We would like to thank our partner Oregon Food Bank for a Rapid Response grant of $5,000, which we used to help purchase a new set of convection ovens for our Bailey Hill Warehouse commercial kitchen. One of FFLC’s two sets failed after 21 years (it was the original set from when our warehouse opened in 1999!)
“The new convection ovens are fantastic,” said Dan Budd, FFLC Volunteer Coordinator and Kitchen Manager. “The first thing we noticed was the windows in the doors which allow us to check the appearance of product cooking instead of having to open the doors and effect the temperature.
The heat inside the ovens is uniform which allows more balanced cooking of food. Many ovens have ‘hot spots’ which creates uneven cooking and requires rotating the food as it cooks. This takes longer and requires more supervision.”
“These ovens are also on casters which allows us to clean behind the unit,” continued Dan. “With better maintenance and cleaning, this set of ovens should out live our previous set which lasted 21 years.”
The new set of ovens are helping to create better food for meal sites in our network, including pre-prep for meals served at the Dining Room. In addition to this generous gift from OFB, FFLC received an anonymous $50,000 donation in September 2020 to purchase a new oven for the Dining Room. This new equipment is allowing a much more efficient on-site prep period on serving days (Monday through Thursday). Thank you!