Hosting a wine tasting at your bar or restaurant can often seem like an intimidating and daunting task, particularly if you are not an expert in all things wine-related. With thousands of years of history and countless wine companies and brands to investigate, even thinking about tapping into the wine industry can seem like an overwhelmingly complex endeavor. But while putting together a good wine tasting does take a bit of time and planning, it can actually be much more manageable than many people may think.

Let’s get right to it. Here are some tips for a better, safer, and easier food slicer experience. The type of food slicer you have should be based on the frequency at which you use it. Light duty slicers are made for use only a few hours or less a day. If you don’t use it very much at all, a manual slicer would be better economically than an electric slicer. If you use it several hours a day, and you might use it for cheeses, a medium duty slicer would be your best option because it will withstand the use. Whether you choose manual or electric for medium duty is  up to you and your preference. Now, if you are going to be using your slicer constantly throughout the day, you will definitely want a heavy duty slicer that can easily withstand constant use and slicing cheese. Be sure that your blade is stainless steel and don’t forget to get a blade sharpener, otherwise, you won’t be able to cut anything after a while.

School is back in session and the cafeterias are busy again. Schools are focusing on feeding kids healthy foods, but how do you know if they are eating off of healthy lunch trays? A lot of schools stopped using the plastic trays when Styrofoam became popular because of how cheap it is for schools to buy. Now, a lot of schools are reverting back to reusable trays because of how un-environmentally friendly Styrofoam is. Styrofoam takes years to decompose and is a leading cause of ocean pollution. Several school districts moved to use paper trays that can be used in compost, but unless the school has a composting facility, these trays also end up in landfills.

Time to save money again!!  Do you own a restaurant?  One thing that you have in your store is an exhaust hood or two. In the summer time down south it gets hot and humid and sometimes cooling your building can seem impossible. Maybe all that cool air is being sucked out with the hot air from your cooking equipment through the exhaust hood.  Here is a test to see if this is happening in your restaurant.  With all of your exhaust hoods running, make up air included, go to the front of the building open the entrance doors and take note of what you feel.  Did you feel a rush of air come past you, or did you feel resistance when opening the door?  If you did then you have negative pressure in the building and all of your high cost AIR CONDITIONING is being sucked up through the exhaust hood.  Do you want to fix this situation?  If so there are companies that will balance test the building and bring this situation under control.

As a restaurant owner, any and every detail should be important to you. This could range from the type of commercial dishwasher you choose to buy for your commercial kitchen to the type of floor mat you choose to lay out in the entrance way of your establishment. Your open sign , the one thing that will draw your customers in or turn them away, is no exception.

Commercial ice makers have snot too…

Water snot? Say what! Ok that sounds great but the cold; not so, hard facts are that if you own a commercial ice machine you will develop cold-water algae. The algae will build up on corners and on top of water distribution tubes, drains, drip lines and even in the water sumps. The algae are clear, slick and disgusting organisms that most people don’t want to think about, but they are there.

Refrigerator door gaskets probably don’t come to mind every day unless they are falling off.  The seal between the door and the cabinet are very important, they provide a barrier that keeps the warmer outside air from entering the cooler air inside; same concept as the weather stripping on your doors at home.  If the gasket has gone bad (cracked, dry rotted, etc…) and is not creating a tight seal around the door and cabinet body then the compressor is running more and costing you a lot more in energy dollars.

Another frequently asked question we receive is, “what’s the difference between a radiant & lava rock charbroiler?” (often called a chargrill as well). Well the main difference is the way in which the heat is transferred to the food. On a radiant chargrill the burner is positioned under a cast metal radiant from which the heat is radiated towards the food being grilled. The radiant is usually pitched like a roof allowing the excess drippings to run off and not carbonize; although some of the drippings from the meat will actually “burn” and provide that chargrill aroma we are all so familiar with. Lava rock charbroilers use a bed of lava rock positioned above the burners to catch and radiate the heat towards the meat above.

There are very few foodservice companies that have built as many top brands as Manitowoc Foodservice. With brands like Frymaster, Lincoln, Merrychef, and Manitowoc Ice, Manitowoc is known for great brands and quality products. In 2011 Manitowoc added Cleveland Range to their list of brands. Since they acquired Cleveland Range little has changed until recently. In 2014 Manitowoc dropped the "Range" from Cleveland Ranges name and now they are simply Cleveland and branded the Cleveland Range Combi ovens and steamers as Convotherm. In 2015 they removed the Cleveland Combi ovens from their product list and birthed the brand Convotherm.

