Kitchen Upgrade Project

History | Need | Plan & Status

In the summer of 2009, we embarked on our 3rd building expansion project in the last 13 years! This time around it's the kitchen

History

The Ad Council of OCCUMC has recommended that we set up a Kitchen that; 

• Can be used on a daily basis 
• Prepare meals for shut ins 
• Prepare meals for small groups of 20 to 50
• Prepare meals for large events like our beef & spaghetti dinners

The Kitchen Committee is starting an information series to help our church community better understand what we need to do to accomplish these goals. Our kitchen is currently covered by the following codes and regulations:
Similar to restaurants we are regulated by the Wisconsin Food Code (WFC) under the HFS (Dept. of Health And Family Services) Chapter 196, in how we prepare and serve food to the public.
HFS 196.03 Definitions. (5) "Restaurant" does not include any of the following (b) Churches; religious, fraternal, youth, or patriotic organizations, service clubs and civic organizations that occasionally prepare, serve, or sell meals to transients or the general public.

So if we are not a restaurant then what are we? Interpretation by James Mack, the State of Wisconsin Food Safety Program Manager, we fall under HFS 196.03 (6) "Special organization serving meals". This means we can serve up to 12 dinner type functions per year with one inspection by a State Health inspector. Beyond that we are subject to restaurant status with more inspections because of a higher degree of possiblecontamination.

The kitchen has been a vital part of our church since it was built in the mid 50’s.  The original layout was developed by a representative from the Electric Company as part of a service provided by them at that time.  Since then there have been many dinners and functions held in the lower dining hall supported by the kitchen and many volunteers.

For at least ten years the Kitchen Committee has been looking to upgrade the facility.

In 2001 a kitchen designer was contacted and a plan was developed.  The future needs of the kitchen were incorporated by the plumbing design engineers in our last expansion project.  Hot and cold taps above the kitchen ceiling and a new 4” waste line from the restrooms on the first floor with sink lateral for a new kitchen sink on the west wall of the kitchen were installed at that time. 

Shortly thereafter a new double door refrigerator was purchased to replace the residential refrigerator we had been using.  The double door refrigerator serves us with greater capacity when dinners and pizza assemblies are held. 

In the past five years we have been using Doyle hall, after renovation, for dinner service.  This is preferred since it is on the same level as the entrance, has coat storage adjacent and does not have the humidity problems the lower level did during dinner service.

Regular fundraising has taken place for the kitchen upgrade.  Last year saw a major donation which has now brought the total collected to $35,000.

The goal has been to design a kitchen that will support our current needs.  A regular meal program or more than 12 full scale dinners in one year will require more equipment, space, restaurant permit, and regular health department inspections to meet the state standards of a restaurant.

The long term plan is to add a new space to the existing building on the same level as the current serving area.  The projected timeline for this is ten years out since it would double the cost and require restructuring of our current debt.

Need

The following needs have been identified for the project:

• To provide an efficient means to prepare & cook food for full dinners no more than 3 times in one year at the present time thus requiring no permit.
• To have the capability to expand dinners to no more than 12 in any one year with a state conditional permit & minimal inspection.
• To provide preschool with a place to prepare snack type meals.
• To provide means to clean tableware, dishes & pans per state standards.
• To provide secure storage for dishware pots & pans.
• To provide secure storage for dry goods.

Plan & Status

The Kitchen Project is making great progress! We broke the project into 8 phases. Thanks to 10 volunteers contributing 754 hours to date we have saved $37,700 dollars in labor costs. To date our expenses on equipment and supplies has been $ 8,973.53.

The first phase converted the former Hermie Bill education office, across from the kitchen, to a pantry with metal NSF (National Safety Foundation) metal shelving, washable walls and ceiling tiles per state health code requirements.

The second phase upgraded the kitchen doors and frames to durable commercial type doors. The long counter was removed and replaced with two 30" x 48" stainless tables with drawers. The remainder of this phase will add an electrical panel for the new equipment utilizing a three phase electrical system which is more efficient than the existing kitchen electrical system.

The third phase has moved the coffee service next to Doyle Hall with an area to better support dinner service. Look for a versatile batch coffee maker to be installed in the near future. Included in this will be portable insulated coffee shuttle containers with pouring spouts which will make it possible to have coffee served in other locations. The old parsonage refrigerator will be installed in early April after the floor is sealed. The youth group has supplied a specialty coffee machine in this new coffee area. Please support this fund raising project!

The remaining phases are currently being reviewed based on City and State Health Code requirements for public food preparation. We must bring our kitchen up to current health standards. Surfaces and equipment must be of a type that is easily cleaned. Look for a newsletter series ―Know Your Kitchen‖. Proposed Kitchen Equipment will have the ability to prepare large batches of food quickly. Commercially rated equipment is more expensive but is designed to meet the greater demand of large batch cooking and provides years of reliability as opposed to residential kitchen equipment that lacks the specification for long term large batch cooking under extreme wear and tear conditions. Equipment is listed by a testing lab such UL under the conditions it is intended for therefore residential equip-ment can not be used in a commercial setting. One of our proposed purchases will be a Convection Oven because cooking is more economically done with a Convection Oven that cooks at a temperature of 50 degrees below the temperature of a Conventional Oven and the Convection Oven uses air flow to not only reduce cooking times by 40% but maintain better nutrient value in the prepared food. The Convection Oven has only three dials (fan, temp, time) making it extremely easy to use.

We will be having some fund raising events to help continue our Kitchen Project. Look for further announcements around the church and in the newsletter.

Thank you for the support!