Efficiency in a commercial kitchen is essential to ensure food is cooked to a high standard at the appropriate time without waste. If your commercial kitchen is not running as efficiently as you would like, consider whether these six tips could help you improve.
1. Review your menus
Regularly check your menus to ensure they are effective. They should feature customer favourites and be dishes that you and the kitchen staff can easily prepare. The dishes should be prepared with ingredients that are easily available to avoid customer disappointment.
2. Check your equipment
From large items such as refrigerators and ovens to knives and ovenable trays, make sure your equipment is ready for use and in a good state of repair; in this way, there is nothing to hinder your food prep. When you need to replace equipment, opting for high quality is a good long-term investment; for example, you can buy high-quality ovenable trays from companies such as https://www.southerncrosspackaging.com/ovenable-trays.
3. Inventory update
Making sure you have the ingredients in stock for your dishes is vital for an effective commercial kitchen. There is no need to do this manually, as apps can keep track of your stock. This makes it easy to adjust the inventory and place orders.
4. Manage prep procedures
Have a routine for preparation that all staff are familiar with and keep lists at workstations with checklists and instructions. This will help you maintain efficiency in the kitchen even at the busiest times.
5. High-yield ingredients
Food costs can be reduced without scrimping on quality if you aim for high-yield foods with minimal wastage. Good examples include fresh Brussels sprouts and romaine hearts. Purchase food from a reliable supplier with a good reputation to ensure all food purchased is fit to be served.
6. Organise workstations
Make sure each workstation is well equipped before the shift starts with sufficient utensils clean and ready for use. Staff at each workstation should have easy access to bins; however, they should be placed away from high-traffic areas to avoid trip hazards.