The food industry expects to generate $899 billion in sales by the end of 2022.
Can your commercial kitchen keep up with the demands that modern living is placing on successful smart food businesses?
Investing in a smart kitchen can improve many aspects of your business, including faster preparation times, appliance energy efficiency, and food quality.
The Right Kitchen Layout for Your Smart Food Business
The right kitchen layout designed for your business will ensure you are on top of your game. The staff can operate efficiently and produce high-quality dishes in a well-designed kitchen. But in an unorganized kitchen, employees continuously bump into one another, reducing efficiency.
A great commercial kitchen plan is simple to use, fits restaurant needs, and lets your team provide an amazing dining experience whether you’re starting from scratch or need to renovate. A consulting company can ensure that your kitchen is built according to all regulations and requirements while sourcing all the equipment needed in order for your smart food business to open.
5 Different Commercial Kitchen Layouts
You can begin designing your kitchen once you understand the components of a functional commercial kitchen and have considered safety and ergonomics. Here are five commercial kitchen layouts that work well.
Types of commercial kitchen layouts
· Assembly line layout
· Island layout
· Zone-style layout
· Gallery layout
· Open kitchen layout
1. Line Layout
The assembly line layout begins with food preparation and ends with a finished, ready-to-serve item, allowing mass production of the same dish.
The assembly line works best with multiple cooks, limited menus, and similar preparation styles, such as pizza parlors or build-your-own bowl restaurants.
2. Island Layout
The island layout adds a central prep or cooking station to the ring layout, which includes storage units, washing stations, and food prep counters around the kitchen’s perimeter. With cooking equipment in the center.
The island configuration provides a central “command center” or pass-through point for all meals, facilitating staff communication and executive chef supervision.
The island layout works well in large kitchens.
3. Station Design
The station layout separates activities from dishes. This layout is organized and streamlined and allows for multitasking. Instead of hiring a line cook to do everything, assign a chef for each station.
This layout works well for restaurants with large staffs and varied menus and works for hotel restaurants, catering kitchens, and event kitchens.
This layout doesn’t work well in small kitchens and will prevent multitasking, as that requires space and staff.
4. Galley Design
The stations and equipment in the commercial kitchen are located around the perimeter. Appliances line only two walls of a small kitchen.
Multiple cooks can work at multiple stations at the same time if your kitchen is large enough for a gallery layout with an empty center. For a food truck’s limited space, the only option is a galley kitchen.
5. Open-Concept Kitchen
Customers can see what’s happening in an open kitchen. However, to protect customers, keep hot cooking appliances and glass between the service area and guest seating. Open kitchens are great for entertaining and help make the most of a small space.
A Commercial Kitchen’s Five Essential Components
Before designing a smart commercial kitchen, consider the needs and equipment. Knowing what components must fit into the space will help you design your commercial kitchen layout.
Storage
A commercial kitchen stores and protects cooking tools, food (meats, produce, dry goods), and place settings (glasses, plates, linens). Along with a refrigerator for perishables.
Washing Station
Although commercial kitchens are cleaned thoroughly to ensure food and dish safety, separate food and dishwashing stations prevent food contamination. Equipment needed for these areas will be commercial dishwashers, drying racks, and sinks.
3. Food Preparation
A commercial kitchen may have multiple food preparation areas depending on the menu. Food prep requires counter space, cutting tools, and storage containers. Along with raw ingredients stored easily and safely in a refrigerator.
4. Cooking Station
Unless your restaurant serves raw food, you’ll need a lot of cooking equipment. Most restaurants have gas range-oven combinations, commercial fryers, and other equipment. Along with a kitchen display system to help staff track tickets.
5. Service Area
In a commercial kitchen service area, servers give plated dishes. Therefore, food service areas should have heat lamps. It helps to reduce servers’ travel time by placing the kitchen’s service area near the dining room.
Commercial Kitchen Design Considerations
Now that you understand the essential components of a commercial kitchen, you must ensure its safety and functionality. By employing the help of a consulting company you can ensure your kitchen is built according to all regulations and commercial kitchen requirements while sourcing all the equipment needed in order for your smart food business to open.
Ergonomics
To design a functional, user-friendly commercial kitchen layout, consider how much food service equipment the kitchen will need to hold, how many people will be in the kitchen, and how the staff’s routes between stations will flow.
Space
The amount of space you have will limit the commercial kitchen layouts you can use. According to industry standards, devote 60% of your commercial space to the front of house and the remaining 40% to the back.
Employee Communication
Instead of a maze-type kitchen with too many walls, an open floor plan promotes staff interaction and communication. By allowing executive chefs and managers to monitor what’s going on in the kitchen, they can train and communicate with employees.
Safety
Design and safety go hand in hand. You must consider food safety in your smart food business. Create an environment that keeps food safe for consumption.
You’ll also need to check local regulations to ensure that your restaurant goes above and beyond common sense food safety. Local regulations in some states may dictate the layout or design elements of your commercial kitchen.
Conclusion
A good commercial kitchen layout for your smart food business is easy to use, meets everyone’s needs, and helps your staff deliver an amazing dining experience.