Making the Most of Restaurant Cooking Supplies

Increase efficiency in your kitchen by using industrial cooking equipment and supplies

By Andrea Townsley
As any restaurant owner knows, commercial cooking supplies can drastically affect efficiency and productivity in a kitchen. If you don't have the right equipment, your employees will be running themselves ragged trying to get things right and will eventually burn out and stop caring about their jobs. It has happened many a time in the food service industry; don't let it happen to you.

Increasing efficiency in your kitchen is also good for your business in more than one way. First, it will shave some time off of preparation and clean up and allow you to cut hours, saving you money. More importantly, using good industrial cooking supplies will allow you to get food out to the dining room quicker, increasing customer satisfaction (which in turn, will increase your sales in the long run). Consider these three items:

1. Cut prep time by buying the proper utensils and machines from cooking supply companies.

2. Use restaurant-grade cooking equipment to make your cooks' lives easier. This is the best way for making the most of restaurant cooking supplies since it makes you money -- and -- saves you money.

3. Ensure that you sanitize all of you restaurant cooking supplies; it's the law.

 

Increase efficiency by using preparation tools from cooking supply companies

If something isn't prepped right, the food has to be thrown away and remade or someone has to stop and correct it. Getting it right the first time, by using the right tools, can go a long way when trying to improve your kitchen's efficiency. In addition, prepping food and placing it into the proper storage units can save lots of time when your line cooks run low on something during a busy dinner rush.
Try: Stock up on measuring cups and spoons from Mission Restaurant Supply to ensure that your prep cooks aren't wasting ingredients or under-seasoning dishes. Choose from different size storage lexans at Zesco Products.

Make the most of cooking equipment for restaurants

If there is any possible way that you can decrease cooking time in your restaurant, it's a good thing. Innovations like ovens with convection cooking can decrease the length of time it takes to cook a product while still producing great food. When it comes to stovetop cooking, nothing beats stainless-steel pots and pans, which heat quickly and evenly.
Try: Consider making use of a convection oven or microwave in your kitchen. A-Best Fixture has both counter top and freestanding models. Invest in some stainless-steel cookware from Galasource.

Ensure that you're properly sanitizing your commercial cooking equipment

In most municipalities, it is required by law that a restaurant thoroughly wash and sanitize all equipment used to prepare, cook and serve food. If your restaurant does not do this, you could be looking at a major health code violation, which will most likely force your restaurant to close down until you correct the problem. Check with your local laws and buy the proper equipment. Dishwashers are an expensive investment but are very efficient. If you can't afford one of these, or if you don't have a large number of dishes to wash, you can do with a triple sink (wash-rinse-sanitize).
Try: Install one of the commercial dishwashers from Central Restaurant Products, which carries conveyor dishwashers, single-rack units and undercounter washers. Consider using one of the triple sinks from Instawares.

 

  • New supplies and equipment are sometimes out of a restaurant's budget. However, there are many sources of used cooking supplies that you can use to fill your restaurant's needs. Check out used equipment at auctions or try to find discount cooking supplies online.

Find Pre-Screened Vendors

Compare quotes and save: