The Staff Canteen Essential Guide to Equipment 2024: Prep

In the Essential Guide to Equipment, The Staff Canteen gets you the details on the latest pieces designed to support you and your brigade. To make it easier to digest, we’ll be releasing the guide in four parts – prep, heat, cold and clean – over the next eight weeks.  

We know it takes a lot to be a successful chef, but there is no denying that behind every great chef is a well-equipped and functioning kitchen.

“Without our gear, my team would have no idea, it’s 50% of what we do,” said James O’Connor, executive chef at Congham Hall Hotel & Spa in Norfolk.

James has so much respect for his kit, he gives it a little pep talk every day.  

He said: “I talk to my oven and stove just before every service, asking her to make sure we have a good one!”  

While James knows that having the correct equipment in place in his kitchen directly correlates to the standard of food leaving it, he also recognises the impact broken, or dated kit has on his team.  

He added: “If you go to work and something you need to use isn’t working, how demotivating is that?”

It is a fair point – and with ongoing chef shortages – is one that reinforces the need to focus on sourcing and maintaining the right equipment.  

Chris John, development chef at Nisbets, says investing in the best equipment for their needs is a ‘critical task’ for any professional chef, because it ‘directly impacts the efficiency, quality and creativity of a kitchen’. 

We also know how challenging times are right now, so if you are looking to source new equipment, or upgrade existing kit, but don’t have the time or energy to look into it – we have the solution.

Part 1: Prep 

From processors to prep stations, The Staff Canteen dives into the latest equipment designed to aid prep in the kitchen.   

Time and people power are two elements most professional kitchens would like more of when it comes to food prep, but as they are both often in short supply, chefs need to find alternatives to get the groundwork done for a smooth service.  

Fortunately, there is help out there: “Whether slicing, mixing, blending, chopping or emulsifying, there are various tools available to make food prep easier, safer, faster and more consistent,” confirms Nathan Osborne, development chef at Foodservice Equipment Marketing (FEM).  

So, what equipment saves time and labour?  

Automatic vegetable slicers, blenders and food processors are Andy Threlfall, technical and policy director at the Foodservice Equipment Association’s (FEA), suggestions.  

“They make it easy to deliver consistently sized portions while controlling the amount of product used,” he explained.   

And the latest kit that can help with this?  

For slicing and cutting, FEM’s Nathan suggests Prince Castle’s Saber King. The unit can slice multiple pieces at once and can cope with a range of ingredients, such as tomatoes, lettuce and onions, making it a popular choice for high-volume fast-casual businesses. 

Osborne says the unit offers a host of slicing options – from shredding to dicing and wedging – and blades can be switched quickly and safely. Anti-slip feet also hold it in place and there are colour-coded touchpoints and a dual action safeguard latch to further protect its operators. 

Kitchens looking for a vegetable processor with more precision and broader cutting options should check out the V-CUT vegetable processor by Sirman. The multi-purpose cutter slices, cubes, frays, matchsticks, juliennes and microcubes quickly and precisely, using a rotating feed hopper. The disc allows ingredients to be cut to 4x4mm with an optional adjustable disc that can slice from 1mm to 7mm.  

Nathan’s final recommendation within FEM’s latest and most popular prep products is the BigRig stick blender from Hamilton Beach Commercial.  

“These big, efficient and versatile blenders save time and effort, blending, chopping, pureeing and emulsifying with ease,” he said.  

Like the Saber King, the powerful BigRig stick blender is well-suited to busy kitchens as it’s built for continuous run high-volume blending. It is adaptable, however, offering five shaft sizes that allow both large and small batches of soups, sauces and purees to be made. It also features a two-position ergonomic handle and a variable speed thumb drive that gives control to its operator. 

The KitchenAid Professional stand mixer is the efficient prep time-saver at The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester. Tom says the ‘chef’s favourite’ is used daily, notably for breakfast where it’s used to make croissant dough and to whip the matcha cream – both elements used in its popular pastry – double baked croissant, matcha, English strawberries, pistachio.  

KitchenAid Professional mixers are sold by Nisbets, which offers a ‘plethora’ of commercial mixers from brands including Kenwood, HOST and Sirman.  

But the current ‘game-changers’ in this domain are the Buffalo digital planetary mixers, says Sylwia Jacob, senior marketing manager at Nisbets.  

These mixers have new digital controls which allow chefs to choose mixing speed and control it with precision.

“You can programme the mixer and set it to start slow and move to a different speed at a certain time according to the recipe, which is very cool,” she added.    

For heavy duty processing including veg prep and pureeing, Sylwia suggests the WFP16SCK Waring food processor. With a 700w commercial motor and strong cutting blades it is fast. The continuous feed top is suitable for high-volume veg prep and the sealed batch bowl can be used to make sauces or soups.  

Processors, blenders and mixers all help speed things up when time is short, but organisation is the key to efficient prep and saving time in the long run, so equipment designed to streamline operations in the kitchen can be a welcome addition and worth the investment.  

Vacuum packing machines are favoured by James O’Connor, executive head chef at Congham Hall Hotel & Spa. Every item of fresh produce is vacuum packed when it arrives and James and his team date and label each individual piece of food, to not only make identification and selection easy, but ‘so we have traceability,’ he explains.  

Kitchens looking for better organisation, particularly those with limited space, may benefit from the latest refrigerated work stations.  

“Refrigerated counters offer the ideal solution for chefs torn between needing additional cool storage and additional worksurface space,” says Simon Britten, head of marketing at Lockhart Catering Equipment.  

“Kitchens can be configurated in a way to maximise efficiency by utilising that preparation area for produce stored in that unit, keeping ingredients close to hand and allowing for optimal team movement throughout the kitchen with no obstructions.” 

Simon points towards Lockhart’s exclusive Arctica refrigerated counters. Ranging in size from two to four door-units, with adjustable shelves and on castors, these prep stations can be tailored for individual needs and moved around easily if needed.  

The counters are available in saladette and pizza-topping versions with the former giving access to chilled ingredients above and a pull-down lid to keep produce fresh. The pizza version can fit gastronorm pans on top for further streamlining. These budget options may be suited to smaller operations, or – thanks to the portability – used for an outdoor pizza kitchen at larger operations. If sustainability is important to you, they also have an ‘A’ energy and Climate Class 5 rating.  

Alternative refrigerated prep stations are offered by Williams, which suggests the latest versions of its Onyx prep stations. These solid stainless-steel units combine refrigerated storage beneath a worktop with ergonomically-designed refrigerated food wells on top, providing instant access to regularly used fresh ingredients.  

Stations are designed to hold 1/1GN pans, which are cooled from beneath while cool air is blown over the top of the food – useful when prepping salads and garnishes when it’s hot outside.

Available in two-to-five door versions and with a choice of customisation options available, including drawers, a hinged lid, granite worktops and a polypropylene chopping board, they can be adapted for any type of operation.  

Written by Emma Eversham

Return for our next instalment of The Staff Canteen Essential Guide to Equipment 2024 - Part 2: Heat – on September 25.