Snacking & Fast Food Equipment

Lincat Silverlink Chip Scuttle and Gantry CS4-G

The demand for ‘food on the go’ continues to rise, all the more so as people trade down from expensive eat-out dinners to something more affordable. Get it right and it can be highly profitable. 

Lots of preparation can be done in advance, the process of cooking can be deskilled, and if you choose the right equipment there’s less work involved. Less work means lower labour overheads, usually the largest element of overall costs. The first rule in selecting snack equipment is don’t buy domestic kit. It can’t compete with commercial-quality catering equipment – not in build quality, speed of operation, quality of results, general hygiene or reliability.

And it’s important to choose the right equipment. More than any other area of foodservice, quick-service catering benefits from specialised units geared to specific types of food.

In this sector storage and presentation can be just as important as cooking, simply because impulse plays such a large part in the process and food needs to be ready to serve.

Examples of Dedicated Equipment

Contact grills

Contact grills are an efficient way to cook many snacks quickly – food such as toasted sandwiches, grilled meats and burgers – since they heat from both the top and bottom.

Panini Grills

The panini grill is a good example of how dedicated equipment can enhance snacking service. Essentially it’s a contact grill redesigned with ribbed plates to give paninis their essential (and appealing) striped appearance. The panini has grown hugely popular in recent years – it’s a ‘toasted sandwich’ with extra flavour and glamour- and commands a premium price, so having a dedicated grill to create the perfect panini can benefit the caterer.

Pizza Ovens

Pizza can be prepared freshly or in advance, cooked in minutes and sold by the full plate or the slice. For snacking there are a number of countertop units that are compact enough to fit just about anywhere, including some capable of producing a traditional stone-base oven taste without the space demands of a traditional pizza oven.

Toasters

Catering toasters are not just built to be tougher. They can toast more evenly, have replaceable parts and can be more versatile – toasting a variety of products such as buns and bagels properly. On the more advanced units, wider slots allow ‘clamps’ for toasted sandwiches.

Potato Ovens

These are popular for their ability to act as cooker, holding cabinet and display merchandiser all in one. Make sure the holding cabinet is matched to the cooking capacity, so an oven that can bake 30 potatoes in an hour has plenty of room for ready-to-serve jacket potatoes.

Hot Dogs

Hot dogs are quick, simple and always good sellers. As with other snacking equipment, a dedicated unit can offer the best results – usually on a roller grill or specialist steamer. A companion bun warmer can be sited underneath. It’s possible to get complete table-top plug-in units which can give an alternative ‘theatre-style’ of production.

Hot Cabinets

Hot cabinets make great merchandisers for a wide variety of foods. Attractive appearance is vital – a cabinet with elegant, clearly lit display space encourages impulse purchases. This is particularly effective when drinks are the main source of turnover, since it can boost food sales.

A built-in humidifier helps the food stay fresher and moist for longer.

Combi Ovens

Take a look at the new range of counter top models that give all the flexibility of their bigger brothers but which take up no more space than a microwave oven. These models can give flexibility and speed of cooking across the whole menu.

Forced Air Ovens

These use a combination of microwave energy and high speed hot air to cook food quickly – these are especially suited to the cooking of ‘torpedo’ rolls and other quick service items and are used extensively by high street chain restaurants.

The above is exraction from the CESA equipment buying guide 2009. See the December issue of Eat Out magazine for more details.