Commercial Steamers

Korean food is one of the hottest trends in menus for 2012. If you want to add Korean-style favorites like bulgogi, kimchee, kalbi, bibimbap to your menu, you'll need to make the proper preparations. Here are some essentials for adding Korean food to your menu:

1. Proper Cookware

You don't have to use authentic Korean cookware to make your dishes, but certain restaurant cooking supplies will make your food tastier and more authentic. Investing in restaurant pots and restaurant pans geared towards this type of cuisine will pay off by making your staff more efficient and meals more delicious. If you don't already own them, cookware such as stir-fry pans can be very useful for Korean and many other styles of food.

2. Steamers

Like many Asian cuisines, Korean recipes often make use of kitchen cooking equipment such as rice cookers or steamers for vegetables. Our steam cooking solutions are versatile machines that can be used in a variety of menu styles, not just Korean.

3. Proper Utensils

Don't forget to stock up on utensils like chopsticks for your Korean food! Chopsticks vary in style across cultures, and Korean ones are slightly different. Chinese chopsticks are longer and have a blunt end, Japanese chopsticks are shorter and taper to a pointed end, Vietnamese chopsticks are long and taper to a blunt end, and Korean chopsticks are medium length, usually metal, and have a square blunted end that help hold food and shovel rice.

You can probably get away with using one type of chopsticks for all styles if you have multiple types of food on your menu, but your discerning customers will appreciate it if you go the extra mile with the right chopsticks!

Are you going to be adding Korean food to your menu in 2012? Let US Food Culinary Equipment & Supplies help you stock your kitchen!

It’s Super Bowl Week and Superior Products Restaurant Equipment and Supplies has the products you need to satisfy your hungry and thirsty guests. If chili, nachos, hot dogs, and beer are on the menu, we’ve got the supplies for you!

Our Superior 7 Quart Round Cooker/Warmer is ideal for bringing your room temperature chili to a rolling boil within 30 minutes. Thermostatic control allows you to have it simmer at warm temperatures for hours. We offer an optional pan kit that includes inset, cover, and ladle. This product is also available in an 11 quart capacity and is great for keeping cheese warm for your nachos.

 


The Star Lighted Nacho Warmer has a heated spout that measures ¾ oz. pours of heated cheese to top off your nachos or other snacks. This works well for toppings for ice cream (such as hot fudge or caramel), chili dogs, and sandwiches (barbeque and other heated sauces). #10 cans fit perfectly in the well, or a 3-1/2 oz. optional inset pan is available.

If nachos are a big seller for you, you may want to invest in a commercial nacho warmer.  Carter-Hoffman front loading models keep chips warmed at 175 degrees F. and have 20, 22, and 44 gallon capacities. Vulcan top loading models maintain temperatures of 180 degrees F, and hold 22 gallons or 44 gallons of chips. Countertop Nacho Chip Merchandisers by Star are available for those who have a lower volume of nachos sales.

Hot Dog Rollers and Steamers can also be found at Superior Products. Prepare up to 50 franks at a time. Superior Bun Warmers can keep up to 100 buns at a time heated and ready to go for that next hot dog sale. Countertop merchandisers and sneeze guards for some models are also available.

Getting thirsty? Your customers are likely to need a cold beer to wash down their Super Bowl gastronomic favorites, so make sure you have the proper restaurant glasses to accommodate them. Choose from a variety of beer mugs, pilsner glasses, and pitchers in our huge inventory of in-stock glassware. These glasses are ready to ship out the next business days and should arrive in 3 to 4 business days.

Football season is in high gear and we are celebrating at Superior Products with our annual Football Frenzy sale on restaurant equipment and supplies. Our prices have been reduced on such foodservice supplies as restaurant glassware, and bar equipment such as hot dog steamers and frozen pizza ovens.



Visit Superior Products website for a selection of over 11,500 products online. Time to make the right call and score a touchdown by visiting us and saving! The weather's changing, the leaves are falling, and so are the prices at Superior Products.

Hurry and save; these prices are only valid now through October 31, 2010.

Tamales

Notes: If you don’t want to make the tamale dough, a lot of authentic Mexican restaurants sell it already prepared, or you can buy a mix at the grocery store and just add water.

Tamale filling:

1 ¼ lbs pork loin              

1 lg onion, halved

1 clove garlic                    

4 dried chile pods

2 cups water                    

1 ½ tsp salt

Tamale dough:

2 cups masa de harina     

1 10.5 oz can beef broth

1 tsp baking powder         

½ tsp salt

1 cup sour cream             

1 8oz pkg dried corn husks

In a dutch oven, add pork, onion, garlic, and water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.

Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chiles. Place in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes; let cool. Transfer chilies and water to a blender and blend until smooth.

