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Choosing a Commercial Gas Range for Your Restaurant
If you are a restaurant owner planning a kitchen or replacing your cooking equipment, then you need to consider every aspect before making a choice. Whether you have previous knowledge of the commercial gas range or not, this blog will help you understand this popular piece of equipment in commercial kitchens.
Table of Contents
1. Tips for selecting a commercial gas range
A. Type of gas range
1)Chinese Wok Stove
This gas stove is larger in size and it features a large concave surface or hole in the countertop to accommodate large sized frying pans, usually appearing as a combination of large and small frying pans.
The backsplash is made high and a faucet capable of rotating is installed on top for the chef to get water to rinse the countertop and pans or to cool them down. Some types are also equipped with internal fans to help the gas burn fully.
2)Commercial Stove
Several small open burners, side-by-side, are equipped with a stove rack, and the space underneath is made into a storage cabinet to save space in the kitchen, or it may just be a rack, so it is usually more economical.
Each of these small burners has a separate switch, so if the Chinese wok stove is suitable for large quantities of stir-fry or simmered food, the commercial stove is perfect for smaller cookware (usually iron or ceramic pots and pans) to prepare different foods for different customers.
3)Countertop Gas Stoves
This countertop commercial gas range is small enough to fit on the countertop to save space in the kitchen and usually has one to four burners, each with individual knob controls. It has a wide range of applications and is suitable for small quantities of different foods that need to be heated at different temperatures.
4)Commercial Range
This type of gas range usually has a griddle on one side in addition to the open burner on top, and discards the under-counter storage space to make it into an oven, combining multiple cooking functions and saving kitchen space.
This type of multifunctional combination stove is widely used in commercial kitchens because it means that the chef can prepare dishes in different ways at the same time, increasing the richness of the menu.
B. Power of the burner
The heat unit of gas is BTU, which represents the amount of heat produced by the burner in one hour, the higher the value, the faster the gas stove heats up.
The power of each type of gas stove ranges from 500-18,000 BTU, while the power of commercial kitchen gas stove can reach 30,000 BTU per burner. Power is crucial for cooking time, so if you want to shorten the cooking efficiency as much as possible, then you need to choose a high BTU gas stove. In Chinese and Southeast Asian countries, chefs like to use gas stoves with strong flames to stir-fry vegetables and meats, and the high flames create something called “Wok Chi” which adds flavor to the dish.
C. Size
Choose a vertical or tabletop gas stove and the number of burners according to the actual kitchen space. For small dining rooms, 4 or 6 burners are sufficient, while for larger dining rooms, you may need 8 and more number of burners.
D. Choose the right material
1)Stove head material
The gas range head is usually made of brass and aluminum alloy, both of which are suitable for use as safe and efficient accessories on commercial gas range, but brass has a higher priority than aluminum alloy.
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc with a wonderful golden color. It has good thermal conductivity and heat dissipation, high thermal efficiency, inherent corrosion resistance so that it does not need to be protected by an oxide film and is durable. With a melting point of 1600° to 1700° F, brass is not easily deformed by melting, even under high fire conditions, and has a very long service life.
Many manufacturers combine brass and cast iron to make grates that have additional insulation capacity. The biggest advantage of aluminum is that it is economical, but relatively speaking, it has a short service life and needs to be replaced frequently.
2)Countertop material
Gas stove countertops will be used to stainless steel and tempered glass two materials, of which stainless steel is most used in commercial gas equipment because of its beautiful appearance, strong construction, can be used for a long time in a heavy greasy environment, while tempered glass will be used improperly will be easy to produce scratches or broken.
But in the home kitchen, tempered glass is more often used, this translucent top can well enhance the whole kitchen sense of style.
E. Ignition options
Electronic ignition and manual ignition, electronic ignition is to press and hold the switch will produce a continuous electric spark, in contact with the gas will be ignited. Manual will use to lighter or ignition gun, the advantage of automatic ignition is more convenient, but at the same time it will be more expensive.
F. Safety
Open flame always carries certain safety hazards, for commercial kitchens such as the frequent use of high-powered appliances and open flame equipment, the acquisition of high-precision flame-out sensor pin can detect accidental flame-out in a short period of time, and immediately cut off the gas source to avoid gas leakage.
G. Distance between burners
If you need to use larger pots and pans, you should consider not only the power but also the distance between the burners to see if you can put down these pots and pans at the same time.
H. Convenience
Everything about commercial gas equipment is designed to enhance the user experience.
• The drip tray at the bottom collects water and grease runoff from the cooking process, making it easy to dump and clean after the cooking is over.
• The casters on the vertical gas range are designed to make it easy to move around and clean the bottom and back.
• Storage cabinets or ovens underneath the gas stove are designed for easy access, space saving and efficiency.
• Gas range with flame viewing holes allow the operator to observe how the flame is burning.
Please choose whether you want a commercial gas range with these features according to your needs.
I. Control method
The control panel of the gas stove will generally set knobs and valves, make sure that these settings can be easily identified and easy to operate, pay attention to whether the material of the knob is easy to clean and will not corrode, the best choice is plastic and metal.
2. How to safely use and maintain your gas stove
A. Check the pipes
Regularly check the pipes supplying gas. When doing the usual maintenance, you can apply soap and water to the joints, if there are bubbles overflowing from the joints, it means the joints are leaking.
B. Flame should not exceed the edge of the wok
Although experienced chefs are happy to use high flames for frying, they must pay extra attention to safety when using open flames.
C. Install gas leak detectors
Installing gas leak, carbon monoxide and other detectors in the kitchen is an expense, but it can be a good way to protect the safety of employees.
D. Clean regularly
At the end of the day, you should dump and clean drip pans, grates and gas stove surfaces that collect crumbs and grease, and put them back in place after they are thoroughly dried. Wet surfaces can easily breed bacteria, while cleaning the burner ports with a wire brush and opening the burners to verify that there are no blockages.
E. Cleaning method
Commercial gas equipment are generally made of stainless steel, here are a few suggestions for you to maintain stainless steel equipment, you can use the same method to maintain other equipment in the kitchen to extend their service life.
• Cleaning stainless steel with detergent is one of the most common methods, you can use a soft cloth dipped in detergent, then wash with warm water, and finally wipe the equipment clean with a dry cloth.
• Be careful not to use chlorine cleaners and acidic cleaners together, and do not let the residue of the two cleaners have contact, because the combination of acid and chloride can produce harmful gases.
• Do not use wire balls to scrub the highly polished stainless steel surface of the commercial gas range, it is easy to leave traces, and to clean in time after a day of use, otherwise the stainless steel surface will be dull.
Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_stove