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Articles by Michael Sherer
Standardizing Assessment of Gynecologic Brachytherapy Contours: A Pilot Study in Contour Competency Assessment for Radiation Oncology Residents
Radiation oncology trainees may benefit from more standardized competency-based assessment in practical skills such as contouring which are presently only assessed observationally by attendings. This is especially true in the world of gynecologic brachytherapy, given trends of declining brachytherapy utilization, lower competence reported by graduating residents, and low institutional brachytherapy volumes.
7 Water-Saving Ideas
Why worry about saving water? This past winter and spring brought plenty of rain and snow to areas around the country. Even California eased some of its drought restrictions following rain and snowfall that dramatically changed conditions in many parts of the state. But there are at least three reasons to care about conserving.
Where To Start Your Search For a Walk-In
Foodservice facilities are often literally built around walk-in refrigerators and freezers. As one of the larger, more permanent pieces of equipment in the kitchen (along with your exhaust hood), it’s also one of the more critical. A power outage or broken compressor can result in the loss of tens of thousands of dollars in food.
Symphony performance soars
The Wartburg Community Symphony offered patrons something completely different on Saturday afternoon, 18 February, in Neumann Auditorium. At the risk of sounding trite, the ensemble offered a program “for the birds” — literally. Four pieces, under the umbrella theme “Music Takes Flight,” incorporated avian themes.
Association Between Prostate-Specific Antigen Screening and Prostate Cancer Mortality Among Non-Hispanic Black and Non-Hispanic White US Veterans
Key Points Question What are outcomes after prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening among non-Hispanic Black men, and how do they compare with those among non-Hispanic White men? Findings In this cohort study of 45 834 US veterans, PSA screening was associated with decreased risk of prostate cancer–specific mortality (PCSM) among Black men and White men. Compared with less frequent screening, annual screening was associated with decreased risk of PCSM among Black men but not among White men.
“… if you can keep it!”
Benjamin Franklin was returning to his home after a walk through central Philadelphia. At the front door of his home, he was hailed by thirty-year-old Alexander Eagelton, an up-and-coming local journalist. Eagelton had bent Franklin’s ear on several occasions, most frequently before, during and after meetings of the Constitutional Convention at the Pennsylvania State House. “You have a minute, Ben?” Franklin hesitated.
4 Fryer Maintenance No-Nos
Can you think of a restaurant that doesn’t have a fryer? Sure, they’re out there, but we like those crispy, hot fried foods so much that the idea of an operation without a fryer seems quite rare. Not only do fryers cook up the foods we love, but they’re just versatile enough to pinch hit when some of your other cooking equipment is tied up, like “roasting” fingerling potatoes or vegetables when your ovens are full, for example.
From Water to Wind and Solar: The End of an Era
It can credibly be argued that the city of Waverly, Iowa, is located where it is because of a pile of rocks in the middle of a river. William P. Harmon, who founded the community in 1852, selected the site because of a natural fall of water, over rocks in the Cedar River. He saw an opportunity to generate energy. Harmon’s entrepreneurial spirit led him to have a wooden dam constructed (on the site of today’s existing Waverly dam). That provided power to drive a sawmill.
How to Maintain Your Steamer
Certified CFESA Master Technician Andy Fiedler, of Gary’s East Coast Service, works on a steamer in the company’s shop. Courtesy of Gary’s East Coast Service. Two huge advantages to steamers in today’s foodservice environment are speed and freshness. Steamers can cook or reheat nearly anything that doesn’t require browning or baking, and because steam transfers heat anywhere from 24 to 34 times more efficiently than air (depending on variables), they’re incredibly fast.
RANDOM REFLECTIONS FROM AN OLD SOUL: A toxic legacy for the U.K.
My wife Kathe and I were great fans of “Downton Abbey,” the Masterpiece Theater series that ran several seasons on PBS. When we had the opportunity to visit our younger daughter in London, U.K., the three of us took the train out to visit Highclere Castle, the site of the filming. I walked through this pretentious dwelling thinking, “Who needs this much room?
Follow These Ventilation Rules
Following the rules when it comes to caring for commercial kitchen ventilation systems can keep utility bills under control, customers and employees comfortable and your operation running safely. Here are three rules to keep in mind: If the door is hard to open, something’s wrong.
1 Product 4 Ways: Gearing Up for a Juice Bar
Waring's WJX80 relies on a high rpm to separate juice from pulp for a quality product. Technomic expects more cleansing menu items, such as immunity boosters and new leafy greens, to show up in foodservice operations this year. Fresh juices could play a part, and a range of juicers and juice extractors exist for all types of applications. Here are four lined up at the bar.
