In a professional kitchen, chefs have to work with equipment that no homemaker will encounter at home, no matter what masterpieces she prepares for her family. Take a combi steamer (a word) or an ice maker. Even a stove (gas or electric) is different from a household one.
Types of Professional Equipment
Ordinary household appliances cannot have a place in the kitchen of any catering establishment - they cannot withstand such a load. In addition, professional kitchen equipment must be reliable, safe, made of high-grade stainless steel, withstand high loads and high temperatures, have the necessary certificates.
After all, chefs also deal with food. Therefore, they should not get various impurities and detergents, which constantly shine to shine plates, food warmers, gastro containers, and other equipment utensils.
According to the method of processing products, kitchen equipment in a professional kitchen can have four categories: a
- Electromechanical Equipment
- Thermal Equipment
- Neutral Equipment
- Refrigeration Equipment
Choosing professional kitchen equipment should be based on the type and class of the institution, occupancy, size of the kitchen, the number of employees engaged in cooking. For example, it can be easier for canteens and small cafes because exotic dishes are not prepared here.
Fast food will require specialized equipment, which if necessary can be taken outside to attract more visitors: waffle irons, toasters, deep fryers, grills, pancakes, coffee, hot dogs, donuts, popcorn, and other dishes. But restaurants already have to be equipped with various appliances so that you can cook dishes from the simplest to complex and exotic. And it should be robust so as not to force the customer to sit for a long time waiting for his order.
Let's consider which equipment falls into each of the four categories:
Thermal Professional Equipment
Technological characteristics of professional thermal equipment directly affect the taste and quality of cooked dishes, salads, desserts, and beverages. At home, we can afford to cook the ingredients for the dish separately, spending several hours on it.
There is no such thing as luxury or unlimited time in a restaurant or cafe - a long wait for dishes threatens the institution's collapse, even if you have the best chefs and serve delicious food in the city. Therefore, a professional kitchen uses two types of equipment: stand-alone, which prepares components for the dish according to a predetermined program, multifunctional - it can do several processes simultaneously: wash and dry, steam and stew, mix and bake.
Plates
In the kitchen, they are of two types: electric and gas. The first allows you to set the desired temperature and prepare dishes that require strict compliance with prescription requirements. The latter saves electricity by increasing the restaurant's profits. In addition, some products need cooking only on an open fire, and it is absent in the electric stove.
There are plates with built-in scales that optimize the work of cooks. Another function is to turn off the burners if there are no dishes on them (significant savings in electricity, you do not find).
Professional electric stoves do not look like household ones. Remember the sitcom "Kitchen". There, meat, steaks, fish and even mushrooms and vegetables were simply fried on a steel surface - these are induction hobs.
They heat up quickly and reduce cooking time. Do not forget about the grill surfaces. If the cuisine is multinational, you can't do without them.
Choose the plates that will be more convenient to work with: traditional floor or table (under them, you can equip a cabinet for food, detergents, or utensils).
Oven
Professional kitchen equipment such as an oven is present in every restaurant. It bakes, stews, steams, bread, fish, meat, cakes, and pastries.
The oven differs from the home oven in capacity, cooking temperature, power, and functionality - the program is set for each product type. There is a timer, backlight, steam treatment, and heat from below and above, side, back. This allows you to cook the dish quickly and evenly. Differs in the oven and appearance.
Several cabinets resembling electric ovens or microwave ovens are usually placed one above the other in a restaurant kitchen. The interior is durable enough to withstand daily cleaning after the restaurant closes.
Proofing Cabinets
Outwardly, they look like ovens, but they set a certain temperature and create the right microclimate that the dough, and then bread and rolls rose, but did not ferment.
Combi Ovens
With professional kitchen equipment, the cooking process is facilitated if it is a combi steamer. It combines the functions of convection steam treatment has a combined mode. It is possible to tell that it is the universal equipment as it can replace a plate, a deep fryer, a frying surface, an oven, and a proofing device.
The combi steamer works both on gas and from electricity takes less space than all listed equipment units combined. This combination of qualities saves space and, very importantly, money when opening a restaurant. In any case, at first, when the restaurant is just gaining customers, a few combi ovens in addition to the plates will be enough.
Food warmer
It is impossible to cook each dish separately in restaurants, even if you prepare in advance. And it is not customary to warm them up in the restaurant business - do you want to get a Michelin star? So, you need such professional kitchen equipment that would maintain the desired temperature in the dish for some time. It's called a food warmer.
Food warmers maintain the temperature; you need to set it.
Don't you know what they look like? Remember self-service dining rooms. You walk along the counter, and on the other side are the gastro containers of soups, borscht, pickles, cutlets, chops, and side dishes. And they are all hot, and each client will not heat a separate portion. So this surface is a food warmer.
Source:
https://thenewstiny.com/kitchen-equipment-and-tools-every-restaurant-should-have/
