Restaurant Kitchen Equipment Information

Restaurant Kitchen Equipment Information

By Denise Brown, eHow Contributor

A restaurant kitchen must have the proper equipment to prepare the dishes on the menu properly. While it's possible to use equipment available to the general public, commercial-grade restaurant equipment can stand up to the rigorous usage demanded of it over the long term. Professional-grade kitchen equipment typically outperforms its non-professional counterpart, which means it needs replacing less often.

Quality

The decision to purchase name brand, new restaurant cookware or appliances is entirely up to the owner. However, a name brand doesn't always mean a quality product. Every type of kitchen equipment has buyer's guides created by experts. While the goal of some buyer's guides is purely to make sales, others have valuable information about the quality of a product. Commercial-grade kitchen equipment should withstand extreme hot and cold conditions, be heavy gauged if metal and easy to sanitize. If the equipment malfunctions due to poor quality, restaurant business may suffer.

Types

There are many types of restaurant kitchen equipment. The cooking and refrigeration appliances are the largest and most expensive to own and operate. Cleaning equipment is essential to passing health inspections. Restaurant cookware cooks the meals on the stove or in the oven. It's also part of the preparation and serving of the meals. Smaller appliances do specialized tasks such as mix food or warm it.

Costs

The restaurant should have a budget. Purchasing kitchen equipment doesn't have to be a budget buster. Once an inventory of equipment is available, it's a simple matter of figuring out what pieces of equipment are necessary to operate the restaurant, and then purchasing them at the lowest cost for their worth. For major appliances, newer, energy-efficient models make more sense to purchase than used models that cost more to operate.

Considerations

With all the many pieces of kitchen equipment on the market, it's easy to want to put each appliance or tool in the restaurant's kitchen. This can be a big mistake. Too many appliances, especially those not necessary for the preparation of food on the menu, only take up space. Generally speaking, it's wiser to have a few good, multi-function pieces rather than many lesser-grade ones.

Warning

Don't purchase any major appliance for the restaurant kitchen without first checking with the local city codes administrator, health inspector and fire codes administrator. They are knowledgeable about potential problems caused by any piece of kitchen equipment. Also, make sure the restaurant has sufficient electrical power to operate any equipment. This includes electric appliances such as microwaves, blenders and grills.

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