Cooking Equipment

In pizza operations, deck ovens provide results similar to wood-fired ovens when creating traditional thin crust pies. After about an hour of preheating, these units’ decks, where staff place the pizzas to cook, can maintain temperatures as high as 700 degrees F using either gas or electricity. Deck ovens generally cook pizzas in approximately five minutes.

Here are five indicators that a foodservice operator should consider replacing an existing range or adding a new unit to their kitchen.

In most foodservice facilities, a range remains one of the more basic and versatile pieces of equipment that an operator can use. In fact, in smaller facilities, a range may be the only piece of equipment on a cook line, depending on space restrictions or budget limitations.

Ranges are one of the most versatile pieces of equipment in a commercial kitchen. They can be used for almost any cooking task. While cooking, stir-frying, grilling, sauteing, searing, boiling and broiling can be accomplished on the range top, the oven can be used for baking, roasting, warming, broiling, storage, and, if refrigerated or freezer drawers are included, cooling and freezing.

Paul Mann, co-owner of Service Engineering Co., Asheville, N.C., shares his thoughts on what it takes to keep a restaurant range up and running.