Cooking robot: 'Ideal for cooking in large quantities' 

A chef who can deliver dishes 24 hours a day at breakneck speed, and always in consistent quality. What hospitality company doesn't dream of that? Hakvoort Professional proves that it doesn't have to remain a dream, being the first in Europe to introduce the Botinkit cooking robot. "Especially for companies that serve one-pot dishes, the robot takes the entire cooking process off their hands," says commercial manager Eric Harsta of the Emmeloord-based specialist in catering equipment and large-scale kitchen equipment.

At US supermarket chain Walmart and at Harvard University, it is already in wide use. If it is up to Eric Harstra, it is now also the turn of the Netherlands and the rest of Europe to embrace the cooking robot, which is already a great success in China too. The signs are favourable, especially given the acute staff shortage in restaurant kitchens. "The cooking robot automates many of the tasks usually performed by cooks, such as stir-frying, seasoning and cleaning, and can therefore take a lot of work off your hands," says Eric. "Wok dishes, pastas, soups, stews and one-pot meals: the cooking robot can prepare these types of dishes in just 3 to 5 minutes and in a quantity of up to 8 kg. This makes this ingenious device ideally suited to organisations where it is important to serve dishes quickly and in large quantities; think also of healthcare institutions and hospitals."

According to Eric, the cooking robot makes work in a catering kitchen better and more efficient, especially since you can master operating the robot in no time. "On top of that, only one person is needed to operate several machines. Thanks to the pre-programmed baking process, a constant quality of the dish is thereby always guaranteed," says the commercial manager. During a demonstration, he explains how to programme the machine so that the cooking robot automatically completes a complete baking process - including the addition of oil, dry spices and liquid ingredients. A display shows a step-by-step plan and alerts you during preparation when to add products. After a few minutes at most, the cooking robot serves the ready-made dish. Even cleaning the machine is automatic. A child can do the laundry.

Moreover, the robot can cook 24 hours a day if necessary and never gets tired, allowing you to relieve staff considerably. But does all this mean that top chefs now have to fear for their jobs because of this ingenious invention? The latter is by no means the case, smiles Eric. "With the cooking robot, we are not so much targeting starred restaurants, but more, for example, hotels with a small menu, meal caterers and wok restaurants; i.e. catering businesses for which it is important to get portions of a tasty meal dish on the table at lightning speed. For such businesses, the cooking robot will definitely add value."

The Botinkit cooking robot is pre-programmed with thousands of digital dishes visible via an accompanying app, which you can conjure up with the robot at the touch of a button, so to speak. "Currently, however, these are still mainly dishes from Asian cuisine," Eric explains. "The next step is to start feeding the cooking robot more European dishes as well, such as pastas and Dutch stew. For putting together those dishes tailored to the tastes of European consumers, by the way, we are currently in talks with a Dutch spice supplier." 

With that, it seems only a matter of time before the cooking robot becomes a familiar sight in Dutch and Belgian catering kitchens.