Immunotherapy and radiation therapy sequencing: State of the data on timing, efficacy, and safety
Review Article Jyoti S. Mayadev MD Corresponding Author jmayadev@ucsd.edu orcid.org/0000-0003-4786-8192 Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California Corresponding Author: Jyoti S. Mayadev, MD, Gynecologic Oncology Radiation Services, University of California San Diego, 3855 Health Sciences Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093 (jmayadev@ucsd.edu).
What to Consider When Choosing a Rotisserie Oven
Rotisserie ovens can hold anywhere from eight to 80 chickens so, think through your capacity requirements. Also consider whether your operation demands a continuous- or batch-cooking model and gas or electric power. Courtesy of Rotisol. Rotisserie ovens can help present food as theater, serving as a warm, welcoming and well-lit stage for the stars of the show, from whole chickens to ribs, roasts, pork loin and even vegetables and pastries.
Improving Indoor Air Quality
There still may be much scientists don’t know about COVID-19, but the one thing they do agree on is that it’s transmitted from one person to another primarily through the air. The virus hitches a ride in either droplets or even smaller particles, which are aerosolized. Though you’re much less likely to get infected from the latter, the best defense against either are physical distancing, wearing masks and adequate airflow.
Equipment Comparison Blast Chillers
Even with million of jobless claims filed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding skilled employees as restrictions on restaurants eventually lift likely still won’t be easy. “The labor challenges (in terms of recruitment and training) that were seen before the crisis could potentially be worse as former employees find other opportunities,” market researcher Technomic notes in its Post-Pandemic Playbook.
How to Spec Induction for Production Cooking
With more municipalities banning new natural gas hook-ups due to climate change concerns, more operators are taking a closer look at induction as the way to electrify their kitchens in the future. Until recently, induction cooking largely has been relegated to countertop hobs used for light kitchen duty or display cooking on buffet lines or in cafeterias.
How to Spec Undercounter Ice Machines
As ice-making technology becomes increasingly efficient, manufacturers continue to introduce compact undercounter models that put ice where you need it. Instead of schlepping buckets of ice from the main kitchen to behind the bar or a server station, you have the option of making it on the spot. These machines also make sense in a small cafe, coffee shop, doctors’ lounge or a break room that doesn’t have the space or the need for a traditional modular ice machine and bin.
How to Spec Refrigerated Chef Bases
Busy cooks don't have time to constantly run back to a walk-in to grab menu ingredients. Refrigerated chef bases solve problems by keeping chilled product at the ready just below cooking equipment. Courtesy of Traulsen With speed of service top of mind for so many operators, having enough product close at hand is key. Having a line cook hustle back to the walk-in during a busy lunch rush can cost precious minutes and throw everyone off their rhythm.
2020 Management Excellence Award Winner: University of California Santa Barbara Dining Services
Home » 2020 Management Excellence Award Winner: University of California Santa Barbara Dining Services NONCOMMERCIAL OPERATOR No. of Employees: 243 FTE; 1,100 PTE No. of Locations: 24 (10 retail; 9 franchise; four dining commons; guest house restaurant) Meals per Day: 19,000 Annual Retail Sales: $1.8 million Annual Revenue: $53 million Department Motto: “Prepared with passion, served with excellence.” Jill Horst is the very embodiment of the motto used by the department she heads.
2020 Management Excellence Award Winner: SCOPOS Hospitality Group
CONSULTANCY Headquarters: Ephrata, Pa. Founded: 2009 No. of Employees: 25 No. of Locations: 1 Company Mottos: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” — Abraham Lincoln “Disrupt or be disrupted.” Andrey Teleguz, founder and principal of SCOPOS Hospitality Group, epitomizes the American Dream. Refugees from Ukraine, Teleguz’s parents emigrated to the U.S. with him when he was 9. Once here, they told him he was free to do whatever he set his mind to.
My Equipment Wishlist: A Smart Countertop
Mark Freeman is widely known in foodservice circles as an innovator. The global foodservice strategy manager, Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., (and former senior manager of global dining services for Microsoft) shared with Foodservice Equipment Reports his ideal vision for a serving counter of the future. The dream: A smart countertop that senses when a person is approaching and flashes information about the products on display.
How to Spec Custom Serving Counters
Foodservice operators can specify basic portable serving counters—and for many facilities, that may be a perfect fit. But if you’re a corporate or healthcare dining provider or a university with cafeteria facilities, you know that serving counters play an outsize role in how you present and serve food. Done well, the right counter—plus great food—can help you attract and retain customers.
Get Organized With Dry Storage Shelving
With footprints constantly shrinking, kitchens never seem to have enough storage. It’s hard enough to find space in the walk-in when deliveries of produce or fresh meats arrive. But it’s just as challenging when dry goods come through the door to find places to store things out of the way or keep them handy when and where they’re needed. Finding space for dry food ingredients, paper goods and supplies can be a lot easier with the right shelving.
