ribs for about 3-4 hours.
Press ENTER once the product is placed inside, and the smoker is filled and in place.

Whole Brisket – RTV5-14UV with the Winston Smoker Kit

Cook Time – 9 Hours
Cook Vapor – 190°F / Air – 220°F

Hold – Infinite
Hold Vapor – 135°F / Air – 145°F

Use the same barbecue seasoning blend as the pork ribs.
Trim the brisket’s top and side fat, and between the point and flat.
Season liberally on all sides, and in between the two muscles.
Place brisket onto a rack in the preheated oven.
Engage the Winston Smoker Box. We used mixed wood pellets for about 6 hours.

Whole Chicken – RTV5-14UV with the Winston Smoker Box

Cook Time – 3 Hours
Cook Vapor – 170°F / Air – 300°F

Use the same seasoning blend as the pork rib and brisket…yes, it’s that universal AND that good!

Pat the chicken dry and season liberally on all sides, under the wings, legs, and inside the cavity.
Place chickens on a rack in the preheated oven.
Be careful not to crowd.
Engage the Winston Smoker Box. We used mixed wood pellets for about two hours. Check internal temperature. As with any poultry, it’s important to cook to at least 165°F.

barbeque brisket Chicken cook and hold ribs smoking

Enhance Your C-Store Food Menu with CVap® Equipment

Shifting demographics is a catalyst for change in convenience stores (C-Stores). It’s no secret that C-Stores make little profit on gasoline sales. This is the case even when gas prices spike. Operators need customers to come into the store to increase profits. Undoubtedly, one of the best ways to increase in-store traffic is by expanding your store’s food offerings. This trend accelerated during the pandemic. Even customers who avoided traditional restaurants during the pandemic likely visited C-Stores. Certainly, offering a wider menu can dramatically increase traffic and profits for your store.

Why Optimize Your Convenience Store Menu?

Simply put, the more variety you offer your customers, the more foot traffic you’ll see. Folks are no longer content with warmed-over hot dogs or microwaved nachos. They want real food.

A terrific way to up your food game is by investing in better equipment. C-store space is limited. Equipment must be capable of a multitude of processes. Undoubtedly, the solution is Winston’s CVap equipment. CVap equipment streamlines your kitchen by eliminating unnecessary appliances. Indeed, CVap will help your C-store thrive.

Which CVap Equipment Does My C-Store Need?

Granted, space is limited in many C-Stores. Fortunately, there’s a CVap model to fit any space.

CVap Ovens in a C-Store

Need an under-counter oven? There’s a retherm oven and a cook and hold oven that fit the bill. There’s even a cook and hold oven model small enough to place directly on the countertop.

CVap Holding Cabinets in a C-Store

Need holding equipment? CVap Holding Cabinets run the size gamut. Notably, CVap Hold and Serve Drawers are specifically designed for small spaces.

Versatility

Without a doubt, you need multi-tasking equipment to make the most of limited space. CVap ovens can bake, steam, retherm, sous vide, hold, and more. CVap ovens can automatically transition to a hold mode. Consequently, there’s no need to remove the food at the cook cycle’s end immediately. Food stays hot and just-cooked fresh until you’re ready to serve.

Preset Programming

In fact, CVap equipment comes pre-programmed with eight popular settings. In addition, each channel can be customized to meet your exact menu. Clearly, no matter what grab-and-go food you offer, CVap is perfect for it. Moreover, you can lock the controls to prevent inadvertent settings changes. CVap produces perfect, consistent food, time after time.

No Vent Hood Needed

Indeed, CVap ovens don’t require a vent hood. In fact, Independent testing proved it (check local requirements). Consequently, this eliminates the need to utilize an expensive dedicated venting system. In addition, CVap equipment doesn’t need to be plumbed to a drain. In fact, you can place it anywhere with sufficient space and power.

c-store convenience convenience store cstore CVap

Bathless Baking: Spotted Dick in a CVap®

It may be a surprise to some but bathless baking is possible in CVap®. We recently proved this cooking process on perhaps the most snicker-inducing food in the English-speaking world, Spotted Dick.

The etymology of this curiously named dessert is a bit hazy. It stems from the Victorian Era. There are theories that the name of this steamed pudding refers to its similarity in appearance to a spotted dog (spotted = raisins or currants, dick = dog (or perhaps, dough). Whatever the origin, the name continues to amuse those who have failed to achieve a sufficient level of maturity. Probably to reduce bawdy jokes, one local council in the U.K. has renamed the dish “Spotted Richard.”

Unlike the puddings that most Americans are familiar with, the spotted dick is spongey and only slightly sweet. Most of its sweetness is from the raisins, currants, or other fruits it contains.

Behold our grand experiment in British baking. Traditionally it’s prepared by steaming on the stovetop. We wanted to test it with CVap bathless baking, a safer process that still delivers fantastic results. You can find the base recipe on Tastemade.com. We tweaked the ingredients a little, and of course, for gentle steaming in a CVap oven.

Ingredients

150 grams of Dried Fruit (Traditionally, you would use currants, but we used a blend of cranberry, blueberry, apricot, and golden raisins.)
250 ml of Water
250 grams Self-Rising Whole Wheat Flour (If you cannot find it at your retailer, you can “fudge” it quite easily; see below for ratios.)
80 grams Sugar
1/8 Tsp Salt
100 grams of Shredded Butter (Pop a stick in the freezer for more effortless shredding.)
Zest of One Lemon
280 ml Whole Milk

How to Make a Self-Rising Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tbs Baking Powder
½ Tsp Salt

Blend well before using.

The Bathless Baking Process

Preheat RTV/CHV-05 ovens to 200°F Vapor/200°F Air.
Weigh out all the ingredients according to the recipe amounts.
Place the dried fruit into an oven-safe container, cover with water, and place into the preheated oven to rehydrate for about 10-15 (or until the fruits look nice and plump).
Remove from oven, drain, and set aside to cool.
While fruit is rehydrating, place butter into the freezer to firm before grating. Use the largest grain size on the box grater.
The original recipe calls for suet. Suet is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb, or mutton, for those unfamiliar. It often has a little flour added to it as well. The recipe said that butter is a perfectly suitable substitute for equal replacement. As suet is hard to come by in Kentucky, we opted for butter.
Mix the dry ingredients and add grated butter, fruits, and milk until combined.
Transfer mix to pre-sprayed pans (we used ramekins and silicone mini-bundt pans).
Cook time will be dependent on the size of pans used:
1. Silicone Mini-Bunt Pans – approximately 30 minutes
2. Ramekins – closer to an hour
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from the pan.

As mentioned before, spotted dick isn’t particularly sweet. To make it more of a proper dessert, they traditionally serve it with crème anglaise, a.k.a., English cream (or English vanilla custard).

Bathless Baking Results

Preparing this dish the traditional way – steaming on the stovetop with extra bits and bobs- is inefficient and dangerous. Preparing it traditionally in a foodservice kitchen is particularly challenging. Creating this in a CVap oven is an excellent (and safer) way to bake this dish. Save yourself the time and trouble with CVap bathless baking.

All snickering aside, we thoroughly enjoyed our spotted dick. We made sure to accompany it with proper English tea, sipped with pinkies raised.

baking Baking in CVap bathless baking CVap spotted dick