May Day Bank Hol

Everyone deserves the day off on a bank holiday, catering equipment included, so Mid West will be closed on Monday. Many of us will be spending the long weekend relaxing, and our catering equipment is no exception...

Camping Combis
Our combi ovens are planning to go on a bank holiday camping trip. Thanks to their casters, they've been able to plan a lovely walk through the countryside to help them relax and let off steam. The weather should be baking hot, but the combis blanched at the idea of taking sun hats, so we reckon they'll be absolutely roasting. They are most looking forward to toasting marshmallows over the campfire - one of the few types of cooking they are unable to do themselves!

Gardening Griddles
Our griddles will be spending the long weekend pottering about in the garden. Nobody seems to know exactly whose garden they'll be in, as we certainly don't have one... Anyway, they'll be out in the sunshine, happily catching the rays (and reflecting them straight into the eyes of unfortunate passers by) and tending to the plants. They considered having a BBQ but decided it might be a bit daft, considering they're capable of cooking enough burgers and sausages themselves to feed a small army!

Our second donation to the Children's Food Trust!

As you may already know, we support the Children's Food Trust by giving them a donation for every item we sell. You may recall we handed over our first cheque back in January, which was for a whopping £8000. 

Well. We've done it again! Donation number two - a cheque for £6000 - was presented to Rob Rees, Chairman of the Children's Food Trust, a few days ago by our Sales and Marketing Director Lee Vines.

Lee said: “Over recent months we’ve cleared out a backlog of hire kit that has been replaced or upgraded as a result of stock bought by us to facilitate large scale events. We’ve made this surplus stock available to caterers at great prices – and made a donation for every piece of kit sold – so everyone wins.”

Rob said: “We’re delighted PKL has supported us with another donation. The Trust’s work, in encouraging more children, schools and parents around the country to have a positive experience with food is hugely important. This will help us reach more schools and more children in 2013.”

The Children's Food Trust is a national charity which aims to get children eating better, and its work includes developing healthy school menus and cooking skills with children.

A huge thank you to all our lovely customers for helping make this donation possible! We're continuing to put donations in the pot ready for the next cheque now, so keep buying your equipment from us!

Rice is Nice

Here at Mid West, we love food. A lot. So we thought we'd do a quick blog post in honour of one of our favourite types of food - Asian. From sweet and sour chicken to a good old tikka masala, we love it all. No Asian restaurant would be complete without that classic, versatile accompaniment to pretty much any dish though: rice!

If you cook lots of rice, then check out these beauties which we currently have in stock! They are in great condition and have only been used a few times too!

Rice Washer
These fab Fujimak rice washers can wash up to 100kg of rice per hour. With a compact design and hygienic stainless steel contruction, these rice washers are absolutely ideal for Asian or world cuisine restaurants and takeaways. As well as being great at washing rice, they are also an absolute bargain price! Nice.

Rice Cooker
Once your rice is nice and clean, you'll need one of these Fujimak triple deck rice cookers! Each deck comes complete with a Teflon coated rice cooking pot on a nifty slide-out mechanism for easy removal. These fancy-pantsy rice cookers automatically detect the steam temperature too, allowing the electric controller to know exactly when to time the cooking from. They will make sure your rice is cooked in a trice! Nice.

Happy Easter from Mid West

From everyone here at Mid West, we'd like to wish you all a very happy Easter!

In true Mid West style, we'd also like to introduce you to a couple of items of catering equipment who are particularly excited about Easter. Meet two of Blast Chiller Cat's closest friends, Hoppy the Hot Cupboard and Beaky the Undercounter Dishwasher...

Hoppy the Hot Cupboard

Hoppy is a lovely 1200mm hot cupboard that just so happens to think it's a rabbit. He has two shelves inside, each capable of holding three 1/1 gastronorm containers, and would be perfect for smaller catering requirements. With a warm and fuzzy personality to match his bunny-like ways, Hoppy also provides a warm prep area on top, making him small but versatile.
 
Beaky the Undercounter Dishwasher

Beaky is a chirpy little dishwasher who, despite his bird-like appearance, has a nice, quiet operation. He was bought new last year and has only performed at one event. He is quick and efficient, washing up to 500 plates an hour. Beaky offers two wash cycles and would be well-suited to life in a small catering establishment such as a pub or restaurant.
 

Watch out, more poetry!

Having read yesterday's epic poem in honour of World Poetry Day, Mid West sales guy Mike found himself suddenly consumed by a strong desire to communicate through the medium of rhyme. Accordingly, he sent over this marvellous creation which we feel compelled to share. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some more dodgy poetry courtesy of Mid West...

A lonely produce washer.
We think poor Mike has been
spending too much time in
the warehouse...

A lonely produce washer stood,
Amongst a set of durable goods,
All shiny clean it posed away,
To get itself sold to no affray.

Day after day it gleamed in vain,
For people seemed to abstain,
From buying the washer proud as punch,
It just needed the chance to wash some lunch.

This plucky washer stood its ground,
To its surprise it surely found,
A suitable buyer from Anglesey,
Who bought the washer and said “that’s for me”!

World Poetry Day - oh yes!

Well how's about that then? It's World Poetry Day and nobody thought to tell us! After our last attempt at poetry, perhaps it was for the best... Undeterred though, here is our latest offering. It tells the tale of some rather unfortunate catering equipment, but just as it seems all is lost, Mid West swoops in to save the day with our excellent stock of reasonably priced second-hand equipment! Naturally. Enjoy!

There was a fine stainless steel oven,
That decided to start up a coven,
It roasted and braised,
In a network of caves,
Not thinking of the repercussions.

Now all of these potions were fine,
Nothing more than a big waste of time
But the lack of extraction
Caused a reaction
With noises and smoke and some grime.

Nearby a whimsical griddle
Was learning to play on a fiddle.
It was singing a song
When the oven went wrong,
Causing the poor thing to widdle.

This startled a close by food chute
Who was happily playing the flute.
All its burgers fell out
And splatted about -
The effect was not very cute.

For a passing by janitor sink
The fright took it right to the brink,
And with a small sigh
It keeled over and died
And landed with an almighty “clink!”

Luckily in stepped Mid West
And replaced these daft items with zest.
When your equipment is dead
Don’t take to your bed!
You can buy more from us (we’re the best!).

International Happiness Day!

Today is the first ever United Nations International Day of Happiness. We are naturally happy people here at Mid West, so we've put together a quick list of things you can be happy about too!

The happiest servery in the world

1. We have loads of nearly-new catering equipment bargains in stock! This should make you happy, as you can buy yourself a fab item of equipment for a fraction of its RRP!

2. You can be happy in the knowledge that for every item you buy from us, we will make a donation to the Children's Food Trust to support their work on a number of children's food issues. Warm fuzzy feelings all round!

3. If you are a regular reader of our blog, you will know that every item of our equipment has its own little personality, from the sweet-natured Blast Chiller Cat, to Terry the Tray Dispenser, to (the rather terrifying) Vanessa the Veg Prep. By giving one of these little fellows a home, you will have a new friend in your kitchen. It's a bit like buying a pet. And pets make people happy. Fact.