Designing a very small kitchen line on a very tight timeframe

[stringer]

Hey All,
I have a new project and I wanted to pick the collective hive mind. I am looking for ideas and specs for commercial grade equipment that can fit in really tight quarters for a community oriented, workforce readiness, non-profit coffee shop / brunch concept. All prep will be done in a commercial grade kitchen that is attached to the space. But in the coffeehouse itself I don't have much to work with in terms of equipment or space for building out a hot line. There are no hoods and no ansul, so I can't do anything with open flames or that produces steam or grease. We will be cooking, cooling, and portioning the food in the commercial kitchen and doing mostly reheat in the coffeshop. There will be two cooks on the line. One doing mostly eggs on induction burners (that I still need to buy) and the other handling the TurboChef/microwave/toaster. Currently, I am inheriting an ancient turbo chef. This will be the first thing I asked to get replaced for next year's capital budget. But it will have to do for now. All of the equipment has to be ventless and fit under or on top of a counter. I would like to get ideas/recommendations about brands and models to pursue or avoid:

A new accelerated oven (TurboChef)
Compact Powerful Induction burners
Commercial Microwaves
Commercial Toasters
Countertop Convection Ovens
Panini Presses
Portable Steam Tables
Warmers

And any other tips and tricks I might think about. I have some money to work with but not a blank check and very little time. My Grand Opening is June 1.

 

[TSF415]

No specific recommendations here but I have bought quite a few things from Costco. I dont know if a business center exists over where you are but they usually have a pretty good collection of stuff. Also they carry a great hassle free warranty on most there stuff and if you use their credit card you get an extra 18months or something like that. Also it saves a few headaches if they have something you want because it'll be the best price most likely and you can save some time not having to shop prices.

 

[groovecat]

You probably have a lot more options available to you than where I'm at in Canada, so I don't think I'll be much help with that. I can offer some advice on other topics though.

Whatever you do, don't fall into the trap of buying a residential grade panini press. They may be tempting because they're so cheap but the power supply will surely fail with commercial use. I worked at a small place once where the owner insisted on buying the cheaper home presses, it took a few replacements to convince him to let me buy a real one.

If you're doing eggs and not a lot of high-heat cooking, 1400 watt induction burners might do you fine. They're usually quite a bit cheaper than more powerful ones. Something to consider anyway.

This might go without saying but still thought I'd share... I've run into power issues that have limited what I'm able to do with a space. So now I always find out the capacity I have to work with before I start dreaming too big.

Good luck. Sounds like a great project to be working on!

 

[Barclid]

I would avoid Avantco induction hobs. Had nothing but trouble with them. Vollrath makes a wide range of models and they're generally pretty reliable. If you're just doing eggs, groove has the right idea and go for a less powerful version. I've used the Breville Control Freak and while it's expensive and leaves a bit to be desired in terms of raw power, I found it really handy to have programmable cooking settings and to-the-degree temperature control.. it lets you idiot-proof some recipes like hollandaise or other temperature sensitive sauces. Not much to say on the rest of your decisions though.

 

[stringer]

I thought I might update this in case someone needs to do something similar.

I got the cafe up and running. We have a full coffee/espresso menu, bakery items, parfaits and Southern/Soul breakfast and lunch. And everything is ventless. No hoods or dish machine. No open flames. No deep fryers.

Here's what we do have:
Microwave
Turbo chef
2 Induction Burners
Counter top convection oven
Deli Prep Cooler
A couple of under counter reach ins
Window with warmer
Double waffle maker
Small 3 compartment sink

 

[Jovidah]

For a second there I thought you had TF's portrait in the corner...