Virtually every restaurant in existence uses some kind of commercial food warmer to ensure that its food stays hot until it reaches its destination on a guest's table. One of the top ranking complaints from restaurant guests is that their food is lukewarm when they receive it. Don't let this happen to the guests in your establishment; it's a sure-fire way to create an unhappy patron who may never come back (and will most assuredly tell all of their friends).
Using the proper commercial warmers is the best way to ensure that your guests receive hot food. Thankfully, there are myriad solutions available to help food providers keep their food warm. Here are some things to think about:
1. Figure out where you need to install commercial food warmers in your kitchen. Common places include expo windows and fry stations. Also, if you need a food warmer for holding purposes, decide how much food you need to have available at any given time and that will determine what kind of warmer to buy.
2. Choose electric food warmers that double as attractive serving dishes for use in your catering business. These items must be functional as well as presentable if you plan on catering upscale events like weddings and charity functions.
3. Display your best creations using restaurant warmers that have glass sides. That way, patrons can take their pick of products without asking you a ton of questions about what each menu selection has in it.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Keep food at the optimal temperature by using restaurant food warmers
After your cooks have prepped side dishes, they can use a warmer to keep the food at the right temperature until it's ordered. In addition, after a guest orders their meal and the chef plates the food, there exists an opportunity for the food to start getting cold while it sits in the expo window. Steam tables and heat lamps are the best way to keep your guests' food nice and hot until it reaches them.
I recommend: Optimize space and efficiency by using electric steam tables from
Burkett and Sons. Install an overhead warmer from
Restaurant Equipment World above the expo window in your restaurant's kitchen to keep food hot until servers can run it.
Run your business using the best catering food warmers
When you operate a catering business, it's not just about keeping the food warm, it's about presentation as well. The warmers have to be attractive enough to enhance the look of the food and entice guests to eat your creations.
I recommend: Cater small gatherings using the APW 4/3 Size Food Warmer from
Hubert Company. Serve soup from this Cecilware kettle from
BigTray; it also comes with magnets printed with common soup names so you can properly label the kettle's contents.
Showcase your selections in stainless steel food warmers
Displaying actual items that the customers can order is a good idea: they will know what you offer and can see for themselves how yummy it looks. There are all sorts of these glass cases to choose from, depending on what your specialty is.
I recommend: Check out the countertop heated display case from
CoreChef.com. Show off freshly baked pizzas at your by-the-slice pizzeria using the four-shelf revolving display cabinet from the reputable
Instawares Restaurant Supply.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- The chafing dish is the most common portable food warmer in use. There are all sorts of these warmers as they can be used in a variety of settings. There are smaller dishes that are heated using tea lights, but commercial grade chafers employ an electric heating element, as this heats the food more evenly and much more efficiently.
The official source of Food Warmers is the Food Warmers page at Business.com
Related Resources from Business.com
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