Commercial cookware is the backbone of any restaurant or other industrial kitchen. Good quality industrial cookware will last for years. Commercial pots and pans are available through restaurant supply vendors. Even though many retail companies, such as Target or Macy's, carry lines of "professional" cookware, this is not the same thing as commercial-grade cookware.
Restaurants use a wide variety of commercial cookware, including sauté pans, baking sheets, pizza pans and soup pots. Along with restaurants, many companies and organizations use commercial cookware, including:
1. Schools and universities
2. Bakeries and other specialty shops
3. Grocery stores, using it to manufacture their own baked or cooked food items
4. Churches, utilizing cookware for fundraisers and community dinners
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Choose the right kind of restaurant cookware for your needs
The type of commercial-grade cookware you buy for your restaurant will depend on the type of food on your menu. If you are offering a lot of pasta dishes and sautéed foods, then you will need to stock up on shallow sauté pans. If you plan to bake all of your own breads, then have plenty of sheet pans handy. Making desserts? Then, you will need mixing bowls, cake pans and custard cups, just to name a few items.
I recommend: Find all the restaurant cookware you need to outfit an entire kitchen at
The Restaurant Source and
ABestKitchen.com. They carry everything from pots and pans to serving utensils and tablewares.
Know the difference between commercial-grade cookware and everything else
There are many companies that carry cookware which is marketed as "chef's choice" or "restaurant quality." While these pots and pans are more durable (and expensive) than their cheaper counterparts, they are not suited for the heavy-duty wear and tear of a busy restaurant kitchen.
I recommend: BigTray.com carries the real deal. Their commercial cookware and bakeware is made of heavy-duty cast iron and aluminum, guaranteed to stand up to whatever a professional chef might throw at it, or in it.
Buy used commercial-grade cookware with confidence
Commercial pots and pans are pretty hard to break. Therefore, they are an ideal candidate to buy used. You can save hundreds of dollars on used restaurant cookware. The pots, pans and baking sheets may have some scuffs and dings, but they will work just fine.
I recommend: Find plenty of used cookware for restaurants at
Business.com. Also check out local auction houses in your area and local restaurant supply houses for used small wares and industrial cookware.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- When you are getting ready to open a restaurant, make a list of each station in your kitchen (sauté, grill, pizza, etc...) After doing this, fill in all the kitchen cookware each station will need to operate. This will help you to remember everything.
The official source of Commercial Cookware is the Commercial Cookware page at Business.com
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