Smoking Receptacles: Becoming a must have piece of restaurant equipment!

            As you may have noticed many states in the United States have started a smoking ban in bars and restaurant. Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which restrict tobacco smoking in workplaces and public spaces. States where the smoking ban is already in effect either in the entire state or in a county include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Many more states are jumping on the bandwagon so it’s important to think about restaurant equipment to accommodate the new laws and ordinances. Of course every state has it’s own rules and stipulations. A good place to reference to find out more details would be your own state’s website or try searching on wikipedia  I suggest this link in particular for wikipedia

In most instances this means that all of your smokers will be outside. Unless your restaurant or bar has a beer garden this also usually means that the smokers will be outside your front door. I suggest picking out some kind of smoking receptacle  for smokers to put out and put away their cigarettes, cigars or other manner of tobacco smoking devices. It is important to have something so that all tobacco-smoking devices are put out correctly and safely. It is also important to not have cigarette butts or cigar butts littering your front entrance or anywhere on your property.

            The good news is you have several options in terms of restaurant equipment to choose from. You can get trashcans that come equipped with a sand urn on top to a freestanding receptacle that extinguishes and stores safely until you empty it. Smoking receptacles are very helpful in maintaining a clean and safe environment for your customers to smoke-in and a pleasant entry for non-smoking customers on their way in or customers dining/drinking in your outdoor seating.

            Here is an example of a L’Ashcan Sand Urn

Here is an example of an outdoor receptacle called the Smoker’s Cease Fire

Here is an example of an outdoor, wall mount Smoker’s Post

 As far as restaurant equipment goes, a smoking receptacle is now a necessary item! You can reference any of the smoking receptacles available or any restaurant equipment at www.servu-online.com

            I bet most people aren’t aware of the wide range and variety of gadgets and supplies you can stock your kitchen with. There are so many different types of foodservice equipment that are available to make cooking/baking easier. Here a few examples of uncommon kitchen supplies: Pancake dispenser, patty molder, onion bloomer or a restaurant quality lettuce chopper/shredder. Now don’t worry I will give detailed descriptions to match these fascinating and uncommon kitchen supplies and explain how each one works and how beneficial they can be in your kitchen.

            I’ll start with the pancake dispenser. Here at Serv-U we carry one with 2 options; you can get one made of aluminum or stainless steel. Now, how to use: pour your pancake batter into the dispenser and choose from 1 of 8 different portion control options to dispense a round ideally shaped pancake onto your griddle. The portion controls range from ½ oz to 3 oz, more popularly known as dollar to king size. This piece of foodservice equipment makes serving pancakes at breakfast a whiz and a lot less of a mess!

            On to our next kitchen supply item; the adjustable patty molder … Anyone who has cooked and prepped burgers before knows that it is a chore to make the perfect patty. The adjustable patty molder is chrome plated, easy to clean, 4 ½ inches in diameter, and can be adjusted to your desired thickness. All you have to do is load the molder with the appropriate amount of beef, adjust to your preferred thickness, and press! Burgers cook evenly throughout because they are a consistent thickness.

            Serv-U actually offers two versions of a lettuce chopper/shredder so you can choose which of these kitchen supplies fits your business best. The first is a product by Redco. This lettuce chopper/shredder shreds lettuce into 3” strips without bruising the lettuce. These strips are great for sandwiches, salad and Mexican food. This also cuts your prep-time in half! The other shredder also made by Redco, the Lettuce King IV chops the lettuce into 1” squares without bruising the lettuce as well. This item is also NSF certified. It also comes with an optional container for catching the cut lettuce for immediate storage.

            Ever wondered how your favorite chain restaurant makes that fantastically breaded and deep fried onion blossom? Well the batter and fry part… that’s easy. It’s making the onion “bloom” shape that seems impossible. The truth is that part is pretty easy too with the use of the Insta-Bloom also made by Redco. It is a device that cuts one whole onion into a perfect flower blossom with one push! It is made of heavy-duty cast aluminum and designed for easy cleaning. See… you do learn something new everyday!

            It’s amazing all of the different kinds kitchen supplies designed to make operating your kitchen easier. There are many more types of  foodservice equipment. I just wanted to feature some of the less common kitchen supplies to broaden your kitchen’s horizon.

If you have ever owned or managed a bar, you are aware of the never-ending battle to keep you liquor inventory and cost in check. It’s hard; between employees giving away free drinks, over-pouring and just plain bottle theft, it’s difficult to keep costs down. Liquor isn’t cheap—especially top-shelf!  There are several preventative measures you can take to reduce (if not completely eliminate) the problem. Unfortunately free drinks being given away and over-pouring is becoming a fact life in the bar business. On a good note, consistently well-made drinks will bring customers back and there is action you can take to start combating the problem. I, personally, have worked in/or around the bar business for 7 years. I have held a variety of duties from cocktail waitressing to bartending, to management and marketing. Thus giving me my knowledge and experience to advise from.

