When it comes to setting up a business in the catering industry, it is essential that you plan all the finer points of your kitchen around the type of food you will be serving. There is a huge difference between equipment that is necessary for the smooth running of a carvery to a kitchen that is going to be serving stir fry and sushi. If you have ever had the pleasure of watching an episode of Hell's kitchen, The F Word, or any other Gordon Ramsay prime time tee vee show, you will have seen him rip kitchens to bits and rebuild them.

Thanks to Mister Ramsay we are also all aware that working in a commercial kitchen is fraught with emotions and tensions are high, it is because of this that it is important to create a working area where everything can run smoothly. Having catering equipment installed to specification from a well drawn up plan means you can keep the staff at the stations they are meant to be at, with good access to the things they require to prevent trips, spills and interference.

Pub Kitchens

The kitchens in a Public House are likely to be serving up a high volume of quick to make food from lunch until dinner time. Traditional pub menus include cold foods such as sandwiches and a ploughman's lunch; a variety of deep fried foods like scampi, goujons and chips; oven baked favourites such as lasagne or toad in the hole and hob top traditional pub favourites like chilli, or a warming stew.

To kit out this type of kitchen, you will need a large area dedicated to work surfaces, as the pre preparation of various ingredients will take up a lot of room, and it is likely that many covers will be served up at any one time. It is essential to have at least two commercial deep fat fryers to keep meat based and vegetarian fried foods separate. A high spec salamander grill is a versatile item of catering equipment that can turn a sandwich in to a toastie, keep plated up food warm, and brown off food that has been cooked in a microwave.

Restaurant Kitchen

To equip a restaurant adequately with catering equipment it is necessary to establish what the niche of the restaurant is, and take that in to account. There are some basic items that should be in any kitchen such as the salamander grill and deep fryers. It is likely however though that you will need to account for specialist equipment such as griddles and serving stations. As it is more likely that many people will be working at once, separate work stations are essential with under counter fridges and storage spaces. You will need to equip each area with its own utensils so everything is to hand and allow plenty of available hob space. If you are planning to cook a large amount of flash fry food, ensure that there are special large wok hobs fitted.

It is not just the food preparation that needs to be considered when it comes to ordering catering equipment; there are a multitude of specialist equipment that is required for service and for the clearing up afterwards. To provide a fully professional service it is essential to make the most of any commercial standard equipment you can purchase. Glass washers, ice machines and serving gantry's are all part of the commercial world of kitchens. The best bet is to think ... What would Gordon do? If you imagine that he'd ball you out with expletives, then re think your design!