Restaurant Owners: 3 Reasons You Should Hire Someone to Design Your Kitchen Equipment

If you’re new to the restaurant industry, you might be unaware that you can hire people to design your catering equipment for you. In a domestic kitchen, there might be very little point in doing this, but in a restaurant, there are three very clear advantages. We’re going to explore these advantages below.

1.       It Can Be Tailored to Fit the Space.

This is a hugely beneficial aspect of kitchen equipment design. As you are no doubt aware, commercial kitchens need to have a lot of space. Space makes them safer because it allows the kitchen staff to move around the room comfortably, and helps to prevent people from knocking and bumping into each other and into the counters.

Kitchen equipment designers can create space-saving appliances that work just as well as their larger counterparts. For example, it could be that they are able to make an oven tall and lean, rather than wide and squat.

2.       It Can Be Tailored to Perform Processes Standard Equipment Can’t.

Maybe you want your oven to double as a microwave? Or your fridge to be able to make ice cream? It could be anything. Whatever the combination, it might be worth asking a kitchen equipment designer if they can make it for you. Sure, it might not always be possible (maybe you'll never have an oven that doubles as an ice cream maker), but it’s always worth asking.

3.       They May Be Able To Make An Appliance for Less Than A Commercial Variant.

Some types of appliance can be very expensive. This could be because there is only one brand that makes them and they therefore have the monopoly on price. To circumvent this, you might be able to find a designer who will make one for you. Unless the oven has special proprietary restrictions, this should be fine.

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What Qualities Should You Look for from a Catering Equipment Supplier?

If you run a commercial kitchen, you need to have reliable equipment that can meet the demands of your customers. Often, this rests on making the correct choice of supplier. Below, we are going to look at four qualities that a decent supplier will usually possess.

1.    A decent range of equipment.
It’s often better to stick to as fewer suppliers as possible. This is because the more you purchase from a single supplier, the greater the discounts and the more comprehensive the service will be. This is often, but not always the case. You will find that the majority of businesses operate to that rule, though: the fewer the number of suppliers, the better.

2.    A good reputation.
Of course, you need to make sure that the company has a decent reputation with its customers. You can ask around your local restaurant circuit for any helpful advice about a particular supplier. You can go online and conduct your own research. Finally, local and national networking groups can be a good place to talk to other people about their experiences with particular catering equipment suppliers.

3.    Strong service levels.
It’s important that you be left in the lurch following a purchase or lease agreement. A good supplier will stay in contact with you or at the very least, answer requests when you ask for them. The more professional the service, the better it bodes all around.

4.    A quick response to queries.
Finally, decent catering equipment suppliers will be quick to respond to any queries you have. Before you engage their services, you can test them on this. Send emails, make telephone calls, and judge them on how quickly they respond and the comprehensiveness of their answers. This can tell you a lot about the supplier.

Kitchens To Suit The Service

When designing a new commercial kitchen it’s essential first to know what sort of service will be provided.

A fast food or takeaway will be very different from an a la carte or counter service. The more organised the better it is for staff and customers.

A new restaurant business should ideally involve professional designers working alongside the proprietor and possibly the chef. The designer should also be able to provide all the equipment and any training that will ensure maximum efficiency.

All good kitchen design no matter the service being provided, must include the best workflow pattern.

This begins outside the building with a look at access for goods in. This is usually out of the main drag that finds the customers and therefore can be a back alley. It may be big enough for a small delivery van but unfortunately there will be times when bigger vehicles may call.

This is because suppliers often have better offers on large consignments to cut down on multiple returns.

With slim profit margins all restaurant entrepreneurs will want to take advantage of such deliveries whenever possible.

Catering kitchen design starts with the layout based upon type of service and when that is known the basics such as delivery and storage begins and ends with access for waste going out at the end of the whole cycle.

Before any equipment is bought there should be a check list of everything that will be needed from big fryers right down to the cutlery and table cloth.

When all the exact equipment specifications are know the good catering design companies will produce some CAD generated drawings with floor plan as well as 3D drawings. This allows the customer a chance to walk through and double check everything is there and placed where it should be.

There is so much more to opening a brand new restaurant starting with planning permission, checking health and safety regulations and making sure there are enough safe power-points. There may also be fire risk assessments required.

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Three Reasons Why Your Commercial Kitchen Might Use an Equipment Design Service

Many commercial kitchen owners fail to realise that they can have their equipment designed specifically for their kitchen. Tailored equipment can help a commercial in many ways, including boosting productivity and reliability.

