Students at Calwell High School participated in an induction cooking session with Karim Haddad from Cuppacumbalong Homestead. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
The next generation of Canberra chefs have been getting hands-on experience with the next generation of hospitality equipment thanks to the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD)’s Commercial Kitchen Showcase.
The showcase – which runs until 13 March – features top of the line induction cooktops, grills, wok burners and more to help Canberra businesses transition away from gas in line with the ACT Government’s plan to be fossil fuel-free by 2045.
On Friday (7 March), hospitality students from Calwell High School visited the Commercial Kitchen Showcase with teacher Cathy Wyatt to participate in a cooking demonstration run by Karim Haddad from Cuppacumbalong Homestead.
The year 9 and 10 students currently cook on older electric cooktops in the school kitchens, so this was the first opportunity for many of them to cook with induction.
Emily Flowers from the Climate Change and Energy area of EPSDD said that they were keen to get young people used to working with induction early on.
“In the future there won’t be gas kitchens. CIT has gone all electric and all the apprentices coming out of there will be fully trained on induction,” she told Region.
“Kids learn best when they’re doing things themselves, so we’ve enjoyed welcoming in smaller groups of students to have that hands-on experience where they are learning from some of Canberra’s best chefs.”
One group of students chopped up ingredients to cook a stir fry using an induction wok burner, and another pair grilled chicken thighs. Students were also impressed at how quickly pots of water came to the boil, and tried their hand at flipping omelettes.
Sharing the meal, the students gave feedback on their first induction experience:
“It was really fun! I liked the omelette the best.”
“The chicken got really hot on the grill: there were flames like three times!”
“Even though the pans got really hot, it wasn’t hot for us standing next to it. Just really smoky from the grill.”
“I like doing cooking at school because it’s a good opportunity to try out different things and see what we like.”
Karim said his team had converted from gas to induction at Cuppacumbalong Homestead with the help of the government rebate (up to $10,000), which is how he got involved in the program.
“It’s pretty easy to swap over. I think people just get set in their ways, but it’s about being flexible with what you’ve got,” he explained.
“Our kitchen is about 5 degrees cooler without the gas burner, the air is much cleaner, it’s fast and it’s so easy to clean. To clean the gas stove took three quarters of an hour, but this takes just minutes. I love it.”
In addition to school groups, the commercial kitchen showcase has welcomed industry groups, business owners, chefs and other hospitality professionals to see everything that’s on offer, and have a go at some of the equipment.
Traditional commercial kitchens have relied heavily on gas stoves, so Emily Flowers said that giving the industry plenty of time and help to transition will be key to making sure they’re on board with the climate targets set by the government.
“The real success has been seeing skeptics come along saying ‘you can’t do this or that with induction’ and then realising that it is possible.”
The Commercial Kitchen Showcase is on at The Vault, 1 Dairy Road, Fyshwick, and will run until 13 March. Find out more about the events on offer.
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