Whether you own your own restaurant or only cook for your family, it is important to have a functioning kitchen.
Old, worn out equipment can be hazardous to your health – possibly undercooking food or malfunctioning and causing injury or property damage. If you are going to replace your old appliances, it makes sense to upgrade with the most advanced technology.
Redoing your cooking area can be a huge task. Knowing what equipment you want, however, makes the job easier. Once you have had a look at everything available, you should be able to decide what items and features best suit your needs.
Without question, an essential kitchen appliance is the stove. These days, stoves and ranges come in such variety, you should be able to find the one you want with the features you need. Technology has given us the electric range in addition to the traditional gas models.
Both kinds have strengths and weaknesses that can influence your decision. Professional kitchens, however, usually employ gas ranges because of the higher heating temperatures and faster cooking times.
The electric stove is not a complete write off, though. A solid surface electric stove does offer you uniformly flat surfaces and multi-sized burners that allow you to use a greater range of sizes in your pots and pans.
Gas stove manufacturers do make stoves with multi sized grates or continuous grates for larger pots and easier movement.
Gas stoves, with their raised heating elements, heat far hotter than electric ones, shaving minutes from your cooking time. Though electric stoves take longer to thoroughly cook food, they are greener than traditional units.
Both types of ranges offer features such as digital panels instead of dials and LCDs for time and temperature. With so many features available, the hard part will be getting your choice to your kitchen.
Another kitchen appliance necessity is your refrigerator. It is, arguably, the most important element in preparing a meal. In this day and age, the refrigerator models you can choose from are nearly endless and full of different features.
Fridges now come with certain tasks in mind, like keeping fresh foods extra cold; keeping fruits and vegetables crisp and fresh; or making the most of storage space with specialized racks for wine bottles, 2-liter bottles, and pizza boxes in your freezer.
If you are thinking about the efficiency of your fridge, there are energy conserving models to suit everyone. These energy saving models are easy on your budget as well, making them worth the initial cost.
In addition to a refrigerator, a restaurant kitchen needs a large walk-in freezer. Keeping your meats and produce fresh will be a major consideration when you are equipping your cooking space. The only limiting factor here is how much space you have to work with.
You don’t have to stop with two major kitchen appliances. If you are remodeling your kitchen area, you should also consider quiet dishwashers, European style hoods for your stoves, professional ice makers, and speed blenders. These items are essential in keeping things running smoothly.
Outfitting the “engine room” of your restaurant with high quality kitchen appliances is a step on the path to culinary success. The equipment you surround the cooking staff with influences their performance. High quality tools should encourage high quality results.