Undoubtedly a restaurant owner or any food-service business operator puts the equipment first for the business. To underline it, we can say that the right equipment and a good team are what will cause raises in sales and establish a positive influence on clients. Mobile kitchen equipment is the appliances designed to facilitate the staff’s work with extra flexibility resulting in a seamless workflow and offering cooking anywhere.
Mobile kitchen equipment is any portable equipment designed for moving anywhere needed in the kitchen or outdoors without requiring any plumbing or connection to a ventilation system. From portable burners to carts, all mobile kitchen equipment is designed to facilitate the serving or preparing processes and enable cooking where you can’t use your regular kitchen equipment.
12 Mobile Kitchen Equipment List
There is various mobile kitchen equipment, from holding cabinets to utility carts, all with the same purpose- getting maximum efficiency from the kitchen space and providing portability for faultless operation. Here are the prevalent mobile kitchen equipment with main features.
1. Mobile Ice Bins
Ice can be indispensable for bars, restaurants, or events where you serve drinks. Of course, an ice maker will make the ice, but repeatedly walking in to get ice and coming back will slow down the process. Having ice at hand, especially during rush hours, will greatly expedite service time and the staff’s work. A mobile ice bin will not just keep the ice at hand but also it will keep the ice frozen for long hours.
Insulated ice bins made of durable materials keep ice cold for long hours without electricity, making them mobile and efficient to use outdoors or where you don’t have an electrical connection nearby. And the casters provide easy service enabling the bin to move wherever you want.
2. Portable Induction Burners
Induction burners are mobile kitchen equipment that uses magnetic flow instead of fire flame to cook. This portable kitchen equipment is safer than regular stoves since the heat is transferred through electromagnetic current, which also speeds up the heating time. Portable induction cookers can be used on any countertop, allowing the staff to move them around where needed.
Induction cookers typically come with 1 to 4 burners and provide more precise heat control than gas and electric burners. Additionally, their flat surface offers easy cleaning. The point is to use magnetic cookware to get maximum efficiency and use it properly.
3. Mobile Holding and Proofing Cabinets
Similar to regular holding cabinets, holding and proofing holding cabinets are designed to keep the cooked food warm, moist, and fresh till serving. Thanks to their rollers, you can move your holding cabinet near your oven to place your baked goods or take your food to serve wherever you need, which is kept hot and fresh by the cabinet.
An insulated cabinet can hold food hot for two hours. The insulation and structure of the cabinet can longer this time. For instance, double-walled insulated cabinets feature fiberglass insulation, and some feature foamed polyurethane insulation that is more effective in retaining heat.
4. Portable Steam Tables
A steam table is another mobile kitchen equipment designed to keep food warm for long times until serving. Portable steam tables are designed with hot wells filled with hot water in which the food pans float, and the created steam keeps the food warm and moist. The wells are huge enough to fit the food pans and water together. Thanks to the durable casters, you can move and place it wherever you want to serve food, and the undershelves provide extra storage space for your stuff.
5. Mobile Cold Food Tables
Mobile cold food tables are wells cooled by ice and designed to keep the food at safe temperatures. The wells are filled with ice, and you can place your salad bar ingredients, desserts, or other perishable items on the cooled pans above the ice. The wells are insulated to ensure the ice last longer, and the built-in drain removes the melted ice. They are ideal mobile kitchen equipment for salad bars or self-serve buffets. Depending on your business needs, you can choose with the capacities varying from less than 100 pounds to several 100 pounds.
6. Mobile Cooking Carts
Cooking carts, or cooking stations, are mobile kitchen equipment outfitted with a few pieces of cooking equipment in a compact all-in-one unit, enabling cooking anywhere. Mobile cooking carts have induction ranges, built-in ventilation systems, storage cabinets, and some carts with refrigerated bins. The induction ranges provide a safe cooking process without releasing heat into the environment. The storage cabinets provide storage space for all your cookware, and you don’t have to worry about filtration with the built-in ventilation system. You can use it as an additional cooking area in your kitchen or backyard for an outdoor event.