Strain the mixture, stir in salt, and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in one cup of the chile sauce.

Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the lard with a tbsp of the broth until fluffy.

Combine the masa de harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as necessary to form a spongy dough.

Spread the dough out over the corn husks to ¼ to ½ inch thickness. Place one tbsp of filling in the center. Fold the sides in toward the center and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour.

Remove tamales from husks and drizzle remaining chile sauce over. Top with sour cream. For a creamy sauce, mix sour cream into the chile sauce.

RECOMMENDED SUPPLIES:

• Mixing Bowls
• Blenders
• Rubber Gloves
• Commercial Food Steamer

Today marks the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970. The photo at right (taken in 1970) illustrates the concern about conserving energy. Thankfully, we have come a long way and the prophecy in the photo never came to fruition. Since then, we have become more energy efficient in an effort to preserve our world's natural resources.

Recycling has become a daily routine for most of us. We don't give it a second thought. Conserving gas and electricity by cutting back on usage has also become a common behavior. Of course, this lowers energy bills and saves us money, while simultaneously protecting our natural resource supply. Most of us recognize these days that there is not an unlimited supply of natural resources, and the more green we become, the better for the environment and our wallets!

Foodservice establishments should think green when they set up a new restaurant. It has been estimated that by purchasing energy efficient kitchen cooking equipment prior to opening, restaurant owners can save in excess of $20,000 per year in operating costs.

Restaurants already in business should adapt to green practices. Purchase and proper care of foodservice supplies, such as restaurant bar supplies, is both economical and green. Glassware is an example- the more uses you can get out of one glass, the more you are recycling the product and saving money. Spending a few dollars more on heat treated glassware will provide you with longer lasting, more durable restaurant glasses.

Commercial kitchen equipment that is Energy Star rated is energy efficient and economical. Superior Products has a large selection of products that have this rating. Choose from commercial steamers and restaurant ranges, as well as many other foodservice equipment products.

Celebrate Earth Day every day and help to preserve our planet's precious natural resources! Go Green!

Superior Products Restaurant Equipment and Supplies offers financing for your commercial kitchen equipment and bar equipment purchases with our lease to own program. It is a great way to improve your cash flow and is available on foodservice equipment priced at $1000 or more.

Kitchen Cooking Equipment that can be leased includes restaurant ranges, industrial ice machines, and commercial food steamers. Considering other foodservice equipment products such as gas deep fryers, or countertop broilers? These, too, are leasable products.





Now's the time to expand your kitchen or bar and make payments as little as $50.00 per month (based on certain conditions and restrictions). Need a new double door refrigerator or tapster with draft beer towers? Now is the time to lease your equipment!


PDF VERSION OF LEASE APPLICATION AVAILABLE HERE.




 

In November of 2001 the price to commercial consumers for a thousand cubic feet of natural gas was $6.79 (average national price). Six years later and during the same month the going rate was $11.04 (average national price) — an increase of 77.3%. And oil prices have seen an even greater increase going from an average price per barrel of $15.76 to $95.33 — a whopping increase of over 500%! (Prices obtained from the Energy Information Administration.)

These increases in energy prices have a trickle-down effect across many different expense categories for a foodservice operator. In addition to directly impacting the utility expense category, rising energy prices are also affecting food costs as food distributors add “energy surcharges” as a means of trying to maintain their profit margins. In a recently conducted industry study, foodservice operators from across all segments of the foodservice industry indicated that rising utility costs ranked as one of the top factors they felt would have the greatest negative impact upon their operations. The same study also revealed that energy costs had the highest percentage increase of all major expense categories. So, what is a foodservice operator to do in the face of such energy dynamics?

Of course the obvious answer to this question is to find ways to reduce the energy expense component, and there are several ways an operator can do this. To begin, using natural gas as your primary cooking fuel will save considerable cash. The price increases noted above are not singular to gas and oil: electricity prices have risen as well. The map on this page shows that in almost every state in the U.S. natural gas for cooking still costs less than electricity.

Now more than ever, operators need to seek out the most energy-efficient equipment they can find. Thankfully, manufacturers are introducing new models of gas equipment across all major categories that are significantly more energy-efficient than the models they are replacing.

Fortunately, greater efficiency does not translate into less equipment productivity — the capability of a piece of equipment to “pump out” product. In fact, numerous independent studies have shown just the opposite. Through the combination of better overall design and the employment of new energy-efficient technologies, many categories of foodservice equipment are demonstrating greater output with significantly less energy input. In other words, operators do not have to trade output for efficiency.

Energy Star®, a division of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), has established energy efficiency standards for six different categories of foodservice equipment — fryers, commercial food steamers, refrigerators, holding cabinets, industrial ice machines, and warewashing equipment. When looking to purchase a new piece of equipment for their facilities, foodservice operators should seek out items that have the Energy Star “seal of approval” if they are serious about wanting to reduce their energy costs.

