What Equipment Do You Need to Start a Restaurant?

Your dream of owning your own self-titled restaurant is coming to pass, and you feel on top of the world. Given the currently high demand for restaurant dining, this feeling is more than justifiable.

Research shows that individuals in Australia spend $52 on average on dining out each week.

An important part of running a restaurant, though, is having all of the necessary restaurant equipment on hand to keep business booming. Here’s a rundown of the equipment you need to start a restaurant successfully.

Let’s jump in!

Commercial Ovens

One of the most important pieces of restaurant equipment you’ll need for your eatery is an oven. Depending on the number of people you expect to patronize your restaurant, you may need two of them.

Ovens are a must-have for performing culinary tasks like roasting chicken and baking croissants. You’ll also need an oven to braise short ribs.

Commercial ovens come in many forms, ranging from pizza ovens to convection ovens, which are often used in bakeries. You can also take advantage of a combination oven.

Combination ovens, also called combi ovens, utilize three cooking methods: steam, convection, and steam plus convection together. Convection involves circulating dry heat and can be helpful for roasting meats or baking bread. Meanwhile, steam can be useful for poaching fish, cooking vegetables perfectly, and steaming rice.

Commercial Refrigerator

A refrigerator is another must-have for any serious restauranteur. Several types of refrigerators exist, including fridges for displaying cakes or sushi. You can also find refrigerators for holding wine bottles and ingredients like milk and eggs.

Quality refrigeration solutions are essential for keeping your ingredients fresh. However, they will also boost your restaurant’s production capacity. They’ll additionally help you to avoid possible violations of the health code.

When choosing a refrigerator, make sure that you choose one that is big enough to support your patron turnout rate each day. Otherwise, you will have to restock often.

However, too large of a refrigerator won’t be efficient and thus will be costlier to operate if your restaurant’s output does not match it. A restaurant equipment provider can assist you in choosing the right size refrigerator for your daily needs.

Commercial Freezer

In addition to purchasing a refrigerator, you’ll need to add a freezer to your restaurant kitchen.

Your freezer will maintain the right temperature for any food item that has to be below or at zero degrees Fahrenheit. These items include sorbet, large meat cuts, and ice cream.

Food Processing Equipment

Your restaurant kitchen will likely also depend heavily on a food processor, so this should be in your culinary arsenal as well.

You’ll use your processing equipment to complete tasks like grinding nuts, pureeing cooked fruits, and slicing vegetables. This equipment can also be used for chopping herbs and shredding meat. Grating and kneading can furthermore be performed with this equipment.

Food processors offer the benefit of cutting down prep time significantly. As a result, it’s an easy way to guarantee consistent and quality output.

Commercial Dishwashing Machine

As a restauranteur, you’ll also need a reliable dishwasher. This equipment will help you to stay on top of dinner and lunch rushes by allowing you to tackle your dirty cutlery, cups, and dishware as soon as possible.

A compact glasswasher can especially come in handy in a cafe, hotel, club, or bar setting. This type of unit can wash hundreds of glasses each hour, so you’ll never lose a beat in your dining service delivery.

Ice Maker

You’ll likely need ice to create certain recipes, chill food, and keep drinks cold at your restaurant. For this reason, an ice maker is another wise investment for your eatery.

You’ll need an ice maker that will produce an adequate amount of ice for the cooks and customers you’re serving. Also, be sure to clean the unit regularly, as this will help with preventing buildup.

Equipment for Cooking

Your restaurant kitchen will also need a range with ventilation.

A range will serve as your primary station for cooking. You’ll need to determine the number of burners you’ll need (for example, two versus four). In addition, do you prefer gas heat or electric heat?

Ventilation is also important because a ventilation system will expel smoke, steam, and hot air. This will allow you to maintain comfy dining and working conditions for both guests and staff.

With ventilation, you will need to create a system that can adequately cover your backline. At the same time, it should be relatively silent. In this way, it won’t drown out your kitchen commands and infiltrate your dining room.

Deep Fryer

Deep fryers can also come in handy for restaurants. You may use this piece of equipment for preparing fried foods, like eggrolls, onion rings, jalapeno poppers, and French fries.

When using a deep fryer, you should avoid overloading it. That’s because this will reduce your oil’s temperature and lead to greasy food. In light of this, if you plan to fry many of your food items, you might want to invest in multiple units.

Slicing Equipment

If you plan to do plenty of slicing and dicing in your restaurant, quality slicing equipment is also in order. This is especially true if you intend to prepare many ingredients on your own.

Although having knife skills is invaluable in the culinary world, you don’t have hours to spend slicing cabbage or onions for coleslaw, for example. Fortunately, that’s where slicing equipment comes into play.

A slicer will enable you to process vegetables, cheeses, and meats at high speeds and large volumes. In this way, you can dramatically decrease the labour and time associated with performing high-volume, repetitive cutting.

Mixing Equipment

Commercial mixers can also come in handy for budding restaurants. These pieces of equipment are made to handle large numbers of ingredients. They can also withstand frequent use.

You can use this equipment for preparing foods like whipped cream, brownie batter, cake batter, sauce, soups, and pizza dough.

Note that breakfast or brunch bistros and bakeries might especially find having multiple mixers to be beneficial. Meanwhile, other restaurants, like high-ranking French restaurants, may forgo the mixer and focus on creating handmade items instead.

Commercial Sinks

A commercial sink is yet another must-have for serious kitchens. That’s because a restaurant can’t legally operate if its sinks don’t work.

Regulations and codes may differ from one area to the next. However, as a general rule, a health inspector from your local area will verify that your sinks are operational and that your hot water works before you can open up your restaurant.

The sink is so important because it is every cleaning operation’s linchpin in the restaurant industry. If your sink isn’t spacious and doesn’t function well, your kitchen operations will end up falling apart. With a large-enough sink, you can wash your hands and rinse ingredients as well.

Beverage Equipment

Finally, many mainstream restaurant owners do not view blenders as primary equipment pieces. However, if your business is a health-oriented one, you might want to incorporate fruit smoothies into your menu.

You can also utilize a blender to make shakes and purees. Likewise, your bar might want to use blenders to whip up alcoholic mixtures.

A blender might also help you to grind grains into flour and even create plant-based milk for your guests.

Display for Hot Food Items

Finally, consider investing in a display cabinet for hot food.

This piece of restaurant equipment offers several benefits, such as enabling you to adhere to food safety laws. That’s because by keeping your food hot, you decrease your chances of making your customers ill. This will help you to avoid costly fines and keep your business open long-term.

A food display also allows you to prepare larger batches of food, as you can easily keep all of the food warm for an extended period. This eliminates the need to cook smaller portions, which can be time-consuming.

How We Can Help You to Start a Restaurant Successfully

If you are seeking to start a restaurant, you’ll need restaurant equipment such as an oven, sink, freezer, and refrigerator. The best restaurants also have mixing, slicing, and deep frying equipment at their disposal.

At Snowmaster, we’re excited to offer high-grade commercial kitchen equipment for restaurants, cafes, clubs, pubs, and even hotels. Get in touch with us to learn more about our equipment and how it can add value to your restaurant for years to come.