When people are starting a business venture in the catering or hospitality business, determining whether to invest in a commercial kitchen or trying to cope with working in a residential kitchen is one of those questions that needs to be seriously looked at. The legalities surrounding food preparation apply to both scenarios but whether your residential kitchen could cope with the needs of your business is another matter.
Commercial kitchens differ from residential kitchens in several ways. Commercial kitchens need to have a variety of cooking stations to deal with each different task required to create the type of food that is being offered. This could include cooking, baking, frying and grilling areas. You need to have specially assigned areas to ensure that there is enough space and the relevant equipment for each job.
Commercial Kitchen Layout
The layout of a commercial kitchen is designed to maximize on efficiency according to the flow of work and number of people working in the kitchen. A good layout will increase efficiency and it’s also much safer for everybody. Flow is also important in a residential kitchen but on a much smaller scale
Commercial kitchen Design will often include multiple sinks; electric and gas outlets at each cooking station; floor drains and commercial refrigeration units. Residential kitchens will not be on the same scale as this.
Commercial kitchens are also designed to handle a much greater volume of food than a residential kitchen. Avoiding cross contamination is absolutely essential in a commercial kitchen and there is often not enough space in a residential kitchen to avoid this adequately.
You will need significantly more storage in a commercial kitchen environment. The sheer volume of utensils, cutlery, pots, plates and pans etc all need to be stored somewhere and it’s unlikely a residential kitchen could cope with this.
Planning a Commercial Kitchen
When you’re planning a commercial kitchen special attention needs to be placed on the practicality, functionality, efficiency and accessibility of your kitchen space. This applies to residential kitchens too but on a much smaller scale.
If you are serious about your catering or hospitality business then it pays to invest in a commercial kitchen and not try to cut corners by using the kitchen you have at home.
At Caterline we have been designing and installing successful commercial kitchens for many years so please contact us now for any help and advice you may need.
