How to Choose the Right Hotel Pans for Your Hotel BuffetPosted by Joseph Rubino on November 11th, 2017 One of the most important pieces of hotel restaurant equipment are hotel pans for steam tables. Because of their simplicity, it can be easy to overlook them and miss important information about them until the last minute when you’re opening a new hotel restaurant, upgrading equipment, or even just restocking. In this article, we will explore some of the most important facts you should know about hotel steam table pans so that you can choose the right ones for your restaurant. The first and most important factor to understand of any set of hotel pans is standardized sizing. All steam table pans are based on a standardized pan size and fractions of that standard size. Fractional sizes range from 1/2 size pans, which are ideal for larger servings of food to 1/9 size pans, which are great for sauces, add-ons, or seasonings. Various fractional sizes can be combined in a single socket in order to create attractive and convenient layouts of food. In addition to pan length and width standard measurements, there are also standardized depth measurements for hotel pans. Different depths are ideal for different foods. Shallow pans are ideal for food types like salad and entrees while deeper pans are ideal for soups and other food that will not suffer from being stacked on top of one another. Like length and width, steam table pan depth is standardized to four sizes: 2.5 inch, 4 inch, 6 inch, and 8 inch depths. Another important characteristic to consider when buying pans is whether or not you’ll be needing to place your pans in the freezer or in the oven. High-quality pans will be built to be heat and cold-resistant. This characteristic makes it so that you can quickly remove prepared frozen food from the freezer and place it into the steam table to warm, or so you can move hot food from the oven directly to the pan. When choosing hotel pans it’s important to know what your menu is likely to look like before you buy so you can decide if you need pans capable of being heated in the oven or placed in the freezer. The final consideration to make is whether you will need perforated pans. Perforated pans have small holes punched in the stainless steel in order to allow for the draining of excess juices or water. Perforated pans are ideal for steamed foods like hot dogs or steamed vegetables which are likely to suffer in quality unless excess moisture is drained off. Now that you know the basic important characteristics of steam table pans, you’re ready to make a purchase. Why not buy from a company that understands the experiences and needs of hotel restaurants? Here at www.gatorchef.com, we offer professional service, high-quality products, and a great inventory, all of which are backed by our personal satisfaction guarantee. Come by today and see how Gator Chef can help your restaurant live up to its full potential through excellent supplies! For more information about Hotel Pans and Restaurant Kitchen Equipment Please visit : Gatorchef. Like it? Share it!More by this author |