In the catering world, the word ‘utensils’ covers a huge range of products, including pots and pans, cutting and measuruing tools and cleaning storage products.
Multi-Purpose Pans
Gastronorm pans are the most common found in foodservice operations. They are often referred to as “multi-purpose” pans, because they are used in the preparation process, for storage, cooking, holding and finally serving. This multi-functional use can reduce handling, waste and pan washing, which saves energy and water.
A Cut Above
Even in today’s modern foodservice kitchen, the chef knife remains the classic symbol of the chef’s skill and creativity. The key factors that foodservice operators shouldm consider when ordering knives are balance, grip, blade strength and sharpness.
Specialist foodservice cutlery has evolved to provide to provide faster, safer and more precise ways to cut, slice, section and chop the full range of raw ingredients and cooked food found in modern commercial kitchens.
Speciality knives vary from serrated citrus peelers to dull oyster knives and the modern kitchen cutlery store may also include pizza cutters, melon ballers, wide-bladed cheese knives, a variety of baker’s spatulas and frosting spreaders, dough scrapers and pie servers.
On a Knife’s Edge
Some caterers worry about using wooden cutting boards – in fact, they’ve made something of a comeback in recent years. Properly washed and sanitised, wood is a perfectly hygienic cutting surface.
Plastic chopping boards started being recommended in the 1990s, when wood fell out of favour because it was thought (incorrectly) to be unhygienic.
However, wood does take a certain amount of looking after and – unlike plastic – can’t be put through the dishwasher. Wood’s big advantage, of course, is its knife-edge-friendliness.
You say Skillet, I say Frying Pan
One area of confusion is in the names of pots and pans. Different manufacturers tend to call them different things – for example, a skillet is essentially the same as a frying pan, a rondeau is also called a shallow casserole, and so on. So if in doubt, don’t be embarrassed to ask your supplier.
Need to know: Induction Pans
Induction cooking is really energy efficient and it’s got great safety benefits, too. Not all pans are compatible with an induction hob, though.
Induction cooking works by creating a powerful magnetic field that transfers energy direct to the pan and causes it to heat up – that’s why you must use pans made of magnetic material, in other words a ferrous metal such as iron.
There’s plenty of choice, but beware that only some stainless steel pans work on an induction hob.
Chopping, Chop Chop: Faster Food Preperation
It’s a fact of catering life that, before you cook, you have to chop. Ingredient preparation is just the beginning – but it’s a big part of the food production process.
The more time and work that can be saved at this stage at this stage of the process, the more time and creativity can be invested in cooking and plating. So it’s no surprise that for many chefs a favourite gadget is some sort of food preperation equipment: a blender, mixer, cutter, slicer, or chopper.
Manufacturers have developed an impressive array of of power assisted, automated and semi-automated equipment which can clean, cut, chop, portion and weigh these raw materials.
They are typically available in a range of sizes or production capacities to meet the needs of small, medium, large and even industrial food processors.
Powered and automated equipment offers a variety of benefits compared to with manually prepping ingredients.
As well as being labour saving, they reduce the level of skill required while improving the consistency – size, cut and shape – of the raw product.
Having separate preperation areas for meat, fish and vegetable/fruit is the ideal, as it means more prep work can be carried out at the same time and it minimises the risk of cross contamination – however, it is unlikely to be practical in most smaller kitchens.
Smallwares on show
Every year the CESA Utensils Group has a smallwares forum where the association’s utensils and food prep suppliers show their latest developments. It’s like a ‘Tomorrows World’ of small catering equipment. At the 2008 event visitors were able to see a huge range of products – including coloured stainless steel containers, mini food processors and a high tech can opener.
The above is exraction from the CESA equipment buying guide 2009. See the December issue of Eat Out magazine for more details.