            One good place to start is by hiring quality employees. Experience is always helpful; however, in some instances it’s good to start fresh because if an employee has been trained improperly before, it’s hard to break bad habits. Everyone you hire should be extremely willing to learn, take direction, and have a good morale good for doing what is right and following instruction. Be consistent; try to have a uniform policy for training all employees so everyone is on the same page. Most people learn by watching others so you want to make sure that the “others” they are learning from are doing exactly what you want them to do. Also be sure to make sure that everyone knows the rules and the consequences of breaking them and try to be consistent and fair in that aspect as well. I’ve found two ways to safely give employees the range to give “free” drinks. One way to control this is to give them a small tab (like $20 every shift) that they can give to whomever they want. It should normally be reserved for deserving customers or if for some reason someone receives bad service but we understand that the bartender should be rewarded for recruiting their friends into the bar. Another is to advise your employees to just ask a manager if they feel someone deserves something for free and they can add it to their manager tab. Both of these methods are good because then ALL liquor is accounted for. One thing to watch out for is most states forbid the “comping” of alcohol so make sure to research the proper way to adjust someone’s bill containing alcohol or how to give someone free or discounted alcohol. To help keep employees motivated to ring everything up, have shift contests to see who can ring up the most in sales. This method is beneficial two-fold because everything gets rang up and it actually motivates your staff to sell more or up-sell to more expensive brands. Another thing would be to frequently “quiz” for employees to check up on their pouring/drink making skills. It’s important to remember to reward or praise employees who following the rules and performing according to your standards!

Shot measurements can vary from bar to bar. The popular standard is 1 oz, which is a 3 second-count pour. *Make sure to reference you area’s laws because some cities, counties and states have different standards* Most experienced bartenders will follow this and know this. If you don’t trust your employees to adhere to a strict count pour you are in luck because there are several different types of bar equipment that can take the guess work out of pouring properly. One piece of equipment is a liquor dispensing system. It is a gravity feed system with counting meters. You can set the meters up for the exact pour amount you desire. This system virtually eliminates the problem of over-pouring because you will notice if an employee is turning the dial more than once. The second most effective method is to use a controlled pour instead of a free pour. You can get measured liquor pours in several different ounce measurements so you can personalize it to your bar’s needs. They also come with different features: dust covers that will keep dust and bugs out, different colors so you can coordinate colors to liquor costs, collars to make removal from bottle easer and designs to fight contamination and evaporation.

Pours certainly help but they do have their loopholes. In theory you should be able to tell when an employee is over-pouring when they are making one drink and you see them tip the bottle back more than once. Having extensive experience behind the bar and used a controlled pour before I know that sometimes it does not pour the exact correct amount on the first pour so you do have to tip it again sometimes. This situation usually occurs in user error or the person prior using that bottle only took a partial shot from that pour. Like I said the pours help greatly, they act like training wheels for the bartender, but they do have their faults. Another piece of bar equipment you can use called a jigger. A jigger  is a stainless steel shot glass with a  single shot pour on one side and ½ shot pour on the other. The bartender pours the liquor from the bottle using a free-pour dispenser and measures the liquor for the drink using the jigger. It’s the same concept as using measuring cups. You can also order jiggers in different ounce measurements to customize it to your bar’s needs.

Now for the downfalls to using a jigger… This method only works if you bartender follows this recipe to a “t”. The jigger is best used amongst experienced bartenders with confidence and control because the jigger allows for extra spillage. It can be more time consuming for your bartender so that means they are serving fewer drinks. You also create more dishes that need to be cleaned. All in all, it is still a better method than using a free-pour alone and allowing your employees to freely add as much liquor as they desire to a drink.

In terms of monitoring your employees, security cameras always help and are beneficial for many reasons. Most importantly they help deter theft and provide evidence if theft does occur. You can also use the system to watch and see if employees are over-pouring or not ringing drinks in. One bit of advice that I would like to add is that if you do catch someone on camera, it’s good to point out their mistakes and reward employees when they are good to let them know that you are monitoring them. Let everyone know you have a camera system monitoring them as they work regardless because there may be statutes in your state requiring you notify anyone if they are being recorded by surveillance equipment. Cameras work as great deterrent for theft, over-pouring and the giving away of free drinks, so if your business is on a budget you can buy simulated security cameras to make employees think they are being watched. Now, you will from time to time encounter employees that don’t care and will give things away for free or over-pour even though they know they are being watched, so cameras don’t offer a 100% guarantee but they are very, very helpful. I highly recommend having a camera surveillance system on your safe as well as in your coolers and liquor storage rooms. Bottle theft will hurt your liquor cost and inventory the most. Not only are you out the cost of the bottle but you are also out of the potential profit made on that bottle. Having security cameras can help battle against bottle theft almost 100%. Another bit of advice I can offer is to send in secret shoppers or dummy customers to put your employees to the test. Obviously you must recruit people that no one in your bar staff knows. Secret shoppers are probably the most efficient and cheapest way to monitor your employees. It’s also good to get outside feedback as to how well your employees are performing.

