The absence of a well-designed and fully equipped commercial kitchen can hinder the potential of your food service establishment. High-end restaurants, roadside hotels, or even tiny cafés can use more commercial kitchen equipment to boost customer flow.
This article will break down the different classes of some of the most important products that can help your commercial kitchen stand out and the considerations that should be considered while procuring commercial kitchen equipment for your business.
Cooking Equipment
Stoves and ranges can be considered the heart of the kitchen in any commercial establishment; hence, a rigorous selection process should be exercised to identify the right one. Commercial kitchen stoves are most commonly heated using gas, electricity or induction.
Consider the availability of these three sources of heating in your locality or the nature of cooking that your business will do before deciding on one or more of them as the best choice for your work. The intensity of use plus the frequency of food preparation, among other factors.
Ovens are capable of baking, roasting, and reheating, and indeed, no matter what your business is, you will be certain to use them day in and day out. The nature of your needs is likely to be influenced heavily by the number of times your clients order for baking or roasting. Consider conventional ovens for a small restaurant or a café that produces a few items cooked at low to medium temperatures for long periods.
Grills: When considering equipment in a restaurant, we always see the presence of a grill since it is the best source for preparing dishes that could be liked by customers stocked up by the commercial menu, such as crisp meat or vegetables – grilled dishes are very rich. In the world of grills, the choice between gas, electric, or charcoal will depend on the type of dishes you want to grill and the various techniques you will need to use.
Fryers: Fryers in the category of fryers are usually deep fryers and are the best equipment to use when making fried food items that cannot be missed within the fast food industry, for example, fries as well as onion rings characteristically made of a certain type of fryers. When you are trying to choose a fryer for your business, you need to know the type of food you will prepare and the volume that will come.
Refrigeration and Food Storage
Refrigerators and Freezers: When purchasing a refrigerator and a freezer, it is mandatory that you look for one that can provide for the whole space required and can reach the temperatures needed, as well as doing so for as long as possible. Be sure to verify how easily the temperature controls may vary and to make sure you understand how to go about it in a simple way.
Reach-In Refrigerators and Freezers: These products are actually very performance-oriented, and they can help out in many types of very busy establishments like restaurants and all sorts of snack bars. Some of these machines have double or triple doors, enabling easy access to food and quick temperature control, hence following the safety standards necessary as far as food safety is concerned.
Display Cases: Display cases have become another very important component of the food business in refrigeration and food storage. Each of these cabinets is designed to allow the best practices in merchandising, best practices in food presentation, and higher levels of food safety in their application; hence, they are one of the most popular and effective instruments for attracting customers.
Ice Machines: You should always consider another cooling appliance when you are planning a commercial kitchen, one which is essential in the preparation of drinks that anybody should consider as complete such as cold teas, coffees, or shakes.
Food Preparation Equipment
Food processors are the magic wands of today’s kitchen equipment that can perform a myriad of functions, including chopping, slicing, shredding, and pureeing food, among many other tasks. That fine-textured sauce or that chunky vinaigrette for salads or an ultra-smooth potato puree, these little marvels of technology are a predominant piece of equipment for any food preparation process for a food service business. Additional equipment is used for making cream soups, mashed potatoes or any other purees for the input of the heroes of the menu.
Whiskers are another fundamental food preparation appliance whose importance cannot be overstated as they help in the incorporation of various ingredients, beating eggs for certain pastries, whipping cream to its fluffiest appeal or any other mixing task in the kitchen.
You want a Kitchen Mixer that is steady in function and able to deliver higher volume mixing in equal proportions of performance efficiency, quality and durability depending on the nature of products or baked items your bakery deals with.
Slicers are extremely versatile kitchen appliances that make short work of slicing meat, cheese, or vegetables to plan the exact amounts required during food preparation, thus improving work efficiency and consistently yielding identical cuts of products. You do not want a slicer that has too many small wheels and areas that hardly ever get cleaned, and hence, it may expose the meat or cheese to all manner of bacteria that may actually land in your food.
Choppers are the essential kitchen tools for cutting up ingredients like fresh vegetables and herbs, nuts, or even dried fruits, which form a major part of culinary arts as these diced ingredients are as much a part of cooking.
Cleaning and Sanitation Equipment
Dishwashers: These commercial dishwashers highly aid the tireless cleaning and sanitizing of numerous greasy, dirty plates or cups; it is thus essential to view them as one of the most important workhorses of your cooks and cleaners and highly important part of jobs in restaurants or the kitchens of large hotels.
Three-Compartment Sinks: The three-compartment sinks provide the biggest commercial kitchen silverware and the holy grail of the primary hygiene principles. There are widely known regulations that, if applied to the correct operation of these sinks while washing, will involve using the right quantity of water, completely rinsing all the detergent, and sterilizing using the right chemicals and temperatures accordingly.
Garbage Disposal Units: The garbage disposal is a must-have in a successful and hygienic kitchen. These units serve great advantages such as reduced odours and increased food debris management and should consider their buy when setting up such kitchens.
Additional Equipment
Cooking Utensils: It should be noted that no kitchen can deliver above-average-quality food and services expected of it without the appropriate cooking utensils. Saucepans and other utensils, such as pots and pans, should go hand in hand, and one cannot go without the other since they comprise the best set for the accomplishment of kitchen tasks. It is, therefore, advisable that all cooks conduct thorough research before buying kitchen utensils that will include forks, culinary tweezers, and spatulas, among others. It would be easy to measure what they will buy considering the activities they are to carry out and the available number of chefs in the kitchen.
Small Appliances: To further improve food quality and to serve customers quickly, one can consider investing in small electrical appliances such as blenders, toasters, coffee makers, and others based on the kind of menu offered and consumer demands.
Conclusion
When running a food establishment under the relentless pressure of time and the inherent challenges of the journey, we tend to forget about one of the most vital elements in any commercial kitchen: the efficiency, effectiveness and reliability that come with the right commercial kitchen equipment.
The right choice of kitchen equipment not only simplifies the whole process of food preparation and cooking but also helps to improve the overall efficiency of the kitchen, thereby enhancing profit margins while still making great-tasting food.
Therefore, in summing everything, to establish a satisfactory and prosperous commercial kitchen, it is not enough to equip the kitchen with any equipment out there; instead, it is crucial to fully understand the needs of the particular establishment and make the right choice.
