What Kind of Kitchen Equipment Do You Need?
Designing a commercial kitchen is a huge undertaking. There are a ton of things to consider and the kitchen equipment will make or break the space. You need to make sure that you have equipment that can handle the tasks you need to perform. But you also have to make sure you get equipment that’s the right size for the space you have and the amount of food you need to make. Do you know how to size kitchen equipment properly and where to go to get the right equipment for your space?
Choosing the Right Kitchen Equipment
Creating any kitchen design is a difficult task, but designing a commercial kitchen it even more complicated. You need to make the best possible use of the space available and you need to make sure that the kitchen is capable of serving a large number of meals all at once. When it comes to a correctional facilities kitchen, for example, it’s very likely that all the inmates will need to be served at once. This makes planning the kitchen design and choosing the kitchen equipment absolutely essential. There’s no room for error. For example, there were 2,162,400 inmates incarcerated in federal and state prisons in 2016. That’s a lot of mouths to feed.
Whether it’s a school kitchen design, a restaurant kitchen design, or any other type of commercial kitchen, the capacity is a paramount concern. How many people need to be served meals at one time? When you know this, you can start to create the design that’s going to work.
Determining what types of meals will be served will determine what types of food the staff have to work with. Will there be a lot of canned goods? A lot of fresh fruits and vegetables? In a restaurant, for example, most or all of the food is likely to be fresh. Meat products will need to be broken down into usable pieces. Vegetables and fruits will need to be cut up. In a correctional facilities kitchen, on the other hand, there may be a lot of canned or pre-prepped foods. Knowing what you’re working with is an essential element of choosing the right commercial kitchen design.
In a kitchen where a lot of cans will be used to prepare meals an industrial can opener is essential. A professional slicer may be needed in the kitchen where there will be a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Don’t forget to include counter space in professional kitchen design. There need to be counter areas for food prep tasks to happen. Food storage is another important consideration. Freezers and walk-in coolers are an integral part of kitchen equipment. Professional kitchens of all kinds must also have an industrial oven and plenty of stove space with burners for cooking. Is a microwave needed? In many restaurants, a microwave isn’t needed. In other types of commercial kitchens, however, this may be a much-needed piece of equipment.
Make a list of all the tasks your kitchen needs to complete to start getting a sense of the specific kitchen equipment you need.
Designing a Professional Kitchen
When you know the type of kitchen equipment you need and the number of people who need to be served food, you can start getting serious about designing a professional kitchen.
It’s important to be practical when designing a kitchen and placing kitchen equipment. The sink should be near the area where the food is being prepped. The placement of the sink and the oven will determine the rest of the kitchen design because these items cannot simply be put anywhere. The sink needs water lines and piping, which is sometimes determined by many factors that have nothing to do with the kitchen itself. The oven and stove areas may need to be hooked up to gas pipes and/or electricity. Once these items are in place, the rest of the kitchen equipment can be placed to complete a practical design.
Designing a professional kitchen and choosing the right kitchen equipment starts by answering some basic questions. From there, the rest of the space will start to come together.
