The 6,200-square-foot commissary centralizes many operations (such as vegetable chopping, salad prep, deli meat and cheese slicing, preparation of soups and sauces) that take place in many campus foodservice units.
The commissary also prepares sandwiches and premade salads offered as grab-and-go options in several campus locations.
The facility features climate-controlled rooms to allow for staff to meet food safety and sanitation standards. The temperature does not exceed 36 degrees F. "Employees wear special clothing and receive more pay to work in this environment," says executive chef Kerry Paterson.
Equipment in the commissary includes a buffalo chopper, food processor and vegetable chopper along with dicing machines and many storage containers.
The commissary also contains a blast chiller and cook-chill equipment such as 100-gallon and 50-gallon kettles, a pump station, and a turbo-jet water cooler/chill tank that can also be used as a sous vide cook tank for making soups, sauces, macaroni and cheese, beans, and muscle meats for burritos. "We want these products to be consistent throughout campus," Paterson says.
"With this commissary, we now have to replace fewer pieces of equipment in individual units, which freed up budget monies for the commissary equipment," says Juergen Friese, coordinator for facilities and equipment.
Friese's favorite equipment in the commissary is a high-production slicer that cuts cheese and meats. He also appreciates the vegetable machine for its speed and efficiency.