Below, we are going to look at three of the key reasons why commercial restaurants choose to use kitchen equipment design services.

1.They require a special process. Clearly, the process depends on the restaurant. An example may be a restaurant that requires a special steamer, just for dim sums. There are many Chinese restaurants that serve buffet style food, and that make a lot of dim sums. For them, having such a machine might increase the speed and efficiency of their dim sum cooking. This is just an example; clearly, different restaurants will have differing products.

2.They want to merge multiple processes. If you operate a restaurant, then you probably already know about combi-ovens. These ovens combine various processes into a single unit. They can both heat the food using dry heat, and using wet heat (i.e. steam). However, a kitchen might have a need to combine other processes into a single unit.

For example, take the dim sums as an example again. The restaurant might want a place to cook the dim sums, and another place to store them. The storage will require moisture, because dim sums will get sticky when dry. Having both the cooking and storage area in the same piece of equipment minimises the number of steps that the cook/servers will need to take. It keeps the kitchen compartmentalised, which is safer and more profitable as it saves time.

3.They need a specific size and shape. The final reason for using a kitchen equipment design service is that the restaurant can have the equipment tailored to the kitchen. This will help with space constraints and flow.

If you would like to know more visit Garnersfse.

3 Tips: Make the Best Decisions When Buying Catering Equipment for Your Restaurant

Running a restaurant is fraught with difficulties. Wouldn't it be so much better if we could have a list of tips and tricks for each different facet of restaurant management? Well, you can, but you have to do your research and collect these tips yourself.

Here, we have made your life somewhat easier, by providing you with a list of tips for buying catering equipment. These tips will help to make the most of you money and do the best for your restaurant.

Tip 1: Choose the Same Brand

When buying equipment from commercial catering equipment suppliers, it is always better to stick to the same brand. There are several reasons for this:

1.You're more likely to receive a discount from the manufacturer
2.You only need to contact one manufacture/supplier in order to have all the items fixed/serviced
3.It looks better
4.Because they work in a similar manner, there is less need for training.

Tip 2: Choose Quality over Cost

Initially, one item might appear much more cost effective than another might. Often, a cheaper item is more attractive to the buyer, simply because it saves money. However, it is a false economy. Remember the adage “buy cheap pay twice”.

Choosing quality products often saves you money in the long term. The last longer, they use less electricity/gas (because they often have a higher efficiency rating), and they perform their tasks better. All of these things improve the profitability of your kitchen.

Tip 3: Choose One Supplier and Stick with Them

By choosing a single supplier, you confer yourself with many benefits, including:

•Better prices – they will reward loyalty
•Better expertise – they will spend longer with their loyal customers
•Fast response rates – they will want to keep you happy, because they need your custom. This means that they will come out and fix the equipment quickly, and that they will replace any items as soon as they can.

It is important to choose good commercial catering equipment suppliers to take advantage of the above three bullet points, so do test a few of them out before settling on a single supplier.

If you would like to know more visit Garnersfse.

Smooth Flow Of The Commercial Kitchen

If your kitchen is looking tired and in need of some work there’s a great deal of pleasure, if you can afford it, to refurbish the whole room.

There are some beautiful as well as practical kitchens available through a number of specialist design companies. And the new kitchen can transform your home.

But there are obvious differences between a new home kitchen and a large commercial kitchen. And most kitchen design companies are either in one camp or the other and rarely operating in both sectors.

In the domestic kitchen the only often repeated design tip is the triangle proximity of fridge, cooker and sink. Perhaps the fourth should be a work top near all these three components. These are the most visited spots in the kitchen and having them near each other should cut down on walking.

On the other hand, commercial catering equipment services stress the importance of flow and usually consists of 5 specific areas linked one after the other.

The first area is the storage that is near the goods in area. This is usually situated near the cleaning area of sinks, washing machines and drying racks.  This is often one of the busiest parts of the kitchen.

The next essential area is the food preparation location that follows on from the storage of ingredients and cleaned pots, pans and dishes as well as all the other usual utensils.

Then in the heart of the kitchen is the island containing everything needed to cook the food. This will include ovens, ranges, griddles and fryers. Above will be exhaust systems and the whole island allows for chefs to work either side of it without getting in each other’s way.

In all commercial kitchen planning the trick is to create both space and yet intimacy as all the various chefs must work as a team. It’s not always easy for this to occur and we all know of stories about chefs and waiters shouting at each other or even flinging plates.

Equiped To Produce Fine Food

Maybe it’s because people are leading busier lives than generations before but if you look at a city like London a huge number of professionals eat out during the weekday evenings.