Win one of five £300 knife sets

Just as knives are an essential component in a chef's armoury, there is a much more modern invention now sited in many a commercial kitchen that chefs would hate to be without.

In 30 years the combi-oven has become the workhorse of the kitchen and one of the most versatile items of prime cooking equipment any kitchen can have. It uses dry heat and steam to perform numerous tasks, including roasting chickens, steaming fish and finishing off frozen bakery goods. But it really doesn't have to stop there, and it pays to ask your oven's manufacturer to show you how to get the very best from it.

Rational developed the first combi-steamer, as the combi-oven is also known, in 1976, and developments over the years have resulted in the SelfCooking Center.

However, the company's own research has shown that chefs often use only a small proportion of their SelfCooking Center's features, so it has introduced Chef Academy, a series of free one-day seminars for chefs who already own or operate a Rational SelfCooking Center.

To get the best out of the Chef Academy days, Rational recommends that chefs book well ahead and plan the questions and topics they wish to explore. Chef Academy seminars are now taking place regularly at locations throughout the UK and Ireland. The complete list of dates and venues is available at www.rational-uk.com.

To celebrate the launch of its Chef Academy, Rational is offering Buy It! readers the chance to win one of five sets of chef's knives by German manufacturer Friedr Dick, each worth £300.

How to enter

Five lucky readers who can answer the question below correctly will win this amazing prize. All entries must be submitted on a postcard by 15 August. Entrants should include their name, job title, company name and address and contact telephone number. Send entries to Buy It!/Rational Competition, Caterer and Hotelkeeper, Quadrant House, The Quadrant, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5AS.

The question

By which other name is a combi-oven known?

a) Combi-boiler
b) Combi-grill
c) Combi-steamer

The prize

Five winners will each receive a £300 chef's set by Friedr Dick, manufacturer of high-quality forged knives since 1778. The knives have long cutting edge retention due to specially developed high-alloyed stainless steel, ice-hardened with the latest hardening process. They come in a hard plastic case which securely holds all the items in place, folds closed for easy portability and, when opened, stands as a workstation.

The set comprises: 26cm chef's knife with forged blade, 21cm chef's knife with forged blade, 21cm slicer with forged blade, 28cm serrated-edge slicer with stamped blade, 23cm spatula with stamped blade, 8cm kitchen knife with stamped blade, 6cm peeling knife with stamped blade, 13cm boning knife with stamped blade, 18cm forged meat fork, 30cm round sharpening steel, orange peeler, lemon grater, Parisian scoop and potato peeler.

For information on Rational products call 01582 480388 or seewww.rational-uk.com.

For further information on Friedr Dick products visit www.dick.de/

And the winner is … The winner of the Shop-Equip competition to win £1,600-worth of café equipment in the 29 May issue of *Buy It!* is Christopher Phillips, proprietor of the Whitsand Bay hotel, Portwrinkle, Cornwall

Terms and conditions

1. This competition is not open to employees or agents of Reed Business Information or Rational.
2. We reserve the right to change the prize without notice, and no cash alternative will be offered.
3. The winners will be selected at random from correct entries, and the publisher's decision is final.
4. Reed Business Information will use the contact information you provide to communicate with you on behalf of the Caterer Group. We may also use the information you have provided to send direct marketing material from ourselves relating to other products and services that may be of interest to you. Your information may also be disclosed to other companies who wish to send you information about their products and services including our sponsor, Rational. This could involve data transfer to countries outside the European Economic Area. For further information and choices please visit our data protection page at www.reedbusiness.co.uk/dataprotection or write to us at RBI, Freepost RCC2619, Haywards Heath, RH16 3BR, UK.
5. The winner's name will appear in Caterer and Hotelkeeper and on Caterersearch.com.