Hosting a wine tasting in your bar is likely going to be a much more intimate and personal experience than the more open “convention center” feel of larger, exhibitor-style tastings. Bar tastings allow a unique opportunity for conversation and community building, but it can sometimes be challenging to balance a bit of “wine professionalism” into the pre-existing atmosphere of your bar. In part one of this post , we discussed how to select your wine order. While your wine is ultimately the main attraction at your event, the presentation and surroundings can make or break a good wine selection. Here are a few things to consider when organizing the layout of your tasting.

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.

While refrigeration temperatures are an important part of running a food and beverage business, bar beverage chilling is rarely ever addressed. While this may not be very important to a restaurant with a full dinner menu it is something a small bar-focused establishment might want to consider. All alcoholic beverages are not created equal and therefore should not always be stored at a single temperature setting. Separate refrigeration units should have their temperatures set based on whatever type of beverage is being stored in them.

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.

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.

As a kid I remember that feeling of excitement that would grow in me as the family vacation would draw closer. The night before we left, I would struggle sleeping, I would wake up early that day, and be in the car ready to go hours before we would pull out of the driveway. As an adult, I still get very excited about vacation. The time to relax, visiting new places, and the food. OH the food! That is my favorite part about vacation as an adult, having the opportunity to try new restaurants. I know, not every restaurant experience is great, but I want to take some time to share a little about my 10 favorite restaurants I have visited traveling this country. And for a bonus, two candy shops in my home state of Virginia that are amazing!

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.

Although once a bit of a rarity in the American foodservice market, artisanal pizza has become quite the trend over the past several decades. â€Å“Craftâ€Â pizza shops have become ubiquitous in our modern cities, and as such, many home cooks have taken to their kitchens to try their hands at making their own homemade pizza. To do so, many people have begun purchasing pizza stones: a simple kitchen gadget that allows one to replicate the effect of cooking pizza in a traditional hearth oven.

When talking about kitchen knives , “hardness” is a term that often gets thrown around without stopping to explain what it actually means. Although the term sounds straightforward, it’s not quite as simple as it seems, which often leads to confusion on the consumer’s end when hardness values are listed in a knife’s specifications. Although many cooking enthusiasts (especially home chefs) can select a suitable, quality knife without extensive personal knowledge of the engineering behind the blade, understanding what hardness really means and how it applies to your kitchenware will help make future shopping more accessible.

According to recent census results, public school attendance rates have been increasing steadily since the turn of the millennium. As such, school kitchens are beginning to build and expand to support ever growing numbers of incoming students. With many students relying on the school cafeteria for their daily lunch, it is important that public schools be well-equipped to provide a variety of nutritious and sustaining foods to their students. However, because school kitchens differ from restaurants in that they are not necessarily profit or marketing oriented, the equipment requirements can often be somewhat different from typical commercial kitchens.

Manufacturers that make food service equipment invite certification agencies to visit their facilities and test their equipment for safety and sanitation. A seal of approval from a respected certification board lends legitimacy to a product and guarantees that it will be safe to use in a commercial setting after it leaves the factory. It won’t catch fire. It won’t rust. It’s safe.

Choosing the right dishwasher for your restaurant or establishment can seem pretty overwhelming, especially when your current dishwasher just kicked the bucket and your employees are threatening to riot from being forced to manually wash all the dishes in the restaurant. But the more you know about commercial dishwashers the easier it is to decide on the right machine to get your business back on track.

Although the concept of induction cooking was first developed back in the early 1900’s, induction cooking equipment has just recently started to catch the attention of the foodservice industry. With the refinement of the technology came lower prices and greater ease of use, and as such this effective and energy-efficient method of cooking is being integrated with increasing regularity into both commercial and residential cooking equipment. Induction cooktops feature a unique suite of benefits that are universally enjoyed by those who invest in the technology, but the cooking mechanism is rather different from most conventional methods, and knowing how it works can help you get the most out of your induction cooker.

For years T&S Brass has been a leading manufacturer in spray valves, commercial faucets and plumbing equipment. T&S Brass has always tried to stay on top of all new regulations by providing quality, innovative products.

It seems as though one of the more frequently asked questions around the sales office is, “What’s the difference between air-cooled & water-cooled?”… Well I’m here to give you that answer.  While it may seem as thought the answer is self explanatory most people do not understand the difference or the pros & cons of each.

Nemco is famous for their French Fry Cutters so lets start with The Spiral Fry Cutter!

Managing food cost is the most critical aspect of owning a restaurant. Most restaurants bring in most (if not all) of their profit through food revenue, making the balance between ingredient purchasing and menu pricing an obviously important part of running one’s business. Among the numbers of restaurants that close their doors every year, almost all of them have been due to poor food cost management.