Consider these factors when purchasing a refrigerator for your hotel kitchen or restaurants:
- If you use a lot of sheet pans or steam table pans, consider pan slides in lieu of wire shelves.
- Universal-style slides will allow you to use either sheet pans or steam table pans.
- A sheet pan on slides can also serve as a shelf when both are needed.
- Many reach-in refrigerator manufacturers offer different lengths and widths for the same door configuration.
- For example, a manufacturer may make a two-door refrigerator in a 48-inch, 52-inch, and 58-inch width.
- Costs are all very close. If you go with pan slides, then you want the narrowest unit that will fit the slides; anything wider is wasting area in your kitchen.
- If you will be storing larger items, such as case goods, a larger width may be the better buy.
- To make the most of your worktable, consider under counter refrigerators.
- Most can be bought with a worktable top as part of the unit.
- Garnish pans can be cut into the top for an added means of refrigeration.
- Finish materials can often add to or reduce the cost of a refrigerator, but they also affect durability.
- An all stainless steel cabinet is the top of the line for most manufacturers.
- But if you forgo stainless steel inside the box, you can save about 10 to 15 percent of the overall cost.
- If you can accept an aluminium finish on the refrigerator exterior except for the doors, an additional 20 percent or more savings is possible.
- The trade-offs are that aluminium is a soft metal and may be dented more easily than stainless.
- Cool-down, rapid-chill, and blast chillers are becoming popular because health departments are more sensitive to proper food-handling procedures and storage temperatures.
- Any of these rapid cooling refrigerators will help to cool foods quicker than a standard refrigerator and reduce chances of food-borne illness.