Maximize Revenue During Peak Periods, Part 1

Now that the school year is back in full swing and offices are filling back up, the hectic pace and get-everyone-fed race is on once again. Demand for meals prepared outside the home is back up, increasing the need for higher production and efficient service. 

How can your business take full advantage?

Since employees can only move so fast, especially if they are new or already doing the work of more than one person, equipment can be the difference maker. It can expedite cooking, extend shelf life of pre-cooked food, and even provide a well-organized infrastructure for faster service.

Labor Day is also right around the corner. This day was originally founded in the late 1800’s as a celebration of the American worker and the American work ethic. However, today, what amounts to a three-day weekend for many is a time when most foodservice employees remain hard at work serving others.

With that in mind, this is the first of a two-part series about ways to help your hard-working staff comfortably keep up service and quality during peak serving periods and holidays.  

This week, we’ll focus on cooking and hot holding.

Cook Faster Without Compromising Quality

Cooking technology has come a long way, making it possible to cook from two to twenty times as fast with the same flavor, texture, consistency, and overall quality as traditional methods.

The Garland Xpress Grill with Garland Active Compression provides faster cook times and improved cooking consistency regardless of thickness variations in product going onto the grill. Dual-sided cooking provides faster, more consistent results that double your production in the same amount of space. The Xpress Grill is offered in 1, 2, or 3 platen models to suit your production needs.

Lincoln Electric Countertop Impinger (CTI) Ovens put large-oven capacity just about anywhere you need it. Sized just right, they’re small enough to fit on most commercial countertops, but large enough to replace a ½ size convection oven or up to 5 microwave ovens.

Lincoln CTI ovens have a 16″ wide conveyor belt and a 20″ baking chamber, and they can be stacked two high. They are available in 208v and with 240v with UL Category KNLZ listed for ventless applications, saving money and time during installation. With no venting hood required, you have more flexibility as to where your oven can be installed. Please note, however, that local codes always prevail.

To learn more about the advantages of baking with the Lincoln CTI, click here.

Merrychef eikon® Ovens utilize a combination of convection, microwave, and tuned air impingement cooking to produce perfect texture and temperature 10 to 20 times faster than a conventional oven, depending upon the model. Pre-programmed with menus ranging from paninis and French fries to pies, eikon ovens support a wide variety of menus and foodservice operations. They offer the versatility to cook, toast, grill, finish, and reheat food, delivering high quality every time. EasyTouch® icon-driven touchscreens makes them easy to use even for untrained staff. These ventless and sleek ovens can be used back or front of house. To learn more about the eikon series, click here

Maintain Pre-prepped Food Quality with Bulk Hot Holding

Pre-prepping foods for peak periods is an effective strategy to capture as much business and revenue as possible. When food is held in equipment designed to maintain temperature, moisture content, and texture, your customers need never know that their meal wasn’t made to order.

The Merco Visual Holding Cabinet safely holds and maintains food quality and safety of grilled or juicy and crispy baked or fried food products to support faster service during busy periods. Heated airflow cascades over food to maintain an optimal holding environment for a wide range of foods. Use with or without integrated tray seals to maintain desired humidity.

Touch-screen controls make this cabinet easy to operate, while a colorful display makes food status easy to gage, even from across the kitchen. Multiple size configurations with single or dual-sided access accommodate a wide range of menu items and fit into all kitchen spaces and prep lines.

French fries are notorious for not holding well, but there is a trick for keeping each golden batch hot, fresh, and crispy during peak serving periods. Just place a Hatco Glo-Ray Fry Holding Station next to your fryer to safely hold fries or other fried foods at ideal serving temperatures without cooking them further. 

A thermostatically controlled, heated base and overhead ceramic heating element work together to maintain uniform holding temperatures. A bottom trivet keeps fries lifted off the bottom of the station to promote air flow and limit moisture build-up to keep fries crispy prior to serving.

To keep biscuits, tortilla chips, or proteins like fried chicken at the correct temperature and ready to serve, Hatco Warming Drawers hold a variety of foods hot and fresh for serving. 

Each warming drawer has a food pan, a recessed individual thermostatic control, temperature monitor, adjustable vent slides, and its own power switch. 

Offered in standard and narrow width and a shallower, split-drawer warmer for non-stackable foods, warming drawers are also available in built-in models.

The FWE Universal Heated Holding Cabinet model UHS-12 keeps food hot and fresh for hours with the patented Humi-Temp heat and humidity system. This system allows humidity to be added to the cabinet to condition circulated heat. Hot, moist air circulates gently throughout the cabinet for consistent temperatures. 

This versatile cabinet comes with fully adjustable tray slides that hold 18” x 26” sheet pans or GN food pans. 

Controls are located at the top front of the cabinet making it easy to read and set. A full-range thermostat continuously reads the cabinet temperature, even without a power source.

For versatile holding of hot or cold foods, whether in food pans, half size sheet pans, or packaged for takeout, non-electric Cambro transporters have the functionality and portability to go wherever you need them. 

Depending upon your capacity requirements and preferred features, UPC300UPC400, and UPCS400 can be set on a counter or stacked on dolly for hot or cold holding or for takeout or catering orders. Thick insulation enables them to support safe food temperatures for hours. Cambro also offers Camchillers and Camwarmers, optional temperature maintenance tools that help the carrier maintain safe temperatures during longer holding times (4+ hours) or with frequent opening.

To learn more about supporting serving speed with an organized prep area, stay tuned for part 2 of this article that will publish next Friday, September 2.

For solutions tailored specifically to help your operation expedite service, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions. We’re happy to help! Contact us.