We stock hundreds of glasses on the site suitable for many different drinks from wine glasses and beer glasses to champagne glasses and shot glasses.

We always find in the summer months sales of glassware increase as more people are visiting pubs and bars. Plastic glassware is also a popular choice with caterers so we have included these in the 15% off promotion.

Be first to hear about more money saving offers like this by signing up to our e-mail newsletter.

For now though head over to our glassware section to start saving!

Huhtamaki has responded to customer demand for larger beverages by introducing a new 20oz size to it’s premium range of of disposable double wall paper hot cups.

Perfect for premium beverages such as frothy cappuccinos, creamy lattes and gourmet hot chocolates, the new 20oz size reflects the trend for consumers seeking larger beverages that they can enjoy on the go.

Like all Huhtamaki double wall hot cups varieties, the 20oz cup features deeper embossed definition for optimum insulation, making the cup feel more comfortable to hold. In addition, the deeper emboss eliminates the need for double-cupping or the use of sleeves, improving the overall quality and appearance of the cup – which also minimises the amount of stock stored on-site.

The double wall cup range also includes 9oz, 12oz and 16oz sizes; and is available in a choice of stylish Huhtamaki stock designs – choose from ‘Natural’ or ‘Cuppoccino’.

Double wall disposable hot drink cups – Buy Online

Rational says it’s SelfCooking Center is the ideal cooking appliance to keep up with the drive towards healthy eating in schools and colleges. It is designed to cook a variety of menu items, with the minimum of effort, and in an ideal ‘climate’ to retain vital vitamins and nutrients as well as full flavour, colour and texture.

At the touch of a button, chefs can select how they want to cook the dishes such as the degree of browning. The center does the rest, calculating exactly how long the food needs to be cooked, the right balance of dry heat and humidity and temperature.

Rational adds that schools and colleges will be interested in how the unit can cook healthier popular foods, even chips – French fries can contain 80% less fat and 36% fewer calories than their deep-fried counterparts.

We supply a a huge range of Rational SelfCooking Combi Ovens here on the website along with the various kits and stands.

Caterers should never underestimate the importance of regularly serving their catering equipment. For many pieces of equipment, such as frying ranges in fish and chip shop, it is a legal requirement your range is serviced and the ducting and flues are cleaned at least once a year by a professional. If you are in a busy shop then you could be required to do this twice a year or even every quarter. Failure to do so will result in your policy being declared null and void by your insurer should a claim be made.

However, regular servicing and cleaning of your catering equipment is not only a legal requirement in some cases, but also crucial to the performance of your kit. It is possible that a pan may go down on a fryer or a burner may fail to ignite on a range oven and this downtime could have a significant impact on your sales.

Remember it is not enough to simply get your equipment serviced and cleaned, it is important to use a reputable company. Using the analogy of a car – if you had just spent £40,000 on a new set of wheels, you wouldn’t take it to any old garage to get it serviced and the same thinking applies to your catering equipment.

The purchase of any commercial kitchen equipment represents a significant financial outlay, and therefore it’s essential to make the right choices. Get it wrong and it’s a costly mistake, as you may be left with expensive pieces of kit which do not deliver on the full potential.

In our experience, Fast Food restaurants utilise a vast array of different cooking styles to accommodate the complexity of the cuisine, and therefore its essential to purchase the correct equipment, so there is no need to compromise on delivering a full repertoire of dishes quickly and efficiently.

It’s evident that there are two main factors, which influence the purchasing decision making process, and that’s cost and available space! It may seem obvious, but start with the buying the basics, and make sure quality isn’t compromised in an attempt to save some money – after all, saving a few pounds can be a costly mistake if a hectic service is disrupted by inefficient equipment.

Let’s start with the basics. Equipment, such as range ovens with gas hobs for wok cooking, char grills and fryers are vital. Chose options which are sized accordingly, within your budget. For example, if the menu contains a large number of deep fried items, a twin pan fryer is essential in order to keep up with orders, however, if this is not the case, a slim line, single fryer will free up vital floor space.

