Skip to main content

Finding the Right Restaurant Equipment for Cooking

Written by admin
Finding the Right Restaurant Equipment for Cooking

chefWhen you set out to buy restaurant equipment in St Louis near Ladue for your recently opened restaurant, you will want to do a bit of research first.  Whether you were looking for used or new cooking supplies for your restaurant, having the right information is essential in making the right buying decision.

“Apart from having the right information, it is equally crucial to find the right store from which to buy. Ideally, with the right cooking tools, a restaurant should be a place ready to serve food for any number of customers at any given time.” So how do you go about choosing the best commercial cooking equipment for your restaurant?

It is of the utmost importance to choose the right cooking essentials.  After all, the tools you choose need to be suited for the specific needs of your restaurant, including the exact food you offer for sale there.  “For instance, if your restaurant makes pizzas, then it is certain that you will need ovens and grills for preparing pizzas. Therefore, it is important to choose cooking equipment based on your restaurant offerings. On the other hand, if your restaurant is the buffet type, then cook and hold ovens will be ideal.”  When it comes to restaurant equipment in St Louis near Ladue, we know that one of the most important aspects in cooling equipment is in the ventilation department.  We will spend time in the next post going over all of the details surrounding ventilation.  For now, just know that your restaurant equipment service and sales in St Louis is available to help you find all that your new commercial kitchen needs in the way of cooking equipment and other restaurant equipment for the kitchen you are building.  Getting experts involved in the process is essential to the success of your restaurant.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , ,

Heating Timeline Throughout History

Written by admin
Heating Timeline Throughout History

heatingNow we jump into AD times in our recap of heating history on behalf of your St Louis Heating installation and service near Chesterfield MO.  AD 400: After the fall of the Roman Empire, heating methods reverted to more primitive-style fireplaces, according to research online.  Then, in AD 800, stoves made of clay made their first appearance which definitely added to the heating ability inside of homes, according to our St Louis Heating Repair near Chesterfield MO.

Now we jump into Europe in AD 1200, when Cistercian monks in Christian Europe revive central heating using river diversion and wood-burning furnaces. The first chimneys also appear at this time which is a huge historical development since they would go on to be used in homes up to modern day residences.  Two hundred years later, in AD 1400, masonry stoves appear and become common by the 1500s, which is also when chimneys become more refined.

We jump to France in our research on heating history on behalf of your St Louis Heating Sales near Chesterfield and land in AD 1624 when Louis Savot of France invents the circulating fireplace with the creation of a raised grate that promoted airflow.  This becomes strikingly similar in some ways to today’s ventilation portion of HVAC in St Louis near Chesterfield MO.  In the early 1700s, individuals in England use combustion air from an outside duct. “Around the same time, Russia’s Peter the Great enjoyed the earliest hot water, air-heating systems in his Summer Palace.”  Jumping to the US, Benjamin Franklin plays a role with the Franklin Stove which added an element of efficiency where it was lacking before.  We will turn our sights to cooling going forward, on behalf of your Heating Sales in St Louis MO.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , , ,

Restaurant Equipment Take Two

Written by admin
Restaurant Equipment Take Two

Take twoToday, we plan to look closer at your St Louis Restaurant Equipment needs and hone in on some of the less obvious things you will need that are not all actual appliances per say, some are smaller thing, too, that may go by the wayside if you are opening your first restaurant in St Louis near St Charles MO.

Prep tables, counters, and cutting surfaces are essential to any commercial kitchen and come in various sizes so we thought we would elaborate to some extent here. It is recommended that you choose preparation surfaces made of stainless steel. According to experts’ advice we read in our research on behalf of your St Louis Restaurant Equipment Service near St Charles, “Stainless steel is sturdy against corrosion, resists attack from food and meat juices, and can withstand the harsh cleaning products used in commercial kitchens.”  When it comes to cutting, you will want to have plenty of either plastic or wooden cutting boards at your fingertips. Plastic boards are easier to sanitize but can develop deep grooves that can hide bacteria. Wooden boards are generally tougher than plastic ones and don’t develop grooves as easily, but can be slightly trickier to sanitize fully.