At the same time, operators should seek out the assistance of their local gas utility representative. In this very competitive energy environment, gas utilities are working closer than ever with equipment manufacturers in an effort to find new technologies that will help bring down the amount of gas consumed by foodservice equipment. As such, they are well aware and informed of the latest pieces of equipment that will provide operators with maximum performance and productivity with minimal energy consumption.

Operators should also consider multifunction foodservice equipment as a means of reducing their energy bills. Most foodservice operators do not use their equipment at 100% capacity, even during the busiest times of the day. A convection oven that is not in use is still “on” and consuming gas even when it is in idle mode. The same holds true for a convection steamer — most operators do not use it 100% of the time to actually cook, so when it is in the “standby” mode, it is still consuming a significant amount of energy — energy that is not “productive” in nature. One potential way to deal with this type of scenario is to purchase a combination oven/steamer that is multifunctional by design. A “combi” oven would most likely be in standby or idle mode a relatively short period of time on a daily basis, thus reducing the overall energy consumption for operators.

When purchasing foodservice equipment, operators should consider only items that will meet their operational needs and avoid purchasing equipment that is “oversized” just because they feel they’re getting a “great deal.” Generally speaking, larger capacity pieces of equipment consume more energy, and if an operator’s goal is to reduce energy costs, then larger, underutilized equipment is not part of the energy efficiency equation.
And of course, operators must look at their own operating practices as well as a means of reducing energy consumption. They must instill throughout their entire organization a culture of “energy conservation” and put in place, and enforce, practices and procedures specifically designed to reduce energy consumption and garner greater output per energy unit consumed.

As the “greening” phenomenon starts to penetrate deeper into the foodservice industry, the subjects of energy use (and misuse) and energy conservation will certainly grow in significance. Proactive operators will need to look at various options that are available to them as they seek out ways to reduce their total energy consumption and hence energy costs. Purchasing more energy-efficient, multifunctional natural gas foodservice equipment that is properly sized for their operations, along with instilling a culture of energy and resource conservation throughout their organizations, will go a long way in helping operators reduce their total energy costs in light of escalating prices.

Superior Products has a complete selection of commercial microwave ovens for the foodservice equipment industry. Below are some frequently asked questions about microwaves, and their applications. This is Part I of a 2 part posting. Tomorrow we will post Part II.

1. What is the correlation between wattage and cooking times; how will the cooking time vary on a 1,000-Watt, 1,200-Watt, and 2,000-Watt microwave oven?

The higher the wattage, the faster the microwave oven cooks. Speed directly correlates with cook time. Something that takes 1 minute in a 1000-Watt oven will take 30 seconds in a 2000-Watt oven.

2. What are the three most important details in ordering a microwave oven to ensure the most appropriate kitchen cooking equipment for my application?

Determining the proper wattage microwave best for the operation.
Verify the voltage in the area where you want to plug in the microwave.
Watch the voltage and amps draw required for the microwave.

3. With microwaves being available in different wattages, what electrical details should be considered?

Since microwave ovens are available in different wattages, they also have different voltages and amperage draws. Some models are 120 volts, while other larger models are 208-240 volts. The 120 volt models will have a 15 or 20 amp plug and the 208-240 volt models will have a 20 or 30 amp plug.

4. How much space do I need to allow around the microwave oven?

This may vary by model, but allow at least 4 inches of clearance around the top and sides of the microwave oven. Proper airflow around the oven cools the electrical components. With restricted airflow, the oven may not operate properly, and reduce the life of electrical parts. Read owners manual before installing! Allow at least 4 inches between air discharge on back of oven and back wall. Do not install microwave oven next to or above source of heat, such as pizza brick oven or electric or gas deep fryer, or other commercial kitchen equipment.

5. Can I use a domestic microwave oven in a commercial kitchen?

Domestic microwaves are for residential use and not commercial use. They do not have NSF approval; your local health inspector can cite you for a code violation for using a domestic model in a commercial kitchen. Check your fire insurance policy, as some policies will not pay if domestic equipment is in use.

6. What are some of the differences between domestic and commercial microwaves? Why would a food service operator purchase a commercial brand microwave for $300.00 and up, when you can find a consumer brand microwave oven in warehouse clubs for under $100.00?

Commercial ovens are certified to NSF or UL Sanitation. Commercial models are more durably built, with heavy-duty power cords, and components that will hold up for continual heavy-duty use throughout the day. If a household unit is in use in a commercial environment, it can void the warranty. In the case of a fire, fire insurance can be voided if a consumer piece of equipment is being used in a commercial application.

