The efficiency of a commercial restaurant has a direct effect on its market reputation and the footfall it receives. A kitchen might have the best of chefs and employees, but without the right equipment, even the best possible workforce cannot reach its true potential.
Having all the essential kitchen equipment helps your chefs deliver crisp, hot and tasty food throughout the day. Increased efficiency of your employees means a greater number of customers served every hour. The higher the number of customers, the higher the revenue and lesser the costs incurred due to wastage of food and raw materials.
Just as a man is known by the company he keeps, similarly, a commercial kitchen is known for the equipment it utilizes.
Below are the top 5 equipment pieces that a restaurant kitchen must-have to function adequately and profitably.
1. Ovens
Ovens and cooking go hand-in-hand. At a commercial kitchen where the orders are never-ending and time passing by in a hurry, ovens have a major role in delivering food at the earliest. Ovens help chefs to optimize their productivity by concentrating on multiple things at a time.
Consider the following factors when buying an oven:
Purpose: Does your restaurant only deliver a single or small range of products, or does it deliver a wide range of food items? Get a pizza oven if you own a pizza-only restaurant. For a large restaurant with multiple cuisines, get multipurpose ovens that do multiple jobs at once to ensure the efficiency of operation and space.
Size: Space is scarce in commercial kitchens. Depending on the number of customers you expect, you should consider your kitchen size and space you can allot for the oven before making the final decision.
Quality: Purchasing an oven is a long-term investment. An oven is not something you can buy often. Also, getting an inferior quality oven that stops working every now and then will have serious implications for your restaurant’s capability to serve food promptly.
From the various reliable brands available in the market, always read the reviews for every product and arrive at a decision only after ensuring that the particular oven has to offer what you’re exactly looking for.
2. Ranges and Ventilation
Ranges are an indispensable piece of equipment for any kitchen restaurant. Chefs use ranges for cooking a variety of items over electric heat or gas-powered flame. Ranges are used to fire up food in pans and skillets, boil water, and simmer sauces.
Ranges are of two types: Gas & Electric.
Gas Ranges:
Owing to their live flames, gas ranges offer better cooking speed and precision than electric burners. They also come in handy while there’s a power outage. With respect to electric burners, Gas Ranges have a higher risk factor due to the possibility of gas leaks or fires. They are also harder to clean.
Electric Ranges:
Electric ranges offer a uniform and even cooking but take long durations of time and incur a high electricity bill.
Ventilation:
Irrespective of the type of range, ensure proper planning for appropriate kitchen ventilation in your kitchen layout. During peak hours, restaurant kitchens can get pretty crowded. Better ventilation will keep the space more comfortable and maintain hygienic air quality simultaneously. Ventilation air volume – the rate at which air is ventilated through the ducts is an essential factor to consider. Cooking over an open flame requires a greater air volume flow rate than simmering soup or cooking pasta. Status pressure or the resistance the air experiences while moving through the kitchen space is another major factor when it comes to kitchen ventilation. Less resistance will ensure energy efficiency and better overall air quality.
3. Food Processors
Food processors make the work of chopping, slicing, blending, pureeing, and blitzing a variety of ingredients easy. A food processor comes in handy when making dips, dressings, and sauces or even for simply slicing up veggies.
The various types of Food Processors available in the market are:
● Batch Bowl Food Processors
● Continuous Feed Food Processors
● Buffalo Choppers
Consider the following factors before purchasing a Food Processor.
Power: The greater the horsepower of a food processor, the longer it can power through food processing jobs without slowing down or overheating. The RPM – Rotations per Minute affect how efficiently the blade cuts through food.
Attachments: The marketplace is full of combination food processor variants with an option to be fitted with batch bowls, continuous feed assemblies, etc. Furthermore, pushers and disc & blade kits can be purchased as add ons.
Manufacturer: Cuisinart is a brand that is popular amongst home cooks. Restaurants need far more sophisticated processors that are built for commercial use. Hobart, Waring, Electrolux, and Robot Coupe are some of the brands that deliver a high-quality product.
4. Mixers
Restaurant menus are incomplete without baked items like bread, cakes or pizzas. The preparation of these items is impossible without food mixers. Commercial Mixers are capable of more frequent use and can handle higher quantities of ingredients at once.
The various types of mixers are as follows:
Hand Mixers: These are also known as stick mixers or immersion blenders. These consist of a long vertical handle and sharp rotating blades at the bottom. Hand Mixers are ideal for quickly chopping up ingredients, blending soups and sauces, and emulsifying dressings without pouring ingredients in a separate blender or food processor.
Countertop Mixers: These are ideal for small bakeries and restaurants which only need to mix ingredients occasionally. Most home cooks have a version of Countertop mixtures for cakes, cookies, and bread.
Floor Mixers: Floor Mixers are a game-changer for restaurants and kitchens that require churning great deals of dough, batter and sauce on a daily basis. These large, heavy-duty mixers stand on the floor and mix large quantities of ingredients quickly and easily.
5. Salad Counters
People like to keep their meals a perfect mix of tasty and healthy. Consumption of salads along with regular food has seen a consistent spike over the years. This is why restaurants have been actively stationing salad counters.
The salad counters consist of:
By including a Salad Counter at your restaurant, you literally open your door to a wider variety of guests. And since a Salad Counter is an experience that can’t be enjoyed through takeaway or home delivery, it is currently the fastest-growing restaurant segment.
Types of Salad Counters:
Tiled Salad Counters: Tiled Salad Counters offer operational efficiency and an enticing look. The tiles can be made of resin-coated aluminium, stainless steel, or plastic cut into different types of shapes and sizes of foods, pans and crocks. Tiled counters are easy and quick to assemble.
Salad Counters With Food Pans: A cold food well can be easily converted into a salad counter with the help of food pans. Use full, half, 1/3, 1/4, and 1/6 sizes food pans whose rims can rest on the edges of a cold well.
Sujata Enterprises is a leading manufacturer of quality Kitchen Equipment in Mumbai. We provide an extensive range of display counters, Ovens, Pizza Ovens, Display Counters, and Salad Counters. We also create customised solutions for clients on special demand.