Microwaves at Culinary Depot:

While almost every household is sure to have a microwave oven, those home varieties differ greatly from their commercial counter-parts, like those found at Culinary Depot. The power of a commercial microwave oven is much greater, and the inner cavity of the oven is usually much wider, deeper and higher than a house-hold model, allowing for more product to be heated in a shorter amount of time.

Commercial microwaves can operate on 120 volts, but some larger models require 208 to 240 volts. A smaller unit can produce about 700 watts, while larger units can pump out close to 3200 watts.

Most microwave ovens are made of stainless steel and have powder-coated handles. Standard features usually include programmable memory pad selectors, see-through doors, a cycle counter, and a lighted inner cavity, and an automatic shut-off system to avoid over-heating. Doors are required to have individual, but inter-locking systems that automatically turn the oven off when opened.

A new heating technology found in commercial microwaves allow constant energy to penetrate the center of the food, allowing for more even cooking and less burning around the edges of the product. This new technology also allows for keeping food warm longer after heating. 

While microwaves do not require hoods, the operator should take into consideration the overall usage of the unit. For example, users that spend a great deal of time defrosting products rather than simply heating them, should consider a unit with higher voltage capabilities to avoid wear on the machine. Also, since a microwave is an electronic device, it requires ventilation space for the hot air to escape and avoid over-heating, so take care not to place a microwave directly over a fryer or steamer, and all manufacturers warn not to turn on a microwave when it is empty.

For all your commercial microwave needs, please visit www.culinarydepotinc.com, stop by our showroom, or call us at 877-863-3630.

Fryers:

One of the best-selling and most popular part of any restaurant’s menu is their fried foods section. From french-fries, doughnuts and other starches, to fried chicken and other proteins, to tempura and other vegetable dishes, and more recently, even fried oreos and twinkies, there is almost no food that can’t be fried.  When done properly, frying adds a crispy, crusty exterior, while keeping the food inside moist and flavorful. In truth, one of the first items on a new restaurant’s equipment list is always the deep fryer, and one of the first places they search for fryers is Culinary Depot.

While some fryers cook through induction or infrared heating, the traditional fryer uses gas or electric to heat a pool of oil for dropping foods into. Electric fryers usually come in 120, 220 or 240 volts, while gas fryers produce between 30,000 and 150,000 BTU per hour.

Fryers come in a variety of sizes and depths and can be placed on a counter-top or used in a stand-alone variety. Smaller fryers have capacities of 11 pounds of oil up to about 50 pounds of oil, while larger, stand alone fryers can hold more than double that. The general rule to follow when figuring out how much food a fryer is able to produce per hour is that a fryer can usually handle 1.5 to 2 times the amount of oil it holds, so a 50 pound fryer can usually produce 75-100 pounds of food per hour.

Standard fryer features include a heavy gauge stainless steel fryer tank, a full-port ball drain for removing oil, stainless steel front and sides and lockable casters. New features on some fryers include heat exchanger systems that help bring oil back to temp faster after food is dropped in, advanced electronic switching, and specially designed heating tubes.

Many common accessories purchased when also buying a fryer include a filtration system, fryer baskets of multiple sizes, tank covers, crumb scoops, splatter shields, and tank brushes for cleaning.

General maintenance suggestions to extend the life of your fryer include frequent draining of a tank’s oil and cleaning of the inner tank, as well as avoiding dumping frozen foods into fully-heated oil, scorching the frying medium and stressing the heating elements.

For all your fryer needs, from counter-top models to stand-alone versions, and all your fryer accessories, visit www.culinarydepotinc.com, or call 877-863-3630.