Let’s move on to slicers for your St Louis Restaurant Equipment near St Charles, shall we?  “Slicers are often tasked with cutting meat, cheese, or other foods with speed and precision. If you need to purchase a slicer, consider how often you’ll need to use it. If your slicing is low volume or infrequent, a manual food slicer is a better, less expensive option. However, for larger amounts of food or foods that need to be cut to specific proportions, choose an electric slicer instead. Electric slicers are automatic, which can save you time and labor. Moreover, most electric slicers allow you to turn off the automatic function and operate the machine manually.”

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , ,

Restaurant Equipment Take One

Written by admin
Restaurant Equipment Take One

take oneOnce you decide that you wish to open your own restaurant in St Louis near Ladue, you will next need to figure out a space and a list of equipment, along with several other details that are necessary in the decision phase of your new commercial business.  No doubt about it, there are several questions that you will need to answer and address on this journey and one of the most important will be how to set up your kitchen.

According to restaurant equipment experts online the following is true, “The kitchen will be the center of your business and the place where your menu comes to life. That being the case, you’ll need high-quality restaurant equipment that can withstand the pressures of daily use and keep the tickets on your kitchen display system changing.”

It is highly likely that careful planning and research are necessary to maximize the efficiency and functionality of your kitchen. Consider the following 10 essential restaurant equipment as you think about the possibility of opening a restaurant and the St Louis Restaurant Equipment near Ladue that you may need in order to convert your dream in to reality.  Then, design the layout of your establishment. If you already have a restaurant, do you have these 10 essential pieces of restaurant kitchen equipment?  We think, at your St Louis Restaurant Equipment sales and service near Ladue, that you probably have this and more since as your commercial restaurant grows, you find new things that will serve your niche. In this post, we will cover one or two of the ten, then plan to pick up and add more info in the posts to follow.  For starters, everyone needs to focus on freezers and refrigerators, no doubt about it. This is such a strong need regardless of your kitchen, that we will reserve further discussions for this in our refrigeration category.  Stay tuned for more details on how and why to add the restaurant equipment you need.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , ,

Down the Halls of HVAC

Written by admin
Down the Halls of HVAC

hallsLooking at heating in St Louis near Sunset Hills, we realize that is has been some time since we perused the halls of an HVAC explanation, looking for new details to point out surrounding your system in St Louis.  So, today, we stumble upon the heat exchanger. “The heat exchanger is found inside your furnace unit’s housing. This component switches on when the furnace is activated by thermostat to produce warmer temperatures in winter.” The way it operates is to pull in cool air, then heat it and circulate it by way of your ducts and our through your vents.

The heat exchanger pulls in cool air, heats it, and circulates the resulting heated air via your ducts and out through the vents.  The evaporator coil is another important heating component to understand.  It has, basically, the opposite job of the heat exchanger and it acts to cool the air when the thermostat is set lower and cooler during the summer months.  “Located in a metal enclosure on the furnace’s exterior, to the top or side, the evaporator coil works similarly to an automobile radiator to produce cool air, which is then circulated through the ductwork.”

Now, we move onto the condensing unit of your heating and cooling system in St Louis near Sunset Hills.  Connected to the evaporator coil, the condensing unit is installed by HVAC contractors on the outside of your home and filled with refrigerant gas in order to properly operate. “When the refrigerant has been cooled to a liquid by heat exchange with the exterior air, the condensing unit pumps the liquid to the evaporator coil to be evaporated into a gas once more.”  This leads us to your refrigerant lines which carry the refrigerant substance to the condensing unit vaporized in the form of gas and return it to the evaporator coil in liquid form.  In order to be resistant to temperature, these lines are typically made of copper or aluminum.

HVAC, Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , , ,

Restaurant Equipment and a Love Hate Relationship

Written by admin
Restaurant Equipment and a Love Hate Relationship

commercial kitchenIt is our job to bring you the latest in information surrounding the restaurant equipment maintenance in St Louis near Kirkwood MO and all other applicable categories in the commercial restaurant equipment business.  We pride ourselves in doing our best to keep you informed and so we want to discuss, today, commercial refrigeration and how to best maintain its health and function for your St Louis Restaurant Equipment needs.

