There’s a lot of excitement that comes with opening a restaurant, but there’s also a lot of planning. It’s not just a case of having a delicious sounding menu and skilled chefs ready to cook, you also need to have the right kitchen equipment supporting you. Regardless of the kind of food you’re planning to serve, and whether you’re opening a five star establishment or a more relaxed takeaway, you need to have a fully equipped and professionally installed stainless steel commercial kitchen. Otherwise, how will your chefs and kitchen staff prepare food efficiently, safely and to a consistently high standard?
Commercial Kitchens Require Quality Equipment
Domestic appliances tend to be designed for occasional use; you might use your oven once a day, the kettle a handful of times and only bring your slow cooker out once or twice a month. Domestic kitchen equipment is rarely used multiple times a day, let alone constantly. But, the same can’t be said for essential commercial kitchen equipment. For a startup restaurant to run smoothly, the kitchen needs to be stocked with appliances that can withstand constant workloads.
With hungry diners to feed, equipment failing can be a disaster. There’s no room for inefficiencies, poor quality machinery or breakdowns. As a startup restaurant, you need to impress people, not send them elsewhere because a key piece of equipment is refusing to cooperate and you can’t serve what’s on the menu.
The Kitchen Equipment Every Startup Restaurant Needs
Commercial Ranges
You’re unlikely to get very far without a commercial range. A range provides the stove, burners, griddles or broilers needed to continuously deliver delicious dishes. Unlike the type of hobs found in domestic kitchens, commercial ranges are designed for power and longevity. They’re able to handle multiple pans simultaneously without losing heat, which is vital in a busy kitchen with a lot of things being cooked at once. With a commercial range, chefs can use multiple cooking techniques at the same time, without slowing down.
Commercial Ovens
What’s a kitchen without an oven? There’s a whole host of commercial oven options out there, and the type your startup restaurant needs will depend on the type of food you’re cooking. For example, convection ovens circulate hot air evenly, which makes them ideal for consistent cooking. They’re often used in bakeries, for roasting meats or cooking vegetables. But, there’s also combi ovens, which are more versatile. By combining convection, steam or both, combi ovens allow chefs to cook with precision and efficiency. A combi oven can roast, bake, steam and braise food, making it a key piece of commercial kitchen equipment in restaurants that need consistency and speed.
Food Preparation Equipment
There’s a lot of preparation that goes into running a busy restaurant kitchen, even if the business is only in the startup stage. With the right food prep station, you can take a chaotic kitchen and turn it into a smooth, stress-free and organised space. Essential equipment includes appliances like food processors, mixers, slicers and blenders. Manually prepping everything can be extremely time-consuming, and there’s often a lack of consistency. Commercial food preparation equipment increases speed and ensures uniform results, even with a dozen things being prepped at once.
Worktops and Tables
Don’t make the mistake of focusing too much on the equipment needed to cook food, forgetting that prepping the food is just as important. The space you create with worktops can make a huge difference to how streamlined and smooth your commercial kitchen is. For many restaurants, a stainless steel commercial kitchen is the obvious choice, largely due to the fact that stainless steel worktops are durable, resistant to corrosion and easy to clean. They handle heat, spills and constant cleaning without wearing down, making them a worthwhile investment.
Refrigeration and Cold Storage
Unless you want food safety to be at risk, you need to think about refrigeration and cold storage. With a lot of ingredients and having to stock up ahead of time, keeping food at the right temperature isn’t something you can leave to chance, hoping a domestic fridge will do the job. Commercial refrigerators and freezers are designed to maintain stable temperatures despite the door being opened frequently. Standard fridges, such as those you would use at home, can’t handle the volume or temperature fluctuations of a busy kitchen. But, with the right commercial refrigeration, you can reduce food waste and maintain strict hygiene standards.
Dishwashing Equipment
Startup restaurant kitchens are busy places and there’s no time or space to manually wash everything up by hand. This is why commercial dishwashing equipment is essential. Commercial dishwashers can accommodate a lot of dirty dishes at once, they wash quickly and they reach the high temperatures needed for thorough cleaning. Within no time, dishes are washed and ready to be used. Glass washers also come in handy, especially at bars and fine dining restaurants with a high turnover of glassware. If you don’t have dishwashing equipment in place, your restaurant will likely face shortages of plates, cutlery or cookware. Commercial dishwashing keeps everything moving.
Ventilation and Extraction Systems
Commercial kitchens generate a lot of heat, smoke, grease and steam, meaning proper ventilation is non-negotiable. It’s not only important for comfort, but also for safety. This means adding an extraction system to remove airborne grease and smoke, and a ventilation system to balance airflow to maintain a safe, comfortable kitchen environment. Without good ventilation, working conditions in a commercial kitchen deteriorate quickly, equipment overheats and safety hazards increase.
Grills, Fryer and Specialty Units
Of course, you’re bound to need a handful of specialty appliances, depending on the type of cuisine you’re serving. These might not be essential to all startup restaurants, but they could be essential for you. For example, a griddle is handy if you’re serving breakfast or fast food, whereas a deep fryer is essential if you’re serving chips, fried chicken or tempura.
Why Stainless Steel Commercial Kitchens Are So Popular
If you’ve spent any time at all in a commercial kitchen, you will have noticed the amount of stainless steel being used. Though there are other materials available, stainless steel commercial kitchens tend to dominate. This is because stainless steel resists dents, corrosion and heavy wear, and it’s durable enough to withstand the stress of a busy commercial kitchen.
It’s important for a commercial kitchen to meet strict hygienic standards and stainless steel is non-porous and easy to sanitise, preventing bacteria growth. Stainless steel also has the benefit of being heat and chemical resistant. This is key, as it needs to withstand the heat from pans and trays, and the chemicals found in commercial cleaning products.
Though stainless steel commercial kitchens can be slightly more expensive upfront, stainless steel worktops, shelves, equipment and sinks last a long time. For a startup restaurant, this is important, as it means your business will have everything needed for many, many years. You can create a professional kitchen, with the peace of mind that you won’t need to replace anything in the near future.
Choose Quality Commercial Kitchen Equipment
Startup restaurants often look for ways to cut costs, especially if there’s only a small budget to work with, but kitchen equipment shouldn’t be something you compromise on. If you opt for high quality commercial equipment, you can expect reliability during peak hours, efficiency with faster prep and cook times, compliance with health and safety regulations, and cost-effectiveness due to the durability of stainless steel.
Building a startup restaurant is about laying a strong foundation, and that starts with your kitchen. Partnering with stainless steel commercial kitchen experts ensures you’re not just buying machinery, but also gaining access to expert advice, professional installation, inspection reports and maintenance. Get in touch with the DCE Commercial team to find out more.