Investing in a couple of high quality, small appliances can be invaluable tools for increasing the efficiency of any kitchen. Our Robot Coupe range of food processors and vegetable prep machines for example, are durable and highly versatile and can result in significant time and labour savings by reducing preparation times.

Don’t forget maintenance and servicing! Whilst thoroughly cleaning equipment at the end of the busy service may seem a time consuming chore, keeping equipment maintained and in tip top condition on a daily basis, will pay dividends in the long term. Incorrectly maintained equipment is not only more likely to go wrong, ignoring manufacturer cleaning advice and servicing schedules, can invalidate manufacturer warranties.

Fast Food Cooking Equipment – Buy Online

Drinks service is very valuable. Coffee, tea and other soft drinks, including water, can deliver a high percentage of a caterer’s profits, whatever sector they operate in.

The rise in demand for coffee has been a key feature of the market over the past 2 decades. It’s an old saying that nothing puts customers off more than a bad cup of coffee, it’s the taste they take away with them when they leave the restaurant.

That’s even more true these days when café culture has led consumers to expect great coffee as a matter of course.

In this environment, fresh-brewed coffee is essential. Broadly speaking there are three types of coffee machine: bottle or filter brewers, urns and espresso machines. Brewers and urns are simple to use and are based on the same principle, in which hot water is sprayed over a bed of ground coffee in a filter.

The coffee drips through the grounds and into the pot or mug. Espresso machines require a more sophisticated mechanism: They make a “shot” by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water through tightly packed, finely grounded espresso coffee.

Given the importance of beverage equipment to a business, it is essential to have a proper maintenance programme in place – particularly for pressurised coffee systems.

Automatic and semi-automatic espresso machines have water, electricity, heat, air pressure and in many cases a computer chip within a confined space. For those features to have to work well together, they have to be well maintained.

Buying Tips

Water is a drink’s most important ingredient. It is very likely that you will need a water filtration and treatment system fitted if your mains water supply contains sediments, odours or off-taste because otherwise coffee, tea or other drinks made with it may never be right.

Water boilers or urns are the ideal solution if you need hot water for a variety of drinks, on tap. Free standing or plumbed in, they quickly heat water to temperature and keep it there. Like all equipment that uses water, they need to be checked regularly in case a descale is required – even if they are connected to a water treatment system.

Coffee urns or bulk brew coffee machines are easy to operate and produce fresh coffee quickly and economically. Smaller coffee brewers or filter coffee makers produce coffee in relatively small batches, usually 12 cups at a time. Larger catering operations depend on the greater capacities of coffee machines, which can brew large batches ranging from 75 cups up to more than 500 cups. Specialised high-speed systems that can brew, hold and dispense as many as 9,000 cups of coffee per hour are also available for the very biggest sites.

A single cup of espresso coffee takes much less time to make from scratch than one from a bulk brewer. As the water is in contact with the grounds for less time, an espresso has less caffeine in it than a brewed cup of coffee. Traditional espresso machines are complicated, so manufacturers have developed more automated espresso machines to compensate for the lack of skilled baristas.

Hot Beverage Machines – Buy Online

The above is taken from Eat Out Magazine’s Catering Equipment Buying Guide.

Pots and pans are one of the most fundamental parts of any catering operation. The cookware needs to be strong and durable enough to withstand the rigours of constant use, yet light enough for easy handling. Plus the metal used should conduct heat rapidly and provide an even heat distribution across the entire cooking surface.

Ceramic and glass cookware is impervious to corrosion and food acids but are poor conductors of heat and are easily broken. They’re not tough enough for use in commercial kitchen, expect for specialist applications.

Cast iron cookware has the advantage of offering even heat distribution and holding it’s temperature well because of it’s density. It is also suitable for induction hobs. However, cast iron rusts if not properly maintained and can crack if dropped.

