Food Service Restaurant Equipment Guide

Food service restaurant equipment varies from business to business. It is important that you consider equipment other than the traditional ovens and restaurant ranges. Hotplates are a type of cooking equipment which are self-contained commercial restaurant equipment appliances meant to be used on a countertop. They come with gas or electric heating elements. Since hotplates are portable many food service providers like using them because it allows them to continue cooking and occupy burners on their main range while still cooking other dishes on the countertop hotplate. Leading brands such as Turbo Air, Wolf, Dito Electrolux, Eagle, Vulcan, Garland & US Range, Cecilware make various models of hotplates. There are hotplates with open burners and hotplates with stainless steel induction smooth tops. Cheesemelters are also a countertop appliance that you see often at movie theaters and convenience stores. Typically they are used to melt cheese for appetizers like nachos however commercial cheesemelters can be used for baking, warming, melting, finishing and reheating various foods.

Commercial broilers & salamanders are also a great addition to your commercial kitchen. Salamanders are small broilers that brown the tops of food. Broiling is the cooking of a product near its heat element. A quality broiler yields tasty additions to any menu. Panini Grills are also a great piece of restaurant equipment. Dito Electrolux, Waring, Cecilware and Hobart are all manufacturers that make quality grills. They are great for making unique sandwiches, wraps, burritos and more. Griddles and Charbroilers are also tools that you should consider incorporating into your business. Griddles have a flat smooth uniform top while charbroilers have cast iron grates. Charbroilers are ideal for barbeque. Vulcan, Hobart, Dito Electrolux, Garland & US Range, Montague, Wolf, Eagle, Cecilware, Turbo Air all make state of the art griddles and charbroilers that heat up quickly and cook food evenly. Often times it is cost effective to cook food preserve it by freezing it and later heating it up. This is known as rethermalization. Food Rethermalizers also known as Bain Maries are tools that do just that. They bring products up to the right temperature. Lastly Kettles, Braising Pans and Steamers are superb pieces of equipment. Kettles are basically really large steamers that cook large contents of food. Kettles are great for making large quantities of soups, gravy and sauces.

Braising Pans also known as a tilting skillet are perhaps the most versatile pieces of equipment for a kitchen. They perform various task like grilling and steaming. In conculusion traditional commercial steamers do one thing specifically, steam. They come in numerous models. Some are gas others electric, some are direct steam. Quality steamers cut down significantly on the cooking of rice and vegetables.Please keep in mind before shopping for restaurant equipment, by purchasing energy efficient you not only saving the environment, but also saving money on you electricity bills.