Say there is a big event hitting your town that involves local food and restaurants, or really even an ordinary weekend when you know your restaurant will be busy and the equipment in high demand.  If your commercial refrigeration equipment fails at the wrong time, you’ll be sending all those potential new customers home dissatisfied or worse. So, in advance of restaurant needs, we’ll be posting great tips and resources on how to keep your equipment (and your head) cool!  This is an important concept to avoiding disaster at the worst possible time for your restaurant business.

Refrigeration equipment is your best friend and can be your worst enemy, according to one source we found online when researching the subject of everyday commercial restaurant equipment in St Louis near Kirkwood and its daily health and general upkeep. “Anyone who manages a food service operation probably has a love-hate relationship with refrigeration equipment. On one hand, they help you serve fresh and appealing fare. Without your coolers, chillers and walk in freezers, you’d be serving lukewarm drinks, wilted greens and melted ice cream. And that’s exactly the problem: when they break down, your business quickly comes to a screeching halt.”  Stay tuned for more information in the posts to follow from your St Louis Restaurant Equipment sales and service near Kirkwood on what to do to avoid the above scenario.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , , ,

From Dishes to Commercial Restaurant Equipment

Written by admin
From Dishes to Commercial Restaurant Equipment

dishesBuying restaurant equipment for your commercial kitchen in St Louis near St Peters is a pretty huge undertaking and can be overwhelming for many first time restaurant equipment buyers.  The list will encompass everything from commercial ovens to dining tables, restaurant dishes to ice machines and deciding amongst several options can be downright daunting. Fortunately, we have set out to find tips on behalf of your St Louis Restaurant Equipment sales near St Peters in order to make the job more doable for you.

First, we found in our reading and research that you may be able to save significant money if you consider used restaurant equipment.  “A new restaurant doesn’t necessarily require all new equipment. You can purchase quality used restaurant equipment for pennies on the dollar.”  Everything from tables, chairs, dishes, utensils, all the way down to the bigger things on your restaurant equipment list such as stoves, ovens, refrigeration units can often be found for good deals, used.  Did you know that you can also lease St Louis Restaurant Equipment near St Peters?  Here is some info we found online about the subject, on behalf of your St Louis Restaurant Equipment Service near St Peters, “Many companies offer leased restaurant equipment, which can save you a lot of money as you get ready to open a new restaurant. Equipment with short life spans, like ice machines, are perfect for a monthly lease. Vendors also offer leased equipment, like coffee makers and coolers, for free, so long as you buy their products.”

Dishes can be a purchase worth taking a little time to discern as well.  Though these don’t fall under the restaurant equipment category that you may envision for a commercial kitchen, in terms of big industrial pieces, the need is obvious and real.  “Restaurant dishes aren’t cheap, compared to those you can buy at Wal-Mart or Target. But that is because they are made to withstand the rigors of a busy restaurant kitchen dishwasher.”  You will want to invest in good dishes for the success of your restaurant in St Louis MO near St Peters.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , ,

Restaurant Equipment is Not One Size Fits All

Written by admin
Restaurant Equipment is Not One Size Fits All

tape measureWhen searching for your next set of St Louis Restaurant Equipment near Clayton MO, it is important to recognize the vast nature of your options and brand offerings.  There will be price points to focus on depending upon your decided budget and certain trim levels so to speak, that you will want to look closer at in order to get the features which you desire in your new restaurant equipment in St Louis.  If you are looking at freezers, for example, arm yourself with the basic knowledge you can find online, such as the different components that make up most prefabricated walk-in coolers, then it will be your job to find the right one for your business. “What should you consider in the process? There are many variables, but here are a few basic things that you can nail down right now.”

Answer the question regarding your new walk in cooler for your St Louis Restaurant Equipment near Clayton, “Do you need refrigerated or frozen storage space?” A basic question, this is the first element upon which you will need to ponder.  “Not all coolers will maintain the same holding temperatures. Walk-in refrigerators will hold food below 41 degrees Fahrenheit, while walk-in freezers will keep food frozen near 0 degrees Fahrenheit. The physical differences are small, but they can greatly impact your choices. A refrigeration system for a walk-in freezer will be larger and more powerful than a system for a cooler. Plus, freezer panels will be thicker to help maintain the colder temperatures.”

