Along with the chef’s knife, paring knives are one of the most commonly used pieces of cutlery in most home and professional kitchens. Although small, the paring knife is one of the most versatile food preparation tools in the chef’s arsenal, allowing one to chop, peel, slice, and carve foods with higher degrees of accuracy than larger knives. As such, paring knives are most commonly used for tasks that require careful detail, such as removing seeds from peppers, de-veining shrimp, cutting garnishes, and more. The smaller size of a paring knife allows it to be more carefully manipulated to achieve precise or intricate cuts that would normally be difficult with a larger blade.

Coffee’s hot.   I’m speaking of popularity, but it might burn your tongue.   Sherri Johns of the Ultimate Barista Challenge said, “Coffee is your customer’s first, last and lasting impression.”  The market’s tight, discerning and spoiled.  Gone are the days of serving our grandfathers a hot, dark, indefinable beverage and calling it coffee.   We know what we want

About a week ago Vivian walked by my desk and handed me a brochure for a new product, the Flash AdBoard.  What is the Flash AdBoard you may ask… well I’m here to give you the 411 on these very cool & very affordable illuminated rewritable signboards.  This powerful eye catching marketing tool lights up your message like neon using the latest in LED technology.  LED’s (light emitting diode) have a very low energy consumption (3 watts per hour) and will last 100,000 hours (10 years) making this board greener than conventional lighted signs, and less costly operate and maintain.

Any professional or home chef can attest to the importance of a sturdy, dependable chef’s knife. Also known as a French knife or a cook’s knife, the chef’s knife is one of the most common cutting tools used in food preparation, particularly in Western kitchens. A good chef’s knife can be used to cut meat, slice vegetables, and chop herbs, among a variety of other uses. But with this versatility comes the inevitable confusion of choosing which knife to buy when shopping through all of the options and variations that the industry has to offer, especially if this is your first big knife investment. But don’t let that scare you away to a land of low-quality “budget” knives. Arming yourself with a bit of knowledge about exactly what a chef’s knife is and how it is used is a quick and easy way to narrow the search.

If you’re shopping for a new ice maker, you’ll be glad you came here first. We have about seven different deals running right now, all on Ice-O-Matic Machines, all intended to save you money. And every deal is stackable and usable simultaneously, so you’ll be saving a lot of money.

Cleavers are rugged, rectangular-bladed knives that are most commonly used for quickly chopping through bone in large cuts of meat. Although the term “meat cleaver” has come to be used almost universally in reference to the knife, they are also used for quickly chopping up large fruits and vegetables (such as squash or various melons) that would otherwise be unwieldy with regular kitchen knives. The broad side of the knife also makes it ideal for crushing ingredients like garlic or ginger during food preparation, and the blunt, flat edge on the back of the blade can sometimes be used to tenderize meats in the absence of a traditional meat tenderizer. But despite some of its more versatile uses, the cleaver is designed to do one thing better than any other hand tool: break large, difficult pieces of food into smaller, more manageable pieces of food.

Variety is the spice of life and this statement’s meaning is no truer than in the place of it’s origin, the kitchen. If you don’t know much about seasoning it can be easy to get bored with the food that your cooking at home, but you don’t have to go out to restaurants to get those flavorful aromatic dishes that you crave so much. The best way to spice up your relationship with your food is to add a few extra ingredients to your pantry.

American Range has a wonderful “how we got started” story!   During World War II Mourad Demirjian , a plumber in his early 20’s, living on a frozen part of the planet with his wife and children in a time when resources were scarce, decided to keep his family warm.  He used diesel fuel and his knowledge of plumbing to work out a constant-drip system of fueling a small heater.   As he saw this was working, he developed flues to release the fumes, and finally learned how to direct air circulation to warm his entire house.  When neighbors visited, they were impressed and wanted this same luxury, so a new career, building space heaters, was born.  He added windows so his customers could watch the flame and a flattop for warming food.   In the 1960’s, his family immigrated to the US, and used his technology to branch into making cooking equipment.   By the early 1970’s, American Range existed, and his son is running the company today.  Those basic concepts of steady heat, even air circulation, proper ventilation and cooking space are still blatantly in practice in American Range’s line of convection ovens.

