What makes the difference between any old kitchen and a commercial kitchen? The difference lies purely in the weight of production seen in a commercial kitchen. The phrase refers to any kitchen which undertakes a commercial enterprise and the standard of equipment has to reflect this. Due to the level of usage all equipment has to be up to a certain standard in order to fulfil the stringent health, safety and hygiene standards that govern a commercial kitchen.



This means that the equipment used in commercial kitchens must make the grade and if they cannot stand the heat, they need to get out of the kitchen. This article looks at the top selling must have pieces of catering equipment and the best places to get a good price. There are so many items of catering equipment and generally it is a considerable outlay for so it essential that your investment is for something that you need.

The bains marie is an extremely popular piece found in many commercial kitchens as it serves a dual purpose; it can be used for the slow cooking of food or in order to keep food warm before serving. The units themselves are a double-walled heater where trays are placed and they are heated from below. There are two different types of heating system wet and dry, the difference being where the heat comes from and they come with round or square trays.

For larger production volumes many commercial kitchens choose to have a bratt pan. This is like a large frying pan unit and has one large surface heated by gas or electricity underneath and a tilt mechanism that empties the contents out and makes cleaning easier. They cost from 2000GBP upward therefore the volume of production has to be there to make this expensive piece of equipment worth the expense.

A more compact and inexpensive piece of equipment found in commercial kitchens is a griddle. This is similar to the bratt pan in the way that the cooking surface is usually a flat strip of cast iron or steel however they are not contained like the bratt pan, so you could not cook a stew in them. They are used for cooking meat and sometimes come in a lattice design to assist in draining fat and they usually cost from 200GBP upward.

These three products are not necessarily essential items, as with all equipment in commercial kitchens it depends on your requirements and what projected return of investment you can expect. As with many industries, equipment for commercial kitchens can be found from many online wholesalers and it is a good place to obtain price comparisons from multiple suppliers.