# Hot holding sliced beef for service



## cherokee (Jul 1, 2008)

Can anyone help?

I have just started in a small bistro kitchen and we have a set menu on 1 day of the week. Normal menu, fresh cooked other days.

For the set menu day we have sliced roast beef and pork which has been roasted slowly to rare for the beef and medium for the pork. My problem is that I need to hot hold this meet for the 5 hours of service, its a small kitchen, I have a gas oven, which is not great at keeping steady low temperatures and a gas plancha (flat top?). 

Can anyone suggest the best way to hold the meat, hot and ready to serve. I might try to mock up Sous Vide by standing some water baths on the plancha but then I will have to convince the owner to buy a vacuum sealer and then seal the meat in portion bags for a service of 30 - 40 covers.

Can anyone suggest an easier solution.

Thanks


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## brandon odell (Aug 19, 2012)

How is the beef being served? If you are trying to serve it at rare or medium-rare, or probably even medium, you are going to have to hold the beef whole and slice it to order. As for what to store it in, the best piece of equipment is a plug-in alto sham or some other bin you can put a sterno in. You can't hold it in an inconsistent oven, and you'll likely overcook it if you try to hold it in a make shift steam well.

"Equipment" should be the first consideration when the menu is getting made. Unless you have a budget for it and the space for new equipment, you can't decide what you want on the menu before you decide how to cook and hold it.


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## joe rogers (Nov 27, 2012)

a c-vap, should totally work, although costly.


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## cherokee (Jul 1, 2008)

I can only dream of getting an Alto Shaam or similar, that would make my life so much easier, and Brandon you are so right about menu planning but this is a new job for me and work around here is not easy to get so I can't dig my heels in and insist on decent equipment. So far menu choices are the owners and don't get me started on that /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif, I will have to be here a while before I can start making changes.

So the beef is cooked to rare and then served medium, I don't really have a choice with that as the limitations of equipment mean that inevitably there will be some follow on cooking as the meat is held for service. Ideally I would serve it medium-rare but I don't see how I could hold it like that for a full service especially as he, so far, insists on holding the beef sliced and won't slice to order.


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## chefross (May 5, 2010)

There's not much you can do if the boss wants the beef sliced ahead of time.

Most places that serve a sliced beef, leave the roast whole and slice off orders as they come in. 

Try to explain this to boss?


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## cherokee (Jul 1, 2008)

Thanks for the help guys, in the absence of a hot holding cabinet I am going to have another go to see if I can at least get him to keep the roast whole and slice as required.

That at least will be some improvement /img/vbsmilies/smilies/smile.gif


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## cheflayne (Aug 21, 2004)

A pre-warmed cambro works well for holding food at temp. A less expensive but similiar system is a pre-warmed ice chest.


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