The Right Way to Clean Shelves at Your Operation
Shelves of every kind and all materials, even antimicrobial, need regular cleaning. Too often, though, employees overlook them or improperly clean them. Storeroom shelves, in particular, are left untended for long periods of time, with employees only cleaning them when something spills. Also ignored are high shelves and shelves around areas like cashier’s stations, bussing stations and drive-thru service areas. How employees clean shelf surfaces matters, too—particularly stainless.
Development and Usage of eContour, a Novel, Three-Dimensional, Image-Based Web Site to Facilitate Access to Contouring Guidelines at the Point of Care | JCO Clinical Cancer Informatics
Variation in contouring quality by radiation oncologists is common and can have significant clinical consequences. Image-based guidelines can improve contour accuracy but are underused. We sought to develop a free, online, easily accessible contouring resource that allows users to scroll through cases with 3-dimensional images and access relevant evidence-based contouring information.
Canopy Hoods: Tips on Specifying the Right Model
Canopy hoods are what you'll find in most operations as the central focus of a commercial kitchen ventilation system. In contrast to proximity hoods, which are closely coupled with appliances under them, canopy hoods give you the flexibility to locate most cooking equipment under them, in virtually any configuration (though some lineups are better than others).
The Ultimate Guide to Buying a Pizza Prep Table
The typically raised, angled refrigerated rail holding ingredient pans on pizza prep tables makes them ideal for assembling pizzas. Dispersing toppings onto pizza crusts is easy, and a deep prep area of 14 inches to 19 inches, with cutting board, provides enough room to prep extra large pies. (Sandwich prep tables, on the other hand, have a flat top surface and shallower prep/cutting board area of 8 inches or 9 inches.
PRIDE: What's New with Energy Star-Rated Ice Machines
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Ice Machine Sizing Guide
Think you know what size ice maker you need? Think again. Consider every area of your operation that uses ice (and what type), calculate needs for peak periods and then factor in a 20% safety margin. If your busiest day is far busier than other days of the week, remember that storage is cheaper than production—let your unit make ice at night and during the rest of the week to fill bins that will help you get through peak periods. Here are some estimates:
What's New with Energy Star-Rated Ice Machines
Automatic commercial ice maker manufacturers faced a double-whammy 18 months ago when new efficiency standards took effect. As of Jan. 1, 2018, all new ice makers had to meet updated Department of Energy Appliance Standards. At the same time, the DOE’s Energy Star program raised the bar to qualify for its seal of approval with the release of its Version 3.0 standards. What it means for operators is that, now, any new model of ice machine you buy will be even more energy-and water-efficient.
5 Common Ice Machine Mistakes to Avoid
Few breakdowns are worse in a busy operation than running out of ice in the midst of a rush. Here are some common errors operators make in choosing and owning ice machines and how to side-step them. 1. Underestimating how much ice you need. Too often, operators purchase either an undersized ice maker or a bin that’s too small.
How to Keep Ice Machines Clean
Ice is food, and like any other food in a kitchen it should be produced with equipment that’s clean and sanitary. Most municipal tap water is chlorinated to kill microorganisms and make it safe for drinking. However, operators shouldn’t use chlorinated water in an ice maker for two reasons: it can damage internal parts of the machine, and when ice melts it releases chlorine gas quickly, which can give your beverages an off odor and taste.
Equipment Comparison: Advantages of Dry Hot Wells
If you're drilling for oil or water, the last thing you want is a dry well. Until recently, the same was true for foodservice operators; a dry well on your steam table meant the possibility of food held at improper temperatures, excessive lime and scale buildup, scorched equipment or even a burned-out heating element from getting to hot. Steam tables can have other challenges too.
Hot Transport: Mobile Hot Holding Cabinets
At one time or another, most foodservice operations need to move quantities of food from point A to point B. Whether you have a restaurant catering an off-site event, a commissary servicing satellite dining rooms or a production kitchen regularly moving food short distances, a hot holding cabinet on wheels makes the task easy. While you may think these hot boxes are primarily for facilities that produce food in bulk, more and more operators of all stripes are putting them to good use.
Couple Joan Rivers Married Weeks Before Death Remember the Legend
Five years ago this June, journalist Jed Ryan discovered that the late Joan Rivers was doing a book signing at the Barnes & Noble in New York City’s Union Square for her latest title, Diary of a Mad Diva. Both Jed and his then boyfriend, Joseph Aiello, were big fans of the comedian and decided to check out the signing. “The event was running late,” Jed explains in an exclusive interview with Closer Weekly, “and Joan took a while to actually start.
