Understanding Cooking Appliances 2011

JL Lennard Food Equipment Pty Ltd. Authorised Zanussi Professional Distributor - Australia. NATIONAL CALL NUMBER: 1800 777 440

Understanding

CookingAppliances


The cooking range is the traditional heart of akitchen.There is little that can’t be cooked in one.There are four types of cooking range.

Open top burnersOpen top cooking ranges are either gas burners orelectric radiant's with an oven underneath.The most common configuration is for either four orsix burners or radiant's, but a greater number ofburners or radiant's are available for very busykitchens.

Their big advantage is fuel efficiency, since almost allof the heat is directed at the cooking pan and not intothe kitchen environment.Direct contact with the heat source also means panscan be heated very quickly.Key points to look for when buying a range include atleast one or all trivets are large enough to house thelargest of your stock pots.

Also look for ease of cleaning as ranges get very dirty.Ensure you buy a model with a build specificationrugged enough to meet the demands of the kitchenand check for availability of spare parts.

Understanding CookingAppliances:


Solid TopsThese have a solid cast iron top heated underneatheither by strategically placed gas jets or electricelements.They will have an oven underneath the same as anopen burner range.Their advantage is that size for size, they canaccommodate more pans than an open burner rangeand pans can be moved around from fierce direct heatto a cooler part of the top.Can be a bit wasteful on energy where there areunused areas of the top being heated.Key points to look for on a solid top include seeing if itjust part of the top can witched on when just a fewpans are cooking to save energy and has the stove gota rapid heat point for fast boiling?

Boiling tablesThe top is exactly the same as a standard cookingrange, but with a boiling table there is no oven below.This is useful for reducing purchase cost when there isalready sufficient oven capacity in the kitchen.The space below is also a convenient storage area forpans.



Island SuitesThese combine a cooking range with other prime cooking

units such as a salamander grill, deep-fat fryer, pasta boiler,griddle and char grill.Their reputation is for withstanding the most punishing ofcooking demands in busy kitchens.While they are mostly an “island” situated in the centre of akitchen allowing chefs to work from both sides of the range,they can be wall-facing so that all the cooking stations are ina line. There are two types of island suites.

Modular Island SuitesThis system is usually bespoke in construction, with theindividual cooking units that a kitchen needs bonded togetherfor a seamless unit.There is a wide range of options which can include a burnerrange, a solid top, fryers, pasta cookers griddles, ovens,griddles, grills, char-grills, induction hobs – in fact any type ofprime cooking process.

One-piece island suitesThese are usually built as a solid cooking suite in the factoryand as well as off-the-shelf configurations, bespoke units canbe built to order.Since these are modelled on the classic tradition of islandsuites, they tend to stay with dry heat as a cooking mediumrather than offering fryers and water-based cookers as part of

the configuration.



Look After It!

All professional catering equipment is engineered to takehard use and to be easy to use, but there are few items assimple to operate and look after as the cooking range.There is just one golden rule to keep performance high andunnecessary maintenance costs low – keep it clean.With gas fired cooking ranges, there will be high performanceburners designed to deliver the maximum energy efficiencyconversion from the gas to the heat output.

The way burners are designed is that the hottest part of theflame is just beyond the deep blue core of the flame.To burn at maximum efficiency the gas needs to be mixedwith air which will come through a vent in the gas burnerdelivery pipe.The efficiency of a cooking range burner assumes that theburners and the air vents are clean and not obstructed byfood debris.

In a busy kitchen, food spillage on the cooking range isinevitable.When food falls into a gas burner it immediately burns, turnsto carbon and blocks one or more of the jets, eithercompletely or partially.This disrupts the gas flow and the mix of air and gas andcauses energy conversion inefficiency.

Cooking is slower and more costly.

Make An Informed Choice:


Any major spillages on gas jets should be cleanedimmediately, minor spillages should be cleaned at the endof the shift.

Cleaning behind and underneath cooking ranges is asimportant cleaning the surface.

Most cooking ranges have an oven underneath and the samecleaning principles surrounding spillages and gas burnerefficiency apply.

What is common to both electric and gas cooking range ovensis that door abuse costs money.

Doors need closing firmly, not slamming, which will givepremature hinge and closing fastener damage.

Where the cooking range is part of an island suite andcooking utensils are stored above the unit, it is a too commonpractice by chefs to use the drop-down oven door as astepladder.

Electric hob cooking ranges are built around stainless steelsurfaces.

The hobs will burn off any food spillage, but other spillage willdrip onto the stainless steel top.

Stainless steel used in cooking range construction is toughand polished to make cleaning easy.

Make An Informed Choice:Cont.

THE DECISIONS WEMAKE TODAY WILL

IMPACT ON THEENVIROMENTTOMMOROW


Scrubbing burned-on food debris with hard wirescrubbers will damage the surface of the stainless steel andlead to harder work to keep the stainless steel clean.

It is better to use a professional detergent spray formulatedfor cleaning cookers and a recommended cleaning pad.

When a service engineer calls for scheduled routinemaintenance part of the service call will be ensuring that theoven cavity and the burners are clean.

The engineer will do this, but the cost will be far higher thanif the kitchen staff had done the cleaning first.

The cooking range may be simple to use and work with, butneeds the same level of operational care as any other item ofprime cooking equipment.

Make An Informed Choice:Cont.


Brief:

In BriefDo

Clean any spilt food off the range immediatelyEnsure gas burner jets & pilots are not clogged

Clean your trivets dailyClean oven cavities weekly

Don’tUse harsh abrasives on stainless steel

Kick or abuse the appliance if frustratedStand on drop-down doors

Have pans too near the edge of the rangeSlam oven doors

Leave burners turned on when there is no cookingLeave the pilot lights on after service

Should you require a no obligation demonstration of gas orelectric cooking appliances, please call JL Lennard’s nationalcall number below to set up a self cooking trail either with

your own menu items or our in-house demonstration menu.

1800 777 440

Documents

Understanding Cooking Appliances 2011