Hey Professional Chefs! Wouldn’t it be great if someone got in touch with you one day with the news that you are the lucky winner of a $1000 gift certificate in addition to social exposure for your business?

Well, your dream can now become a reality. One lucky professional chef out there will be receiving the news that they are the winner of TigerChef’s video contest winning a $1000 shopping spree to be spent at TigerChef.com as well as free social exposure!

Being the leading online source for Restaurant Equipment and Supply for 7 years now, when it comes to commercial kitchens, TigerChef.com knows what they’re talking about. With over 200,000 products available, and counting, you can have your commercial kitchen up to date and running in no time.

Giving a professional chef $1000 dollars to spend to their heart’s content, is like placing a child in a candy store and telling them to rack up a bill- at someone else’s expense of course. ...continue reading

Purchasing the highest quality equipment is the first step to making your business a success. Which equipment and what brands and models you buy are among the most critical decisions you will need to make as a professional in this industry. Durability, convenience, and cost-effectiveness will determine which products are the best for your kitchen. While some appliances are specific to certain types of establishments, others need to be in every restaurant. It is crucial to decide what will save you time and money in the long run. Read on to learn about some of our suggestions for tools which make immense returns on investment.

Major Commercial Appliances

1. Range

Induction is at the pinnacle of modern culinary technology, and for good reason. With an induction range such as the Vollrath 912HIMC Cayenne HD, chefs can cook with unprecedented temperature consistency and control. Better yet, this type of range allows for lower temperatures than gas, making it possible to prepare a broader spectrum of dishes to absolute perfection.

2. Convection Oven

Another time-saving necessity ensuring uniform temperature is a convection oven. We like the Duke E101-E 240V Single Deck Convection Oven because 5 pans per deck means easy, evenly cooked large batches, and stainless steel means a longer-lasting appliance. ...continue reading

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As we gear up for holiday parties and catered events, keeping food warm and fresh is a big consideration. Chafers are not only traditional…they serve a purpose no other piece of kitchen equipment does. In fact, chafers are the most-purchased item for the professional kitchen at this time of the year.

It’s no wonder they are so popular, since chafers really shine during holiday social events. These events tend to go on for several hours, and chafers are the best way to keep food at the optimal temperature. Certainly, chafers are indispensable in volume situations, and they are especially useful for outdoor events and cocktail receptions.

Chafers work by supplying heat continuously to keep food at the proper temperature. They also ensure that food will taste as good as when you cooked it. The heat supply can be the flame from a candle, electricity, steam, or sterno canisters—anything that will keep the water hot enough to maintain the food’s temperature. To keep food safe and delicious, food should be kept at 141°F or more. ...continue reading

I love a stainless steel kitchen. The look is clean and professional. Even if there weren’t so many practical reasons for choosing stainless steel in the kitchen, I would design a kitchen with it anyway—just for the aesthetic value. When I walk into a well-organized, gleaming stainless steel kitchen, I am energized and ready to work. From stainless steel refrigerators to stainless steel stockpots, the well-fitted commercial kitchen is sleek, stylish, and simply looks clean. There is no doubt that the preferred material for a commercial kitchen is stainless steel, and this is based on a number of factors.

Stainless Steel Kitchens Are Cleaner and More Durable

That clean look is backed up by fact: stainless steel resists bacteria. You can clean your stainless steel refrigerator with a disinfectant and be sure that it is really clean because stainless steel isn’t porous like wood and plastic, which are far more likely to breed bacteria. A study published in Poultry Science demonstrated that electro-polished stainless steel showed significantly fewer bacterial cells than other treated surfaces. Their conclusion was that “food safety could be improved if bacterial populations could be reduced…by increasing the use of materials resistant to bacterial contamination.” Another recent study conducted by the Hospitality Institute of Technology and Management (HITM) concluded that stainless steel countertops, when compared with other countertop materials, are the least likely to harbor dangerous bacteria, such as E. coli. ...continue reading

Executive Chef- Doesn’t that sound wonderful? Most aspiring chefs look forward to the day that they can add “Executive Chef” to their signature, the day when all compliments (and let’s face it, complaints) will be directed toward them and when they will be running their own professional commercial kitchen. So now that you’ve earned the title Executive Chef, what does that mean for you?
 

Chef Training

There’s a lot of training involved in becoming an Executive Chef and being able to run your own successful professional kitchen. A reputable degree is of utmost importance, as well as a few years of apprenticeship learning the trade.
 

Chef Career

An Executive Chef actually spends less time in the kitchen than any other chef does. He or she is responsible for all the paperwork and has to make sure the inventory gets taken care of. Furthermore, an Executive Chef has meetings to attend, whether it’s with vendors or with his own staff members, has to manage the kitchen and its environs and deal with the many issues that crop up on a daily basis. He or she has to plan the menus, and create innovative recipes that will be appetizing and successful. It is for this reason that the actual cooking is typically done by the Sous chef or Line chefs. ...continue reading

When it comes to proper hygiene in commercial kitchens, it is something you want to make sure you have down pat. You want to make sure that all the safety measures and health rules are being carried out to the "T" for the benefit of yourself, your employees and your customers.

No one can argue that obtaining a health certificate when opening a food establishment is a breeze compared to maintaining the cleanliness once the establishment is up and running for a few months. No inspector is coming to check up on you day in and day out. Therefore, it is really up to you, as the chef, owner, or manager, to make sure that all the rules and regulations are being carried out by every single employee. Losing your health certificate means losing your customers and ultimately, your business.

1. First things first, let’s start at the very beginning. Keep all your workstations dirt and germ free, wash all dishes in soapy hot water, change uniforms daily, wash your hands in warm soapy water after working with raw food or touching anything other than the food you’re working with, and after sneezing or coughing.
2. Install two sinks in your commercial kitchen, a single sink that is designated for hand washing and a double commercial one for washing dishes. ...continue reading
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