As far as actual bar equipment goes, liquor dispensing systems, pours, jiggers and security cameras are the best items I can recommend for combating rising liquor costs, theft and incorrect inventory. There are a few other methods I can recommend to help fight these problems. One hint would be to do a quick-count of your inventory after close every night. Keeping track of this can help you catch theft or serious problems almost immediately and it’s a good thing to have on file to reference back to if a problem does arise. It is necessary to do a complete and thorough inventory at least once a month. It is also good to do an empty bottle inventory that you can compare against your sales and regular inventory to check up on over-pouring and free drinks that are given out. It is also good to keep a log in your liquor storage room and every bottle that is taken out is to be written down and signed off by whoever takes it. If you use a security camera in your liquor storage room, you can go back and check the log to verify all liquor that has been removed.

A bar is a bar…sad to say that some things can’t be 100% prevented, but the good news is that there are methods and bar supply tools that can help combat problems with liquor control. Rules will be broken or bent from time to time so these methods aren’t sure-fire but they will certainly help! Remember to: stay consistent with your practices, be involved with every aspect of your bar, and keep your eyes open so you can get the best profit-margin possible out of every bottle of liquor and the best, most responsible service out of your employees.

Quality vs. Quantity. Who says you can’t have both in restaurant equipment?

            Remember earlier when I mentioned that in most instances you have to choose between quality and quantity? In the case of restaurant equipment you can have both! As I discussed NSF quality in my prior article, today I will discuss quantity. So don’t forget that throughout our discussions of quantity that all of the restaurant equipment I mention here has the NSF stamp of quality. Now let’s start talking about a few efficient, high output pieces of restaurant equipment.

            Imagine yourself at the ballpark of your favorite team (hmm hmm Wrigley Field)… It’s a hot, beautiful, sunny day; you have your ball glove, your ball cap on your head, cold beverage in one hand and… What? You forgot to get a hot dog!!! So you mosey on up to the concession stand. Thank goodness they use a Star Manufacturing hot dog steamer  that has the capacity to cook 230 hot dogs at a time. Man, I bet you are glad they stock their concession stand with quality restaurant equipment; otherwise you would be waiting in line and probably miss ½ the ballgame waiting for a fresh, juicy hot dog!

               This Star Manufacturing hot dog steamer is just one example of how restaurant equipment can produce high output and quality. Another example of a high-output piece of restaurant equipment would be the X-treme Conveyor Toaster made by APW Wyott. This piece of restaurant equipment toasts up 850 slices of bread in just one hour! Imagine where you would be on a Sunday morning serving over 150 guests two slices of toast each—using just any old toaster?!? This commercial-grade toaster enables you to serve your customers at a rate of 14 slices a minute! Now you just have to keep the rest of the kitchen operating with the efficiency of this piece of restaurant equipment!

                  As you can see, using just a few of these pieces of NSF-certified restaurant equipment can help increase the efficiency of any kitchen, big or small. These two pieces of restaurant equipment are just a few in many examples of restaurant equipment to help maximize the output of a kitchen. Serv-U can help you shop and discover the perfect pieces of restaurant equipment for your kitchen’s needs. Shop online or contact our customer sales line at:1-866-817-3788 Mon.-Thurs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Fri. 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on Sat. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Until next time…

Have a great weekend!

Thinking of stocking your restaurant kitchen with anything other than NSF-qualified commercial restaurant equipment?

THINK AGAIN.

Let’s face it; you can’t flambé in just any old non-stick, bargain bin, $12.99 skillet! One good place to start is by using professional, high quality, commercial-grade restaurant equipment. In most instances quality and quantity are opposites but in the case of a kitchen stocked with commercial grade equipment, your kitchen can output quality and quantity, which is essential to running a successful restaurant.

Let’s start with quality… When purchasing NSF-qualified restaurant equipment, you can expect the equipment has been tested and must pass government codes and standards in order to be labeled and sold as NSF equipment fit for use in commercial kitchens. NSF International is a non-profit company that represents the best interests of all parties: the industry, the regulatory community, and the public at large. Here is a mission statement direct from the NSF International, The Public Health and Safety Company™ website

“The Food Equipment Program begins with voluntary standards that represent a consensus between manufacturers, users, and regulatory authorities. In addition to developing and maintaining the standards, NSF offers a voluntary conformity assessment program -- testing, certification, and production facility audits -- to verify compliance.

The registered NSF Certification Mark on a food equipment product confirms that NSF has assessed -- and certified -- its conformity with the relevant NSF/ANSI standard. As part of the certification process, the production facility is audited annually. The purpose of this audit is to assure that all the requirements of the standard continue to be met, quality assurance and quality control procedures are followed in fabrication, products are sampled and retested on schedule, and labeling and product literature are true and accurate.”

Restaurant equipment that is stamped with the NSF International seal of approval is beneficial for many reasons. For starters, with your new restaurant equipment not only does your kitchen have the potential for positive output, but you can also rest easy knowing that restaurant equipment will be easy to clean because it is new, state-of-the-art, as well as NSF certified. NSF certified restaurant equipment also makes it easier for your kitchen to stay in compliance with health codes. Here at Serv-U, you can trust in the most up-to-date restaurant equipment from manufactures that are dedicated to making quality restaurant equipment that is NSF certified.

On to quantity… Well that’s a whole different blog…

Tune in next time…