Hotel F&B – Ovens

For some time now the equipment industry has been heavily focussed on the steady increase in the use of induction cooking equipment but to suggest that as a result of this the traditional six burner oven range has had its day would be both untrue and naïve. It hasn’t, and won’t have for a long time yet – there is still huge demand for budget, entry level products and the six burner oven range is perfect for that market.

The main issue with a traditional six burner oven range is that it only ever allows you to work with a maximum of six pans at one time. This may be fine during prep time when you have six large pans on the cook top but it limits the amount of pans during the busy service period. Based on our experience chefs should consider having a mixture of open burners and solid tops as this will allow them to work with large pans during prep time whilst offering them greater flexibility during service when, generally speaking, they need to use a large number of smaller pans. The disadvantage with both of these items is that they throw out an awful lot of heat into the kitchen which makes for an uncomfortable and hot working environment. If this is an issue then consideration should certainly be given to induction – especially multi-zone and multi-point induction which will accommodate both large and small pans. Generally speaking, reducing the number of open burners in favour of solid tops and direct cooking appliances – such as grills, griddles and planchas – will reduce both the number of pans required and the amount of ‘pan traffic’ in the kitchen.

Moving from gas to electric (induction) will generally benefit the business in terms of energy consumption and therefore reduce its bills. Furthermore, introducing induction will significantly reduce the ambient temperature in the kitchen, making it a more comfortable place to work. However, there is a concession to this reduced energy and reduced on-going bills in the form of an increase in the initial investment which some operators, understandably, either can’t or are unwilling to make.