According to our recent research on the restaurant equipment subject on behalf of your St Louis Restaurant Equipment Sales and Service, it is also imperative to remember that we cannot operate from a one size fits all perspective. “We offer a wide range of sizes from 48” to 120” wide and 70” to 168” long. With capacities from 105 cu. ft. to 860 cu. ft. you’ll find the size you need, but how can you determine what that size is?”  Follow our posts here on behalf of your Restaurant Equipment Service near Clayton for more helpful purchasing information.

 

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , , , ,

High R-Value in Your Walk In Freezer

Written by admin
High R-Value in Your Walk In Freezer

walk in freezerIn our adventures today in an effort to continue our discussions on walk-in freezers for your list of necessary restaurant equipment, we come upon the area of composition encircling the prefabricated walk-in cooler as opposed to the custom made version of these pieces of restaurant equipment in St Louis near St Charles MO.  “At their simplest, a prefabricated walk-in cooler is just a large insulated box with a cooling system. The components can be summed up in a very short list: panels, floor, door, and refrigeration system.”  Now it is time to go into further details about the above mentioned components.

Basically sandwiches made of foam insulation and thin metal sheets, panels range in size from 3 1/2″ – 5″ thick and their primary function is to keep the walk-in at the correct temperature for storing your fresh or frozen foods. They are generally made using a 24 to 26 gauge galvanized steel, aluminum or aluminum-coated steel, painted steel, or stainless steel that is called the skin of the freezer itself in the St Louis Restaurant Equipment world. In an effort to maintain a professional and perhaps commercial look, panels also often have embossed patterns in the metal. This pattern can actually add to its strength and reduce the notability of wear and tear.

“Pressed inside the skin is dense insulating foam to ensure energy efficiency. Some options come with extruded polystyrene foam insulation but the most common insulating material is foamed-in polyurethane.”  A high-performing insulator, extruded polystyrene has great moisture resistance. When researching the walk-in freezer options on behalf of your St Louis Restaurant Equipment Sales and Service near St Charles, we found it described as the best material to retain R-value.  “While most materials break down and lose R-value over time, polystyrene retains its insulating ability longer. Polyurethane is also a great insulator; however it may not stand the test of time as well as other materials.”  You are recommended to look for high quality insulation materials with low thermal transference and high R-value when seeking a walk in freezer to add to your list of restaurant equipment in St Louis.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , ,

Walk in Freezer Options for Your Restaurant

Written by admin
Walk in Freezer Options for Your Restaurant

freezersOn behalf of your restaurant equipment sales and service in St Louis near Chesterfield, we bring to you, today, an in-depth analysis of walk in freezers.  Most of you will need to pursue one if you are about to purchase or have recently obtained your own commercial restaurant.  It can be tricky to know just what system will work best for you, so we hve compiled some information that we gathered online on behalf of your St Louis Restaurant Equipment repair and sales near Chesterfield in an effort to make the search less cumbersome for you.

There are two basic types of walk-ins: they are either prefabricated or built-in. Prefabricated units come with urethane panels that are sized according to the specifications of the product or built to order depending on the manufacturer and sometimes work best for restaurants who have very specific needs in mind. Before setting out to purchase a freezer from your list of restaurant equipment in St Louis near Chesterfield, you may want to take the time to determine if you need a custom size or interior. These prefabricated walk in freezers provide many great benefits including easier expansion and relocation. “Built-in units are also very popular and often consist of insulation that is covered with structural tiles on the walls and floors. These units can be built to meet the exact needs of your space but can’t be moved or changed as easily as prefabricated units.”

When it comes to walk in coolers and freezers, there are differences based on manufacturers too.  According to all that we researched on behalf of your Restaurant Equipment and sales in St Louis near Chesterfield, there exist quite the variety.  “At their simplest, a prefabricated walk-in cooler is just a large insulated box with a cooling system. The components can be summed up in a very short list: panels, floor, door, and refrigeration system.”  We will go into further depth on these individual parts in our following posts.

Restaurant Equipment, , , , , , , , , , , ,