Oftentimes, planning ahead for a commercial kitchen can be daunting. There are so many options among all the various commercial kitchen equipment that it becomes frustrating to pick. From the right type of grill to the right heating options to the perfectly sized oven that suits your kitchen. Keeping this in mind, we’ve decided to make a commercial kitchen checklist of equipment you need to fully deck out your kitchen.
Before getting into the checklist itself, there’s some things you should consider when making an investment of this size. Buying equipment for your commercial kitchen depends on the following:
Size: Perhaps the most important factor. When furnishing your commercial kitchen, take measurements of your area in advance and hand it over to your commercial kitchen planner. You may have the budget for the best dishwasher but if it doesn’t fit in your kitchen then that creates a huge logistical problem. Also, decide how you want to optimize kitchen space well in advance. Most equipment fits in places that might be unconventional but make for excellent spaces when your kitchen actually operates.
Budget: Once you have an idea of how much equipment you can store in your commercial kitchen, you can also start figuring out your budget. Getting fewer good quality equipment in general is always better than dealing with multiple below-par quality components that need constant replacing or repair. Talk to your commercial kitchen planner for a good mix of both worlds. It also doesn’t hurt to invest in pre-owned equipment although not everything pre-owned works. In general, electronic appliances are best purchased new.
Ease Of Use: Most commercial kitchens do not need the most sophisticated equipment as the learning curve required for them can be immense. On the other hand it helps to be acquainted with the latest trends in equipment and technology to make the best out of operations in your kitchen.
Keeping these objectives in mind, here’s a list of equipment your commercial kitchen absolutely must contain:
1. Refrigeration:
Regardless of how much food gets prepared and moved out of your kitchen, orders can be unpredictable on some days. It always helps to have at least a reasonable backup of your produce so that prepping for last minute orders is not a challenge. A refrigerator or freezer works wonders in such a situation. You also need a place to store leftovers and prevent food wastage, which again points to a refrigerator.
2. Heating:
If you have a refrigerator that chills food, you’ll need heating in your kitchen to cook food! We are talking beyond microwaves here; at the very least, your kitchen should have one grill, one stove, one deep fryer and one oven. This ensures you don’t need utensils to work at one single stove.
Another pro tip that you would imagine most restaurants would scoff at, but in fact is an invaluable asset: A microwave. There are so many uses for a microwave even in a commercial kitchen that it’s quite frankly surprising that more restaurants make use of it.
3. Knives:
Without knives there would be no modern culinary history. Knives are the paintbrush for any great chef and as such as the keystone for any kitchen. There are a large variety of knives out there that suit every hand and skillset. Of course, chef’s knives are the choice of many chefs and cooks across the globe. The Japanese may know the art of knifemaking best but most contemporary