It was 72 degrees in South Carolina yesterday. The tulips are coming up in my wife’s flowerbed, Bradford pear trees are ready to bloom, and I am calling my customers asking them if they want to spend the best $ 350 they’ll spend all year. In these hard times, $ 350 is a lot when it comes to the bottom line but as the old adage goes “Pay me now or pay me later”.

With the weather getting warmer, the demand for ice cold beverages is—naturally—on the rise. Having a dependable ice machine in your restaurant is critical during those warm summer months. They’ll be here before you know it, too, so be sure to get your orders in early before the heat sneaks up on your business.

We’ve discussed wine pairing in previous posts, but sometimes a more handy, visual guide can be very useful when making those quick dinner decisions. Here is a comprehensive chart of wine pairing advice, courtesy of winefolly.com.

Chances are if you are buying any types of food storage container that is made of some sort of polycarbonate plastic material or epoxy resin, then you would want to make sure it is BPA-free before you purchase it.

Adding a restaurant range to your home kitchen seems appealing at first. They’re more durable and powerful than residential-style stoves, and they’re stripped of all those nonessential, expensive add-ons. But before you rush headlong into buying a commercial-grade appliance for your house, it’s important that you consider their drawbacks and limitations.

Oyster Roasts have become one of the biggest low country traditions along the southern coast line. Where as in many other areas oysters are consumed raw or on the half shell, indoors, people in Charelston and the surrounding region gather outside to shuck these little roasted mollusks, drink beer and have a good time until they are spent. If you’ve been invited to one of these festive gatherings your in for a treat, but to someone who’s never attended an event like this the do’s and dont’s of such an eccentric tradition can seem a bit overwhelming. Here’s a little bit of info and a few tips to help any newcomer be prepared for their first shucking experience.

We know why we use Pan Liners in our homes, but we’ve only recently started to extrapolate that, if pan liners are a good idea for small applications, they’re an even better idea for larger applications, such as restaurants.  All the conveniences we love about them at home carry over, in a large and money-saving way, to our restaurant.

The MX2000 Master Mixer from Dynamic International is a powerful handheld immersion mixer that mixes, purees, and emulsifies up to 25 gallons with ease.  The ergonomic handle makes it easy to grip and the continuous function auto run button allows you to mix continuously or pulse.  With a stainless steel shaft & titanium plated blade this mixer is sure to be durable, dependable, and long lasting.  The MX2000 is great for making delicious salsa, tasty cream soups, creamy mashed potatoes, flavorful sauces, mayonnaise, fruit creams, and so much more.  Dynamic backs this wonderful handheld immersion blender with a 1 year parts and labor warranty.  The MX2000 has a powerful 460 watt (almost 3/4HP) motor that is capable of producing an incredible 9000rpm so it will make quick work of anything you subject to its power.

When choosing what dishwasher will go into your commercial space the first decision will be what type of dishwasher you need, commercial or residential. For most commercial operations, such as restaurants, bars, or cafeterias, commercial will be the obvious choice. In fact commercial dishwashers are recommended for all business applications except for small office breakrooms. So what is the difference between a commercial dishwasher and its residential counterpart?

If you have been having trouble getting your deep frying right, don’t worry—it’s really not as simple as it looks. Deep frying is often depicted as a quick and easy method of cooking that only someone who was not paying attention could mess up. After all, you’re just dunking some food in some oil, right?

When opening and stocking a restaurant, one of your initial investments will have to be in flatware.  High quality flatware is well-worth the cost upfront, because it’s going to be used constantly and you aren’t going to want to be replacing it frequently.  With that idea in mind, we’ve put together a list of practical tips to extend the life of your commercial flatware.

It’s snowing here today, but before we know what hit us, (Ok, it was a snow ball…) summer will be here, and we’ll want to be outside for different reasons.  This brings me to the greatest development since campfires, the outdoor kitchen, which combines two  popular gathering spots, the kitchen and the back yard, in a way that enhances both.