Opening A Restaurant: What Equipment Is Essential?

Are you planning to open a restaurant? However, you still don’t have the list of equipment that you will constantly need. This is a good thing because, in this article, you will get some ideas about the equipment that will be useful in your practice.

For storage and preservation

When it comes to catering, it is important to consider preserving and storing your food. For this, there are several equipments such as:

• • The refrigerator or freezer: allows you to keep your raw food, your products, and your preparations as long as possible. This equipment is also essential for hygiene and food safety. To keep them at a good temperature, install a positive refrigerated cabinet. Opt for a negative refrigerated cabinet for food or products that need to be kept below 0°C.

• • The cold room: it allows you to keep all your ingredients cool as soon as they arrive on the premises.

• • Refrigerated tables with stainless steel worktops: they are useful to keep your dishes cold.

• • Shelving, racks, and storage shelves: they are also used to store fresh and dry products as well as utensils. Depending on your budget and intended use, you can choose between shelves and racks made of resin, polymer, stainless steel, chrome plating, etc.
  • Go for mobile shelving if you plan to move your storage units with each use.

• • Storage bins and containers: to make your restaurant profitable, limit food waste. To do this, equip yourself with:

• • Jars to store ingredients and small quantity products (sugar, salt, coffee, etc.);

• • Large ingredient bins to store dry ingredients (flour);

• • Bins for dough or pastries to store them before baking;

• • Vegetable bins to keep products fresh;

• • Food preservation boxes.

To label, these different bins, use a label maker, markers, and tape. For each content, indicate the name and expiration date.

For preparation and keeping warm

There are several kitchen tools that can be used to help prepare your dishes. Worktops and cutting boards are constantly used in all types of preparation. For worktops, choose stainless steel. It is durable and versatile and resists most the repeated application of cleaning products. In addition, it prevents the encrustation of bacteria. As for cutting boards, opt for a plastic model. This material is easy to clean and also prevents cross-contamination.

To harmonize and make your work more practical, distinguish vegetable boards from meat boards. To do this, use a color-coded system. Food processors and slicers are used for slicing, shredding, grating, cutting, grinding, and chopping various foods. They come in several models. Certainly, the most useful for your restaurant are:

• • The combination food processor.

• • The professional meat grinders.

• • The bowl food processor.

• • The heavy-duty vegetable processor.

Other equipment to consider: hand blender, fry cutter, mandolin, mixer, utensils, cutlery, table accessories, etc.

For cooking

• • Oven and microwave: the choice of model depends on the category of your restaurant and the type of dishes cooked. There are different types of ovens, such as convection ovens, pizza ovens, combi oven, conventional oven, etc. It is also useful to consider these different criteria: size, function, and quality.

• • Ovens and ventilation: these are key elements of the kitchen. Ovens are available in two options: electric and gas.

To perfect and diversify your dishes and your menu, also use an extractor hood, pots, and pans, a deep fryer, an induction cooker, a toaster, a panini grill, a rice cooker, etc.

For hygiene, laundry, and safety

• • To respect the hygiene in your restaurant, equip yourself with sinks, dishwashers, glasswashers, garbage cans, grease traps, and dish storage.

• • To ensure your safety as well as that of your staff and customers, it is mandatory that you have the following equipment: fire extinguishers, “slippery floor” signs, first aid kit, kitchen gloves, aprons, rubber safety mats, surveillance cameras, protective glasses or visors, and gloves, etc.

For the cash register

To make your service more convenient, adopt an automatic cash register system. This allows you to:

• • Facilitate your orders and transactions to customer relationship management

• • Optimize and track your sales in real-time

• • Optimize the management of your stocks

• • Increase the satisfaction of your staff and reduce the risk of errors.

In order to benefit from all these advantages, contact an expert in computer programming. He will be able to design the cash register software adapted to your needs and expectations. Sound off in the comments section below and tell us what you want to read next and if you want to read more about kitchen equipment.