What To Know About Product Warranties
Purchasing foodservice equipment is like buying a new car. It’s an expensive investment that needs protection and maintenance. But by the point in the purchase when the dealer or manufacturers’ rep reviews the warranty with you, your eyes are glazing over. After all, it’s a new piece of equipment. What could happen, right? Knowing what the warranty covers—and doesn’t cover—for what period of time, and under what conditions is important. The Value Of A Warranty Warranties accomplish several goals.
Fabrication Education: How, When and Why to Spec Custom Fabrication in Your Kitchen
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How, When and Why to Spec Custom Fabrication in Your Kitchen
Look up fabricate in the dictionary, and you’ll come across definitions like “invent,” “create,” “construct,” “build,” “manufacture,” “produce” and “make up.” When it comes to communication, fabrication is at best a good story and at worst intentional deception. But as far as your kitchens are concerned, fabrication is a must.
FER Industry Service Awards
Good things happen when everyone works together. Each of the FER 2019 Industry Service Award recipients have volunteered their time and professional skills to the industry for years and in many ways, from serving on association boards and committees to participating on judging panels and doing volunteer work. They have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with their peers to make a positive, lasting impact. And they do it all with passion, modesty and kindness. The results are impressive.
Part Of The Process: Powered Food Processors
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, to borrow Shakespeare, but a food processor can be many things to many people. The phrase connotes something akin to that residential kitchen appliance most of us have—a plastic, straight-sided bowl on top of an engine housing, in which we can put various cutting discs or blades. The versatile machine can slice, grate, chop, mix and emulsify all kinds of food products.
Management Excellence Awards | 2019-01-01 | Foodservice Equipment Reports
What makes a company or organization exceptional? Hiring the right people, providing a culture in which they can thrive and letting them not just do their jobs, but excel at them. And without exception, well-run companies and departments have strong leaders who understand that their team members’ “job” is taking care of customers— whoever those customers may be. These are the common threads we found in the seven honorees for the FER 2019 Management Excellence Awards.
Young Lions
Initiative, getting in the trenches, love of learning, problem solving... Recurring themes abound in our Young Lion profiles for 2019. These six professionals—representing various channels of our industry—all learned from the ground up. Many of them started learning their businesses while in high school and college, several are family legacies.
Recounts likely in Florida governor, senate races
By Michael Sherer | Washington Post Nearly two decades after hanging chads transfixed the nation, Florida is once again headed toward a high-stakes election recount, as vote margins narrowed in Democrats’ favor Thursday in the state’s marquee U.S. Senate and governor’s races. Hundreds of party and interest-group volunteers spent the day trying to track down people who had cast provisional ballots, seeking affidavits to prove their votes should be counted.
Recounts likely in Florida governor, senate races
By Michael Sherer | Washington Post Nearly two decades after hanging chads transfixed the nation, Florida is once again headed toward a high-stakes election recount, as vote margins narrowed in Democrats’ favor Thursday in the state’s marquee U.S. Senate and governor’s races. Hundreds of party and interest-group volunteers spent the day trying to track down people who had cast provisional ballots, seeking affidavits to prove their votes should be counted.
Safety Sentries: Temperature Monitoring Systems
We’ve read enough in the news recently about food safety failures at several major chains; it should give everyone pause that even the most well-established enterprises are at risk when systems aren’t in place. Your managers set an alarm when they lock up at night to ward off burglars who might steal your cash or equipment, or vandalize your operation. But other thieves—improper food temperatures, primarily—will happily rob your business, and they don’t have to break and enter to do it.
Safety Sentries
We’ve read enough in the news recently about food safety failures at several major chains; it should give everyone pause that even the most well-established enterprises are at risk when systems aren’t in place. Your managers set an alarm when they lock up at night to ward off burglars who might steal your cash or equipment, or vandalize your operation. But other thieves—improper food temperatures, primarily—will happily rob your business, and they don’t have to break and enter to do it.
Vetting Equipment Dealers
If you’re in the foodservice business, odds are you have a relationship with an equipment dealer. Whether you’re a start-up outfitting your first restaurants at a cash-and-carry dealer or a large national chain contracting with a kitchen equipment supplier (KES), that relationship will probably change over time. Which means that at some point you’ll think about looking at a new equipment dealer. There are lots of reasons to evaluate dealers.
Door To Clean Dishes
On “Let’s Make A Deal,” Monty Hall would invariably reveal something like a goat behind door #3 before offering a contestant a chance to switch or stay with the door he or she chose. With high-temperature door-type dishwashers the deal behind virtually every door is a well-made dishwasher capable of knocking out up to 70 racks of dishes per hour. Even Energy Star-rated machines can wash up to 63 racks/hr.
Off The Grid
It’s bound to happen sooner or later. Some pie-eyed young couple who met in one of your stores wants you to cater their wedding in a local park. Or someone in your organization gets the bright idea of holding a corporate-team building retreat in the wilderness and wants you to provide meal service. Off-premise catering is challenging under the best circumstances.
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