Most commercial pots and pans are made of stainless steel. For better heat conduction they are often made with a multi-layer, heat-core base sandwich of aluminium or copper. Although stainless steel is an uneven distributor of heat, resulting in hot spots and scorching, it does offer high strength and durability and will not react with food acids or discolour foods.

Aluminium is an excellent, lightweight conductor of heat but it can react with some high-acid foods and can discolour light coloured foods and sauces, especially when used with metal chefs utensils. Some aluminium pans are anodised to create a dense and abrasion-resistant oxide coating.

Non-stick finishes are most frequently found on frying pans. One of the best non-stick coatings uses minute pieces of stainless steel and three layers of non-stick coating to create a harder wearing finish.

Buying tips

Capacities of most pans are stated in litres up to the pouring rim. The standard tolerance is usually plus or minus 5 per cent.

Common capacities for pans are:

• Stock pots – 6 to 100 litres
• Sauce pans – 0.8 to 10 litres
• Saute pans – 1.5 to 7 litres
• Sauteuse pans – 1 to 2.8 litres
• Casserole/braising pans – 1.5 to 38 litres
• Frying pan sizes range from 20 to 40cm

Cookware – Buy Online!

The above is taken from Eat Out Magazine’s Catering Equipment Buying Guide.

A vast range of machines fall into the mixer/blender category, from countertop bar blenders to smooshing ice for cocktails and soft drinks, through to blenders whizzing up small batches of soups, hand-held stick blenders, countertop food mixers and floor-standing planetary mixers that pound dough for bread or mash up huge quantities of potatoes.

Bar blenders are one of the most commonly used pieces of catering equipment in the catering world. The main body of the unit has sealed seams, to protect the motor from moisture and for ease of cleaning, and there are usually four or six stainless steel cutting blades. The angle, length and bend of the blades affect the blender’s cutting characteristics.

These blenders are generally rated from 0.5 to 2 hp and feature two-speed operation. They have to be sturdily built and carefully balanced to avoid skidding and tipping. Some blenders have a variable speed control while others have a pulse switch for intermittent high-speed use.

The higher powered models rated from 2 to 3 hp are suitable for larger volume containers or blending fruits and vegetable drinks.

When a blender is turned on the motor activates a set of blades through a clutch. The clutch is a critical factor in the blender’s operation because it takes a considerable amount of wear when the blender starts and stops.

In most cases, bar blenders are specified by container size. Typical sizes include 0.7, 0.95 and 1.3 litres along with 1.9 and 3.8 litre capacity units.

At the other end of the scale is the planetary mixer. There are three basic categories of these mixers – the vertical mixer, the vertical cutter/mixer, and the spiral mixer. All vertical mixers have the same basic construction: A horizontal housing that contains the mixing mechanism and the gear assembly that drives it, and a power take-off hub for attachments.

The mixer mechanism consists of a rotating vertical shaft of heavy steel that is connected to the gear drive. With planetary mixing action, the mixing agitator rotates rapidly on it’s axis in one direction while the agitator revolves more slowly around the bowl in the opposite direction.

As the bowl always remains stationary all contents of the bowl are reached in each revolution.

Planetary mixers are available in tabletop or floor-standing models. The tabletop versions have bowl capacities up to 20 litres, medium floor-standing units can hold up to 55 litres of product and the largest mixers, geared towards high-volume institutional or bakery operations, have capacities of 75 or 130 litres.

Buying Tips

In bars a 1.9 litre blender with a 1 to 2 hp motor should be adequate. For nursing homes, hospitals and other large facilities, the 1.9 and 3.8 litre containers with 2 to 3 hp motors are frequently used.

Bar blender containers are available in stainless steel, glass or polycarbonate materials. For frozen drinks, stainless steel containers are best as they provide slightly better temperature insulation and more durability than glass. But glass and polycarbonate offer distinct advantages for premium drink sales where presentation is important.

Food Preparation Equipment – Buy Online!

The above is taken from Eat Out Magazine’s Catering Equipment Buying Guide.

