Gwen Yamasaki

The purpose of an exhaust hood in your kitchen is to capture all the heat, smoke, and grease generated by the cooking equipment. If it fails to do its job, the grease and other particles will spill out making the kitchen less comfortable for your staff. And in many cases, undesirable odors and excess heat will make their way into the dining room and tax your HVAC system. New green building and heat illness regulations have introduced challenges to designers, environmental health specialists, and operators, who want to create effective and safe kitchen ventilation systems while remaining true to building and fire codes. Only well-designed and optimized exhaust systems will meet all standards. Learn how to optimize your kitchen exhaust system - whether vented or ventless, know when and how to use ventless exhaust, understand how kitchen electrification will affect hood requirements, and design systems that meet the energy and CalOSHA codes and standards. Learning Objectives: Research findings on indoor air quality in kitchens and dish rooms. See how space design and troubleshooting differ for various hoods, including with typical exhaust hoods, recirculating hoods and unhooded equipment. Understand upcoming revisions to Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations and […]

The California Energy Commission is currently pursuing many programs which are aimed at decarbonizing our energy infrastructure including all-electric cooking, space heating and water heating. The commercial foodservice industry has started to adopt efficient electric cooking equipment as the first step towards all-electric, zero net carbon kitchens. This class explains how the foodservice industry can take the most important next step towards zero carbon by addressing one of the biggest barriers: How to replace the traditional gas-fired hot water systems with electric heat pump water heaters. Learn how heat-recovery dishmachines, effective plumbing design, and decentralized, point-of-use water heating are necessary to make heat pump water heaters perform effectively in the demanding commercial kitchen environment. Learning Objectives: Describe the water and energy savings associated with heat recovery dishmachines. Understand the benefits of using heat pump water heaters in commercial foodservice. Understand how heat recovery dishmachines and heat pump water heaters can make each other cost effective. Speakers: Michael Slater, Engineer IV at the Frontier Energy, Foodservice Technology Center (FSTC)

This two-part class will start with a broad overview of all the induction cooking and holding products that are either available in the marketplace or known to be in development. From small countertop single hob units to full-size induction woks and ranges, there is a lot of activity from manufacturers. Next, the class will discuss when and why an operation would need to choose more heavy duty, high-input, induction products versus the lighter duty, lower-input units. In the second part of the class, Chef Mark will demonstrate several induction technologies, illustrating the advantages of induction cooking and holding using several different food types and cooking techniques. Learn how induction technologies will lower operating costs and help create the kitchen of the future and find out how to get utility rebates for purchasing induction equipment. Learning Objectives: Describe the various induction technologies available for commercial kitchen operations Understand what type of induction equipment is best suited for their menu choices and kitchen operations. Take advantage of utility programs and rebates that will help lower the cost of implementing induction cooking in their kitchens. Speakers: Mark Duesler, Chef Consultant at the Frontier Energy, Foodservice Technology Center (FSTC)