The competition celebrated Rational‘s 50th anniversary and was on the search for the oldest Rational combi-steamer in use in the UK and Ireland.

Lorna McCarthy, officer for facilities at Cwm Taff Morgannwg University Health Board, entered the competition with a 32-year-old Combi-Dämpfer model, manufactured in February 1991.

The vintage appliance is in daily use for the hospital catering needs alongside an additional two Rational combi-steamers, coming in slightly ‘younger’ at 30 and 22-years-old.

McCarthy said: “We are very excited to be the winners of the competition. After many years of using Rational combi-steamers, we are looking forward to expanding our catering operation with the new intelligent iCombi Pro.”

Arrangements are now in place for the installation of their new iCombi Pro 6/1-1 model, adding to the hospital‘s collection of Rational cooking systems.

Alan Higginson, regional sales manager at Rational UK, commented: “I was blown away by the pristine condition of the winning cooking system, it’s in full working order despite delivering consistently high quality hospital meals for over 30 years.”