Food Preparation Equipment

Buying food preparation equipment

Food prep equipment earns its keep by saving labour, so choose it around the jobs your team does over and over. A machine that turns a five-minute task into thirty seconds pays for itself fast; one that does a job you only do occasionally will gather dust.

The core kit divides by task. Planetary mixers handle dough, batter and cream, sized by bowl, from a 5-litre for a cafe up to 20 to 60 litres for a bakery or busy kitchen. Food processors and bowl cutters chop, slice and blend in bulk. A commercial slicer earns its place anywhere you cut meat or cheese to order. Under all of it sit good prep surfaces, boards and knives.

Two things separate commercial prep kit from domestic. Duty rating: a commercial mixer is built to run for hours where a domestic one burns out. And hygiene: look for equipment that strips down without tools, because anything that is a pain to clean gets cleaned less, and that is where problems start.

Food Preparation Equipment: common questions

What size mixer do I need?

Size by your biggest single batch, not your average. A cafe doing occasional cakes is fine on a 5 to 7 litre planetary mixer; a kitchen or bakery working dough daily wants 20 litres or more. Dough is the deciding factor: it is heavy work, so if you make bread or pizza, buy a mixer rated for dough hooks and size up rather than down.

Food processor or bowl cutter, what is the difference?

A food processor slices, grates and dices vegetables quickly with interchangeable discs. A bowl cutter, or blender, reduces food to a fine paste or emulsion for pate, mousse, hummus and the like. Many kitchens run a processor for daily veg prep and reach for a bowl cutter only for specific jobs.

Do I need a commercial meat slicer?

If you cut cooked meats, cheese or charcuterie to order, yes. A slicer gives consistent thickness, less waste and far less time than a knife. Choose the blade size for your product, and pick a model that dismantles for cleaning, because a slicer that is awkward to strip down becomes a hygiene risk.

What knives and boards do commercial kitchens use?

Colour-coded boards are standard, so raw meat, cooked food, veg and fish never share a surface. High-density polyethylene boards are the workhorse. For knives, a good chef's knife, a paring knife and a serrated knife cover most work; buy ones that take an edge and keep a steel or sharpener to hand.

Is commercial prep equipment worth it over domestic?

For a working kitchen, yes. Commercial machines are built to run repeatedly without overheating, carry the duty cycle and safety features a busy kitchen needs, and strip down for proper cleaning. Domestic kit is cheaper up front but is not built for the hours and will let you down at the worst moment.

How quickly can you deliver prep equipment?

Small tools and boards we hold in our own warehouse go next working day when ordered before the cut-off. Larger machines are often ordered in, so we will confirm the lead time before you commit.