Tips & Features

Comfort foods shaped around richer, thicker, and more flavorful dishes should comprise the bulk of your fall and winter menu selections. If you haven’t already, start to warm up to the idea of a renovated menu for the cold weather seasons.

The seminal ingredient of a good kitchen is a state-of-the-art set of knives - or an even better alternative, for that matter. A well-crafted piece of restaurant equipment can make a razor-sharp difference in the cut, quality and efficiency of the food that's prepared in your kitchen. Here are some of the best tools to keep your eye on if you're looking to up the cut of your establishment:

Restaurant owners are quick to overlook the value of comfort foods in the United States. Chefs across the country produce innovative recipes that include exotic ingredients and are prepared in revolutionary ways. However, a good grilled cheese can also garner its fair share of attention from consumers.

Protein is a large portion of any restaurant business. Beef, chicken and any meat in between make up the bulk of many restaurant sales. If that's the case, why should you be limited in the way you serve or prepare these foods? Consider adding a meat grinder to your stock of restaurant equipment.

Analyzing the differences that gas and electric fryers present can help you decide which one is right for your needs. Here are some key points to look at!

The texture of a beverage or sauce is very important in the culinary world. Unless a recipe calls for something to be particularly chunky, the general expectation for sauces is a smooth, uniform complexion that allows for swift consumption. It is difficult for a chef to reach this goal using common restaurant supplies, as the human hand does not necessarily have the dexterity required to liquefy vegetables and fruit.

Delis and supermarkets often have their own chefs to make sandwiches for guests. However, without the proper deli meat slicer, workers may have a difficult time crafting the perfect sub.

Although many subs include a wide variety of meats, cheese and vegetables, the only required ingredient in a sandwich is a two or occasionally three slices of bread. A busy deli can go through dozens of loaves per day, and when baking bread on location, it can be quite time consuming for an employee to accurately cut even slices. Bakers looking to maximize efficiency should consider implementing restaurant equipment to help with slicing bread.

Many restaurants put a lot of effort into making sure that every item in a meal is homemade and properly taken care of. This can be a great way to easily improve food quality and customer satisfaction. There comes a point, however, when refusing to use kitchen machinery becomes tedious and takes homemade just a bit to far.

Cheese simply makes everything taste better - pizza is sprinkled with parmesan, hamburgers topped with a slice of american and even cheesecake has this wonderful dairy product incorporated in its makeup. Fondue capitalizes on the idea that everything tastes better when dipped in cheese, and adding a little wine to the equation never hurts. If a culinary chef is looking to add some new items to the menu, he might consider the gooey world of fondue.

Commercial food mixers can really change the way your restaurant is viewed. While some restaurant equipment is good for dedicated items, mixers are versatile machines, and can do many things for many foods.

With the rise of blogging websites on the internet, everyone feels like it is their personal responsibility to share their opinion with the world. Reviews on websites such as Yelp! range from perfect to utterly negative, and even a single poor review can result in a decrease in business for a restaurant. Chefs and cooks must take special care to ensure that food is prepared in a uniform fashion, and restaurant equipment can help them follow instructions to the letter.

Deli owners often prepare their meals for professionals who are taking a break from their daily responsibilities. Unfortunately, work does not always permit them enough time to enjoy a hot meal. Settling for cold sandwiches day in and day out can make breaks less enjoyable.

Restaurants employ a variety of skilled workers. The chef, perhaps, is the most important staff member in the kitchen, as the meals that he or she creates are what guests typically remember most. Of course, providing superior service can leave lasting impressions, too, but an improperly mixed Ceasar salad may just turn diners away for good.

If there's one thing chefs will usually agree upon, it's that there's never enough room in the kitchen. That's why it's necessary to come up with creative ways to make the most of the space you have.

If you work in a commercial kitchen, it probably grieves you to stop and think about the amount of wasted food that's thrown away each day because it was left to spoil. This can sometimes be an unavoidable eventuality. So there are steps you can take to reduce the amount of waste that occurs in your kitchen - starting with the refrigerator.

Your convenience store is designed for just that: convenience! And there’s no better way to get more people in the door and purchasing goods than to add food items to your store.

Restaurants are always looking for ways to stand out from the crowd. After all, when going out to eat, the typical patron has dozens of choices for where to eat, especially those living in a city. The only way to keep from being lost in the shuffle is to come up with a unique approach to serving meals.

Walk-in freezers are an essential part of any well-run kitchen. There are many items that just can't be found locally and fresh, which means you need a place to keep them stored. The use of a walk-in freezer helps save room in the kitchen, so you won't have to sacrifice precious counter space or room for other restaurant equipment.

A lot of restaurant equipment goes overlooked when business owners are preparing to open up shop, but similar to how an artist without paint cannot create art, a chef without a production table cannot craft a properly seasoned meal.