7. Portable Gas Stoves
A more economical alternative to induction burners, portable gas stoves are mobile kitchen equipment enabling cooking anywhere. Portable gas stoves are available in one to two burner options, with different BTU levels and sizes to fit every need. They are powered by butane fuel, and they are made of durable stainless steel or aluminum. You can use them as additional cookers indoors or outdoors since they do not require any electrical connection.
8. Utility Carts
You can easily transfer or store all your items using a utility cart. This mobile kitchen equipment is designed with durable shelves and casters to enable moving bulk items and food pans through your kitchen or plates to serve food to clients.
Utility carts can be made of various materials. Plastic carts are lightweight, never rust, and are less likely to dent than metal carts. The plastic carts are capable of weighing between 200 to 500 pounds.
Metal utility carts are a more durable option with a weight capacity of up to 5000 pounds. They are more reliable than plastic when transferring heavy items through the kitchen.
Wire utility carts are the other mobile kitchen equipment option for carrying heavy stuff that is easier to clean and less likely to keep dust. These carts typically have angled shelves, and foldable options are handy to gather up when not used.
9. Mobile Food Pan Carriers
A food pan carrier is a mobile kitchen equipment made for keeping the food in pans at safe temperatures and fresh until serving. Whether for a catering operation, giving take-out orders, or just keeping the food hot- or cold- and fresh until serving, all you need is an insulated food pan carrier. They are available in different sizes and depths to cater to all sizes of pans.
There are electric and non-electric food pan carriers. Non-electric ones keep the food both hot and cold with their insulation. Since they don’t require an electrical connection, they are so flexible and convenient for use in short events.
Electric food pan carriers are better at holding the interior temperature and recovering it, so the operators don’t have to worry about repeatedly opening it. When the electric carriers are plugged in, they have long holding times, but since they are insulated, too, they can keep the food at desired temperatures for a while.
10. Mobile Bars
A portable bar is mobile kitchen equipment that enables partying literally anywhere! A bar counter consisting of a long countertop to fit your tools or drinks, a cutting board, storage cases, ice bins, and all these on the wheels that can be taken anywhere will make a bartender willingly show his skills.
Some mobile bars feature folding shelves that can be set up when needed and folded down when not in use to not occupy extra space. The tools that come with the bar are replaceable, meaning that you can change their places and organize them according to your preference. The speed rails that some of the bars feature are a greatly efficient supply that will maximize the space and provide extra storage for your drink bottles.
11. Portable Grills
Outdoor grills and outdoor griddles will remove the hassle of transporting a regular commercial grill from one place to another for events, tailgates, parties, or balcony barbecues, thanks to its casters and portability. Portable grills differ in terms of the fuel they use. There are powered by wood pellets, charcoal, and gas.
Portable wood pellet grills are safer than gas or charcoal ones since there is no open fire, so they are more proper to use on patios or balconies. The slow cooking process of wood pellets creates flavorful and tender meats.
Portable gas grills cook food mostly using liquid propane, which comes in a canister. A propane canister is not expensive, but it lasts for nearly 90 minutes, which can be a disadvantage for cooking in large amounts for an outdoor event. Additionally, a gas grill won’t produce the smokey flavor.
And lastly, the portable charcoal grills are smaller than regular outdoor charcoal grills. Before choosing a charcoal grill, consider that it will produce a huge amount of smoke and odor, which can not be suitable to use in some areas. Additionally, charcoal grills require cleaning of the embers. To make it safe, you need to wait for charcoals to cool.
12. Portable Hand Washing Stations
Portable hand washing stations are great additions to bars, outdoor areas with no water supply, or wherever you don’t have proper plumbing.
They are great to use for camping too. The absence of a plumbing system for a water line is the difference between a regular sink and a mobile one. Instead of a water line, a portable sink includes two water tanks, one for filling with fresh water and the other for accumulating wastewater.
The extra flexibility they provide is the electric water heaters for the hot water supply. The wastewater will drain into a tank that you can empty to any drain when full. You can move them wherever you need with the casters and lock them in place for easy use.
To Sum Up
Mobile kitchen equipment is a great invention to provide additional flexibility to all food service operations. They help facilitate and speed up the cooking and serving processes in commercial kitchens while also providing to do them outside the kitchens where the conditions are not convenient for standard equipment. So you can enlarge your business by simplifying your staff’s work or creating unforgettable parties and events using the right mobile kitchen equipment.
