Food Service Is All About The Passion...And The Equipment

Food & Cooking Blog

Chefs are to food what artists are to paint and canvas. The only differences are the types of "media" and the fact that chefs have to keep all of their "art" the perfect temperature. Otherwise a chef's "art" cannot be properly appreciated. 

As you head into a career in commercial food service, it helps to buy a lot of equipment. Some of the most innovative kitchen stuff comes from companies like Cambro equipment suppliers. Here is a sampling of the equipment that will have you salivating like a wolf over venison.

Combo Carriers

Moving food around and stacking it about is difficult. It is even more difficult when you cannot leave the food out in the open, nor can you let it heat up or cool off. Coolers are not the answer, and freezers ruin the freshness of the food. Your best bet is some type of carrier that seals out air and flies, and can keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold for up to four hours or more.

That will give you enough time to figure out what to do with your broken walk-in, or help you get the food fresh and clean to a catered site. A combo carrier is one such product. Yet you can only designate its shelves for either hot or cold; never both.

Insulated Cold Food Pellets

Salads have a really hard time staying crisp in a hot kitchen, which is often hotter in summer when people ask for cold foods. Short of preparing salads and cold desserts and then plastic-wrapping them, there is not much else that can keep cold foods safely chilled. Oh, wait, yes, there is.

Pellets are serving bowls that elevate plates so that diners can sit and eat comfortably. What the diners do not know is that the pellets also act as insulation under the plates. Cold foods can stay the correct temperature from twenty to forty-five minutes, depending on environmental temperatures, when the food is left uncovered, and if the plate was chilled prior to placing prepared food on it. The whole plate and pellet has to be covered with a dome if you need the maximum amount of cold and greatest length of time for all of your plated cold foods.

Serving Trays with No Slip Grip

Commercial food service is not service without the service trays. How else would the waitstaff or dining hall staff manage to get the food to the diners? It helps to have serving trays with no slip-grip on them too. The tread grip on the tops of the trays keep glasses, plates, and bowls from slipping off, a vital thing for most waitstaff or dining hall staff.

Additionally, the less food and drink that land on the staff, the diners, and the tables and furniture, the less waste you have. The less food waste you have, the more money you save. The more money you save, the more you can invest in your commercial food service business.

High-Heat Cooking Utensils

What is a chef if he or she does not have really good pots, pans, and cooking utensils? From the first day of culinary school until graduation, you are taught to make good investments in your equipment and your tools. If you want to get the most out of your cooking utensils, then consider high-heat utensils.

If you accidentally drop your soup ladle into a boiling pot, you can bet that most normal plastic ladles would begin to melt right away. Metal utensils are nice, but it is far too easy to forget to grab their handles with a rag or potholder. Then you get burned. These high-heat plastic utensils are always cool to the touch, and will not begin to melt if left you leave them too close to the burners or hot pans.

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2 November 2017