Preparation, they say, is the key to success. The better we prepare, the better the outcome, and no truer word can be said in the food industry. Hours and hours are spent every single day, turning raw ingredients into delicious food items. From the humble sandwich to the classic fillet mignon.
In commercial kitchens, both small, medium, and large, one of the most essential pieces of kitchen equipment is the preparation fridge.
But deciding exactly what preparation fridge you need can be a little overwhelming. Don’t worry, Perth Commercial Kitchens are here to guide you through it all.
Preparation Fridge Sizes
Preparation fridges come in many different sizes from 1200mm to 1500mm, 1800mm, 2 meters, and the largest size of 2.4 meters in length.
What size of commercial preparation fridge will be decided by how much space you have in your kitchen for the unit – so get your measuring tape out – and also how many bins and compartments you need for the number of ingredients and food items you will use.
Workbench fridges traditionally take either the small 1/6 trays or the larger 1/3 trays. However, some models can hold a combination of the two common tray sizes.
Preparation Unit Work Surfaces
The second thing you will want to take into consideration when choosing your commercial preparation fridge is the actual size of the work surface you will need.
There are two work surface measurements, the narrow 300m work surface, and the wider 400mm work surface. Both of these work surfaces come with either a PVC cutting board surface or the stainless-steel work surface.
You’ll need to take into consideration what cutting service suits you the best to help you decide exactly what work surface you need in your commercial kitchen.
Pizza Prep Fridges vs. Salad Prep Fridges
Here at Perth Commercial Kitchens, we have a full range of pizza and salad prep fridges.
But you may be wondering what the difference is between salad and pizza prep fridges.
For normal salad and in-house dining situations, your salad prep fridge comes with the choice of either a PVC or a stainless-steel cutting worktop. However, pizza prep fridges are a little different.
Pizza preparation fridges come with heavy-duty, stone worktops. They also come with either three or two-door compartments depending on how many food items you may need to store.
The stone-top pizza bench fridges are also designed to accommodate a topping unit on the top. Our topping units come with either a glass top or a stainless-steel top and they come in four different length sizes. 1200mm, 1500mm, 1800mm, and 2metres and you also have the option to choose your tray capacity with our models ranging from a three-tray capacity right up to a nine-tray capacity. Again, the number of toppings you want to keep prepared and fresh to hand will influence the number of trays you will need.
Prep Fridge Placement
One other consideration you may have to keep in mind when selecting the right prep fridge for your commercial kitchen is where it’s going to be positioned because there are two different types of preparation fridges that have been designed specifically for where they are kept within the kitchen.
Firstly, the side-mounted compressor preparation fridge. This particular model of prep fridge has been designed so that it can go against a wall.
Then, there’s the rear-mounted compressor units which have been designed to free stand in the middle of a commercial kitchen.
Front Of House Preparation Fridges
We’ve talked about preparation fridges that are used inside your commercial kitchen, however, there are models and units available that can be used outside in a front-of-house service situation. Such as takeaway restaurants, cafes, and lunch bars where the prep staff stand on one side of the unit and the customers stand on the other.
The order, prep, and handover of the food are all completed in one place and the customer can watch you prepare their food. So, if your business is more open and front of house, rather than a separate kitchen area hidden from your customers’ eyes, a front of house prep fridge is what you may need.
Here at Perth Commercial Kitchens, we have a full range of preparation units to suit every application, kitchen, and business. All our stock is kept locally, here in Perth, and has been imported directly from the manufacturers.
Local Stock, Imported Directly and You Save.
Contact us at Perth Commercial Kitchens
Related Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewtGMdib0iQ