Though the cuisine of Europe is incredibly varied due to the sheer amount of different nations, there is something special about the culture of Spain. The seasoning and spices that come from this nation are some of the most exquisite ever produced, and can add a delicious flare to a simple meal of rice and sausage. Restaurants looking to jazz up their existing menus should consider incorporating some Spanish cooking into their culinary operations.

From the French word ‘braiser’, braising is a combination-cooking method that uses both moist and dry heats and is typically reserved for meats from the front end of the beast. Meaty beef short ribs in particular are a great choice for braising! 

The benefits of making a combi unit a part of your cooking arsenal will open up many doors for your menu planning thereby enhancing your repertoire of cooking feats.

Steamed menu items are becoming popular as the health craze becomes more of a traditional player rather than a trendy fad. A steamer will do just that…steam foods.  Frozen or raw products can be prepared and will result with the expected steam finish.  Of course, foods once cooked in a steamer and stored in the “food bank” refrigerator can be reconstituted by the same unit to a perfect serving temperature . However, it will still have the same steam finish result.  If that fits the bill, then a steamer would work just fine for you.

The restaurant business is a fast-paced field. Guests are hard to please and regularly want their meals prepared in a certain way. Chefs and kitchen staff members run around trying to appease consumer demands, but without the proper restaurant equipment, they may be wasting time.

When you walk in to many of today’s bars, it is not uncommon to hear loud thumping music and to find a young crowd dancing and drinking watery mixed drinks. As you can probably guess, this is not an authentic pub. Authentic Irish pubs are a bit more rare to come across these days. 

With customer reviews and ratings easily available for potential patrons to see, it pays to keep your customers satisfied and your employees trained on the importance of customer satisfaction!

Restaurant owners want to provide their guests with the most authentic meals, especially if their establishments have unique themes. In some places, sausages are common components in many meals and are often a focal point of the restaurant itself. The versatile meat can be put in soups or complement other foods. However, if sausage is improperly prepared, it could ruin the dish.

Sound matters in a dining experience, and having noise clutter in the dining area can be offputting for guests. With baby boomers seeking an experience of cuisine, service, and ambiance, it pays to make the changes to reduce noise in your restaurant.

Your refrigerator might arguably be the most important piece of equipment in your kitchen. There are pros and cons to both top and bottom mounted units, so finding which balance suits your restaurant best is the key to choosing the right refrigerator for you.

The standard water cooler might not be an office icon like it used to be, but countertop ice makers and water dispensers can be a great, eco-friendly addition to your restaurant.

A commercial refrigerator is a significant investment for any restaurant or food service facility. It's important to practice regular maintenance so that you get as much use out of your equipment as possible - and don't find yourself replacing it too often.

In Ireland, pubs are an essential part of the Irish social scene. They are not just bars; they are social places where people gather to drink, converse, have lunch, make friends, and take a break. Irish pubs tend to offer a warm, cozy, and welcoming atmosphere where you can feel like you are in your home-away-from-home. Because of all of these reasons, it is very common that people wish to turn their bars into traditional Irish pubs.

Smoothies can spice up a beverage menu while giving customers healthier options when it comes time for dessert. Setting themselves apart from other blended beverages, smoothies have become more than just a fad; they’re a trend that’s here to stay!

“Well, If I have a walk-in cooler, do I really need to have a reach-in and work top refrigerators?”
This question comes up often when I discuss the layout and design of a client’s kitchen.  The answer is that it depends.

The kitchen size will make a difference; If the available space is somewhat small and can’t support both reach-ins and a walk-in, then even a small walk-in would yield better cu ft of storage.

For instance, a 6ftX7ft walk-in would be equivalent to having two two-section and one single-section refrigerators.  A walk-in will have one compressor; the reach-ins would require three. However, if space allows for reach-ins and worktop refrigeration, then we don’t want to busy up the kitchen with staffers all heading to the one refrigerated walk-in available, or running up and down to the cellar when they need refrigerated ingredients.

Tap dispensed beer has caught on as the most popular method of selling beer - and for good reason! Simply stated, it is a great idea to have a beer system installed especially in establishments with volume scenarios.  

Juicers and blenders become magical machines that hold the promise of better days and restful nights. As restaurant owners and managers, it’s our responsibility (should we seek to continue to prosper) to respond to these evolving needs!

Warewashing equipment is essential for many restaurants, especially if you deal with high volume traffic. Here are a few specialty washers to keep in mind when shopping for the right warewashing unit for your restaurant!

Ovens are a focal point for any kitchen, and choosing the right one for your restaurant can improve efficiency and help boost profits! You'll inevitably come to the crossroad between convection and standard ovens, so what's the big difference? 

When it comes to commercial microwaves, some chefs will reel back in horror. "A microwave? In the kitchen?" they'll ask, with their hands upon their chests to emphasize their incredulity.