Posted by Brindley Harwell on 9/18/2017 to
Restaurant
An age old question…maybe not exactly, but it is an important question for any restaurateur. The biggest factor to consider with this conundrum is what function you most want from your machine.
Let us help you out.
Here’s the gist of what both machines do.
Cheesemelters do just that, melt cheese. They tend to be mounted over the back of the range and usually contain a small oven rack and crumb tray. With a relatively low temperature output from above they’re perfect for browning au gratin dishes and of course, melting cheese for nachos or open sandwiches. Other uses include finishing hors d’oeuvres, desserts, and evenly reheating food. Cheesemelters are not used to initially cook food, but to finish off a dish. Some kitchens use them to hold and warm plates.
A Salamander ( or Salamander Broiler) usually gets mounted above and to the back of your kitchen’s range. Not only can it melt cheese but with a focused high heat index it’s perfect for raising overall meat temperature on rare cuts, broiling meat, or they can be used top brown casseroles or other such dishes. They can be used to cook meats in full if need be. Salamander’s feature a grate that can be slid in and out and can be adjusted closer (or further) from the heat source according to the task at hand and a removable grease pan below the grate.
Other Considerations
Both units can come with either ceramic or infrared heat. Ceramic heat tends to be more evenly distributed throughout the baking chamber whereas infrared elements have more concentrated heat. Ceramic heating is favored by smaller businesses to keep overhead low and infrared is the go-to for those expecting high production volume.
Placement and size are considerations that often get placed on the back burner when looking for smaller kitchen equipment. Space in commercial kitchens is a commodity and needs to be treated as such. And smaller machines tend to draw less energy, therefor reducing energy costs.
Know your needs. Don’t over shoot your business needs and buy a giant, double, freestanding, Salamander when you really only need it for melting your crowd favorite appetizer, The Nacho Mountain.
Now it's up to you. Look at your kitchen’s specific needs and then compare the functionality of these two machines. Make your choice and then get cooking.