7. What are the differences between Programmable and Variable Power features?

Programmable: This means that you can preset the buttons for specific applications.
Variable Power: This means that you have 3-6 power levels, like defrost, low, medium, medium-hi, and high cook the products). Variable power control cycles the oven on and off. Medium power level = 50%. This means that the magnetron turns on and off in equal parts, usually six seconds on then six seconds off. Defrost = 30% and means the magnetron will be cycling on 30% of the time and off 70% of the time.

8. Which is best: dial microwave or programmable microwaves?

This depends on your menu. Operators that use microwaves to preheat standard portions continually throughout the day will be better off with programmable ovens, with one button programmed for each menu item. This means consistent results delivered to the customer every time. A dial timer is for occasional use with a variety of items. Because of lower cost, they are sometimes used in self-service applications like cafeterias or convenience stores. The customers can then select their own heat time.

9. Can I steam with a microwave oven?

Microwaves are excellent steamers. With a higher wattage microwave you are able steam products without the added expenses of any plumbing costs. Quality products emerge in a samll amount of time; vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, corn and green beans are crisp, yet tender, with a bright, appetizing color. Always cover food that you are steaming in a microwave. For bulk steaming, use restaurant cooking supplies such as high temperature amber half size pans with steamer inserts and covers.

10. Can fish or shellfish be cooked in a microwave?

The following fish and seafood items can be successfully prepared in a microwave oven:
Fish: Trout (brook or rainbow), Salmon steaks, Filet of Sole, Halibut, Pike, Whitefish, Flounder, Red Snapper, Pompano, Ocean Perch/Lake Bass,and Bass (Lake Bass or Sea Bass).
Shellfish: Whole, live or frozen Lobster, Langoustines or Crayfish, Lobster Tails, and Crabs. Shrimp, crab, lobster and other seafood emerge perfectly steamed and piping hot.
Many consider microwave cooking of fish and seafood better than conventional cooking because conventional cooking often produces dehydration and toughening of the product, while microwave cooking of fish and seafood utilizes their natural moisture.
 

What products can I serve with the warmers? 
Soups, chili, vegetables, sauces, gravies, melted cheeses, and some hot chocolates and fudges, etc.

What do I need with the counter top warmers?
Most warmers are sold without the food pans, so be sure to check the specifications for the correct size pans and covers. Always keep extra pans / insets to help rotate the food product!

What size pans should you order for the counter top warmers?
The round warmers use 7 quart or 11 quart inset pans and covers. Superior offers adapter plates to hold two, four, or seven quart insets.

The 12 x 20 and 12 x 27 rectangular warmers use the standard hotel or steam table steamer pans. These are available in full and fractional sizes. (Most use full, half and/or third size pans.)
To hold the pans in place, use adapter bars available in 12 or 20 for the standard 12 x 20 or the oversized model.

What is the best way to maintain the temperature of hot food?
To maintain the hot food temperature while holding the food product, be sure to use a cover with the inset, maintain the proper water level in the well, and stir the food product regularly.The gentle moist heat will maintain the food temperature, but will not raise the serving temperature. Solid, slotted covers, and hinged notched covers are available on round warmers; solid, slotted, dome, and telescope covers are available on the 12 x 20 warmers.

What electrical power will I need for counter top cooker/warmer or warmer?
Most brands of counter top warmers include a cord and plug, and have a 120 Volt NEMA 5-15P plug.
As a matter of standard policy, always consider the wattage and/or voltage, and plug style of any appliance before purchasing.

What does the term "Use wet or dry" mean?
Most of these commercial kitchen models use water to better transfer the heat from the heating elements to the food product, providing even temperatures and less hot spots or scorching of the food. If you let a water only model run dry, you will burn out the element. The wet or dry model works best with water (wet), but you will not hurt it if it runs dry.

Look for Superior Warmers or Cooker-Warmers and Soup Kettles, and Vollrath Food Heat N' Serve Warmers and Merchandisers.

Superior Products carries a wide range of commercial kitchen equipment for all your commercial foodservice needs. Use the chart below to find the cooking equipment you need based on the menu application. This guide is partcularily helpful for planning purchases of new products, such as restaurant ranges.
 
Select your menu food item, and see the choices available for restaurant griddles, and gas deep fryers, and commercial food steamers. We also carry restaurant cooking supplies to complement your equipment purchases.

We have a leasing plan that allows you to get the best foodservice equipment, furniture and foodservice supplies with affordable monthly payments. The leasing option allows you to conserve your valuable capital. Leasing is available to qualified customers on orders exceeding $1000. Call 866-543-4316 ext 1279 for more details. Download your Leasing Application here and electronically email it us. You can also print it and fax it to us at: 864-284-1348.