Kitchen Equipment

We can separate the categories of kitchen equipment into four types: food production, maintenance, food storage, and unique/miscellaneous kitchen equipment.

Whether involving a commercial kitchen or a simple home kitchen, you may find all of these categories together.

Following, I will discuss the four different types of kitchen equipment and some of the kitchen utensils that fall into each category.

This way, you’ll be able to organize your kitchen according to the category that the equipment falls into and find it right away when you need it.

Four Categories of Kitchen Equipment

The four categories of kitchen equipment are: food production, maintenance, special, and food storage equipment. Here’s more information about them:

Food Production Equipment

Cooking Ranges

The production category includes cooking ranges. Compared to other equipment in this category, cooking ranges are the most versatile because they can work on either electricity or LPG.

They can also carry out various functions, including frying, cooking, grilling, boiling, and baking.

Check out the two basic types of cooking ranges:

• Heavy-Duty Range – This kind of range is usually expensive. As its name suggests, the heavy-duty range is ideal for large-volume food production and can be used with other ranges through a battery.


• Restaurant Range – Unlike the heavy-duty range, restaurant ranges are more economical. However, they are limited to smaller food volumes and can’t be integrated with other ranges.

Usually, cooking ranges feature 4 to 8 burners. However, this will be determined by the amount of food that needs to be cooked.

Burners

Burners are used for baking, boiling, and cooking, and they often use LPG or liquid petroleum gas. Nowadays, there are burners for induction and hot plates that run on electricity. They arrive with a mesh top, open-top, or flat top.

Ovens

Another piece of equipment in this category is ovens. They are utilized for baking, cooking, roasting, and browning foods. This equipment can run on electricity or LPG.

You can find various oven models in the market, such as Rack (with the option of revolving or steady racks), Deck, and Tunnel, depending on their shapes and working styles.

• Deck Oven – This equipment comes with racks or rotisseries inside it. It can cook different meats like lamb, chicken, and duck, among others, at the same time in an even manner.


• Rack Oven – This comes with a set of stacked racks that are usually positioned as equidistant (one rack above the other, all in a huge stainless steel frame).


• Tunnel Oven – This equipment features direct heat as well as indirect heat variants. It is ideal for high-temperature baking.

Cooking Spoons and Pans

You can find a wide range of pots, pans, and spoons in terms of cooking.

The cook selects a pan depending on the cooking method, as pans also come with a network of utensils.

Pots, on the other hand, are ideal for preparing stocks. Generally, this cookware comes with a lid. When cooking, you will need spoons to check the thickness or tenderness of the food.

You will also need these utensils when stirring and flipping what you are cooking.

Vegetable Choppers and Cutters

Choppers or cutters create different shapes and sizes when slicing, chopping, dicing, slicing, and shredding vegetables.

For puddings or soups, they are also utilized to cut bread into small pieces. In terms of delivery, handheld cutters are used to cut bananas, vegetables, and much more.

Cutters are usually made out of stainless steel or plastic. Some cutters feature a zig-zag or straight edge and single or multiple wheels.

Also, some cutters have a bowl design to cut round fruit bits.

Steamers and Cookers

Commercial steamers and cookers work primarily using electricity. In restaurants, cooks utilize this equipment for cooking lentils, rice, and vegetables.

Also, steamers are used for cooking steamed food like idli, a type of soft rice dumpling, dhokla, and momos.

Maintenance Equipment

Dishwasher

Most people utilize dishwashers to save time and effort when cleaning dishes.

This equipment can wash multiple bowls and dishes simultaneously, thereby promoting efficiency.

Dish Warmer

This kitchen equipment can dry as many as 1800 dishes in one hour.

Aside from cleaning, it also removes possible contamination caused by traditional dish drying methods.

Special Equipment

In this category, you will find some miscellaneous kitchen tools that you can use at home or in a commercial kitchen.

Shredders

Food shredders can cut vegetables and fruits into string-like pieces.

These are commonly used in vegetarian cooking.

Nutcracker

This kitchen equipment is used to crack and remove hard nuts like almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, pistachios, and palm nuts.

Some machines can also shell pumpkin and watermelon seeds and peel peanuts, almonds, and cashew nuts.

Kitchen Knives

Who can imagine a kitchen without a knife? Kitchen knives are among essential utensils for preparing food, and they can be used for filleting, slicing, dicing, carving, cutting, and much more.

Knives also come in different types, as follows:

• Utility Knife
• Steak Knife
• Paring Knife
• Santoku Knife
• Chef’s General Knife
• Carving Knife
• Slicing Knife
• Cleaver
• Turning Knife
• Serrated Knife
• Boning/Filleting Knife

Food Storage Equipment

Under this kitchen, the equipment category is refrigerators, freezers, display counters, vegetable storage systems, heated storage systems, cold storage systems, and stainless steel wall shelves.

These are important for keeping your ingredients fresh and ensuring that they last longer.

Conclusion

To summarize, kitchen equipment categories are divided into four types: food storage, food production, maintenance, and special equipment.

Knowing the kitchen utensils that fall under these categories will better organize your kitchen.

Right now, list all the items in your kitchen that may fall under a particular category. This will help you organize faster and better the next day.