Hamburgers and hotdogs aren’t the only things suited for the grill. A touch of smoke and caramelizing flames do wonders for fresh vegetables. Grilling vegetables instead of cooking them in other conventional ways often changes the taste and texture and brings out their natural flavors. It can be a great way to get picky, primarily carnivorous friends and family members to enjoy a variety of different foods. Not to mention grilled vegetables make great side dishes for steaks and pork chop dinners to jazz up your meal instead of the traditional french fries or baked potatoes.

Popcorn is a snack enjoyed all around the world. It can be cooked several different ways, but the one of the most popular ways to get it is from a kettle popper. These aren’t just for the movies; there are smaller poppers that can be used for personal use if you’re a big popcorn fan. There are all shapes and sizes with various outputs depending on the need. This guide is to help you figure out which one best suits you. There are a few things to consider before you make your choice.

Before the very first toaster became a household phenomenon in home kitchens, the idea of “toasting” bread over an open flame was discovered and thus toast was born. It has never been determined who invented the first toaster but it was General Electric in 1909 that introduced the very first toaster to the market. Since then, the conventional toaster has taken on many shapes and sizes and now there are a myriad of toasters available to the everyday consumer.

We are currently overstocked on these Update Intl. TD-1114L Paper Towel Dispensers and have them priced to move.  This manual paper towel dispenser is a great fit for any bathroom, break-room or food prep area where easy access to paper towels is needed.  Get one (or two) today, they are sure to go fast at this incredible price.  Visit our website today and let J.E.S. be the one stop shop for all your commercial restaurant equipment and restaurant supplies.

If I mention French porcelain, you envision pink flowers on a traditional Country French plate.  Revol Porcelaine is NOT that French porcelain.  Google the phrase “French porcelain” and you’ll find several companies selling examples of said plates.   Revol France has its headquarters in Saint-Uze, where the Revol brothers started their business and created Revol porcelain in 1789, during the French Revolution. Revol USA is located in Alpharetta, GA.  Very few companies on the planet are thriving after 225 years, let alone still owned by the founding family, but Revol is.  They’ve outlasted governments.  What makes a business so enduring?

Built to Dominate the Economy Restaurant Range Market

Southbend was in the house last night and the S Series commercial range made a big impression on the sales team here at J.E.S. Restaurant Equipment .

Quality of water has always been an important factor in the success of any foodservice operation. Between cooking, serving beverages to customers, washing dishes, making ice, and a variety of other tasks, restaurants need to use the cleanest, purest water available to ensure the health and safety of their customers. In 1974, the Environmental Protection Agency passed the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) to reinforce this idea. The SDWA moves to keep the concentration of chemical and mineral contaminants below the accepted “safe for consumption” values in all sources of public drinking water.

It has always been a mystery to me why people will spend thousands of dollars on  commercial refrigeration like a reach-in refrigerator, reach-in freezer, walk-in cooler or walk-in freezer and never perform preventive maintenance. You would never buy a car and not change the oil would you?  Preventive maintenance is not the cure all but just like changing your oil in the car it is important; preventive maintenance helps the equipment you worked so hard for last longer.  At J.E.S we not only sell commercial restaurant equipment we also have a service department that is cable of providing PM & repair on all major brands of restaurant equipment as well as commercial HVAC.  My guys cover the up state of South Carolina & when it’s the middle of July and 95°+ the service department phone is ringing off the hook with calls from restaurants and other commercial facilities with refrigeration problems a lot of which could have been prevented.  The key to helping your profit dollars go further is to limit repairs, not just ignore the cause of damage… NEGLECT!   Here are a few simple items that I would suggest

I was perusing through our website one day when I noticed one of our customer’s commenting on a Cambro food storage container he recently purchased for sous vide cooking . I started thinking how great of a blog topic this would be for those who have never heard of such a process.

Foodservice establishments must sanitize their dishes in one of two ways: chemicals or hot water. While using a low-temperature dishwasher is more energy efficient, the cost of chemicals far outweigh the electric bill making high-temperature dishwashers more common in the restaurant industry.  So why do you need a booster heater?