Microwave cooking may be the fast way to get energy efficient cooking but don’t forget there is more to microwave cooking than simple re-heating and defrosting.

Microwaves offer a quick way to cook many menu items as varied as vegetables, meat, fish and ‘steamed’ puddings.

As microwaves heat up foot directly and are only in operation when the food is within the oven cavity, they are an extremely energy efficient way of cooking.

A microwave is an invisible electromagnetic wave which travels at the speed of light. In microwave ovens the microwaves are generated and introduced into the oven cavity by magnetron tubes designed to convert electricity into microwaves. The water and fat molecules in the food absorb the microwave energy that causes them to vibrate against each other (about 2.5 billion times per second), creating friction which creates heat which in turn warms and cooks the food.

In the past microwave cooking has been limited by its inability to brown or crisp food but now many microwave ovens are fitted with a grill element so the food can be finished off within the same unit. For further cooking flexibility there are combination units which comprise a microwave oven and convection oven in one appliance.

Even faster cooking is possible with turbo microwaves. These incorporate fan technology into the microwave oven cavity to ensure even distribution of heat around the dishes. The top of the range models also have an infra-red element for grilling once the food is cooked.

Metal reflects the microwave energy which is why the sides of a microwaves oven cavity are always made of metal. However metal dishes or aluminium foil should not be used in a microwave oven because the metal deflects the microwaves away from the food preventing cooking and possibly damaging the magnetron.

Buying tips

In commercial kitchens it is important to use microwave ovens expressly designed for that environment. The power outputs on domestic microwaves can drop with over use and food may not reach safe cooking temperatures compromising food safety.

Commercial microwaves are general broken down into light and heavy duty models. Light duty units are rated at 700 – 800W and are most often used for quick point of service heating applications or in small restaurants and cafes where speed is not an issue. Heavy duty microwaves are rated between 900 – 2200W and are used for fast-food heating and cooking in larger establishments.

Microwaves – Buy Online!

The above is taken from Eat Out Magazine’s Catering Equipment Buying Guide.

So long as there are cravings for foods like French fries, doughnuts and fried chicken, fryers will remain an integral component of most catering, foodservice kitchens.

Along with ubiquitous deep fat fryer, there are two types of commercial fryer found in the market: Pressure fryers, which are faster and often used for chicken ,and conveyor fryers, which offer a solution for very high volume sites.

However, by far the most popular is the deep fat fryer. There is a huge range available: Counter models, full-size freestanding floor models and multiple units, powered by gas (natural or propane) or electricity. Fryers are generally rated and grouped by three basic characteristics: power input, oil capacity and production rate in kilograms. (typically French fries) per hour.

All deep fat fryers come with baskets that are loaded with food outside the fryer, then lowered into the oil during cooking. The baskets also allow caterers to remove or drain excess oil from cooked product.

Some fryers have or can be ordered with automatic lifts, which raise the fryer basket after the set cook-time is complete. All fryers come with thermostat and high limit controls and a mechanical or solid-state timer.

Buying Tips

Gas or electric? The energy used to heat up electric fryers will cost more than for gas ones, but they are efficient to use once they reach temperature. They can also be re-sited quickly and easily. Modern gas fryers have efficiency ratings of between 45% and 55%, or up to 75% for those incorporating infrared heaters.

How many fryers? If trade varies from day to day, consider buying several smaller fryers rather than one large one as it may save on running costs. For example, using three small-size fryer on a Saturday night and only one on a Monday, rather than one large capacity fryer all week long.

Filtration: The biggest single factor that can help extend the life of the oil is the use of a filter system. Fryer filter systems are designed to remove the contaminants that cause undesirable flavour transfer and oil breakdown. Some manufacturers offer convenient integral filtration systems, built into the fryer. On the other hand, a separate filter system can be used with all your fryers.

Sizing: For catering establishments with limited space or who are frying less than 30kg of fries per hour, a countertop fryer is a good option.

Commercial Fryers – Buy Online!

The above is taken from Eat Out Magazine’s Catering Equipment Buying Guide.