# Commercial Kitchen Gear at Home



## mr drinky (Sep 29, 2011)

I'm just a home cook, but for the pro cooks out there, what kitchen equipment at work do you also find indispensable in your home?

I'm not talking about the basic things like a spatula, spoon etc but something not normally found in a home kitchen. 

I once went to a restaurant supply store and bought some cambro storage containers and love them for brining and couldn't imagine my kitchen without them now.

k.


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## Salty dog (Sep 29, 2011)

stainless mixing bowls of every size.


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## El Pescador (Sep 29, 2011)

Eklund tongs, vitamix ,+1 stainless mixing bowls


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## mr drinky (Sep 29, 2011)

Do commercial kitchens use pressure cookers?


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## tk59 (Sep 29, 2011)

+1 to the stainless mixing bowls and vitamix. also, heavy duty baking sheets.


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## ecchef (Sep 29, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> Do commercial kitchens use pressure cookers?


 
Sort of. Pressurized steamers. 

I like my Dynamic immersion blender. Can't kill it.
Commercial grade chinoise. Vollrath tongs & 1/2 sheet pans.


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## CalleNAK (Sep 29, 2011)

I have one of those big stainless steel buffet pans that comes in really handy for prepping meat for the bbq and storring the meat once pulled off the grill.

Looks like this:


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Sep 29, 2011)

I'm about to buy a commercial slicer. All the home ones are a POS.


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Sep 29, 2011)

Got me thinking and here are some commercial equipment items I have:
sheet pans
cake pans
tongs (although I have a lot of oxo's as well)
espresso machine
espresso grinder(s)
baking scale
hand blender
various utensils
bowls
wire storage racks


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## Eamon Burke (Sep 29, 2011)

Things I regularly borrow from work:
Half sheet pans
9th pans
A stock pot big enough to cover your whole :censored: stove
Big cutting boards(though that's a bit more common in these parts, lol).
The habit of labeling and dating stuff in storage

And I'd love to have tiny equivalents of the 2/4/6/8/20/24-qt plastic tubs with snap lids. It's basically tupperware, but heavy duty and long-lasting.
Quality tongs, no locks, no gimmicks, just long-lived spring tongs. I wish they were easier to clean than the ones we have at work though
Gray Kunz Spoon

Oh yeah, if I had a Vitamix, it'd be part of my daily routine to blenderize fruits and veggies.


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## mr drinky (Sep 29, 2011)

AFKitchenknivesguy said:


> I'm about to buy a commercial slicer. All the home ones are a POS.



Is it true that commercial slicers slightly cook the meat when slicing it?

k.


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## mr drinky (Sep 29, 2011)

Just a question: how do you juice lemons? Hand, squeeze press, electric?

k.


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## ThEoRy (Sep 29, 2011)

Mass quantity with a kitchen aid attachment a chinoise and a bucket.

Small - medium quantity my stainless steel citrus reamer or a fork.


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## mr drinky (Sep 29, 2011)

Interesting. I use a reamer, but I always wondered how they were done in bulk without a uni-tasker juicer.

k


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## add (Sep 29, 2011)

*Most awesomely epic thread topic here*... THANKS ! !


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## unkajonet (Sep 29, 2011)

vitamix & vollrath fry pans.


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## El Pescador (Sep 29, 2011)

Gallon bottle sold at rest. Depot!


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## ecchef (Sep 29, 2011)

CalleNAK said:


> I have one of those big stainless steel buffet pans that comes in really handy for prepping meat for the bbq and storring the meat once pulled off the grill.
> 
> Looks like this:



Ahhh...my stone ponds!


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## ecchef (Sep 29, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> Is it true that commercial slicers slightly cook the meat when slicing it?
> 
> k.


 
Only if you're working _inside_ the oven. :rasberry:


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## EdipisReks (Sep 29, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> Is it true that commercial slicers slightly cook the meat when slicing it?
> 
> k.


 

probably, depending on how slightly you mean by slightly.


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## Avishar (Sep 29, 2011)

Vitamix, Robo Coupe, Rondeau, Tongs, anything Cambro, 6" 1/2 Hotel, Half Sheets, mixing bowls, 5 Gallon Pickle buckets, Commercial issue cling wrap (super easy to dispense compared to the home ones), steel scrubby


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## mr drinky (Sep 29, 2011)

If there is one thing I have learned it is Vitamix.

k.


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## AFKitchenknivesguy (Sep 30, 2011)

From what I know, they do not cook while slicing. Maybe you were thinking of a Vitamix? They cook soup because they blend so fast.


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## mr drinky (Sep 30, 2011)

No, it wasn't the Vitamix (though that is an interesting point). I caught an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations a couple weeks ago, and he mentioned that when you use commercial slicers and slice meat really thin, it ends up cooking the meat a bit. I imagine it depends upon how much things heat up (volume) and the type of meat though.

k.


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## ecchef (Sep 30, 2011)

I generally like Bourdain because he isn't full of sh*t, but I have 'some reservations' about this. If I was slicing a protein that thin, I'd have it pretty damned cold to begin with. It might warm it up a bit, but not 'cook' it. I'm sure something happens on a molecular level, but I don't know how close it comes to cooking.


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## Salty dog (Sep 30, 2011)

I've been using my stones to sharpen my slicer. What a difference!


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## ecchef (Sep 30, 2011)

+1 out of necessity...the sharpening attachment got 'lost'. It's a ***** to de-burr.


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## mhlee (Sep 30, 2011)

+1 to half sheet pans, plastic containers, Vitamix (I got a super price years ago on a single speed, 30 second timer Vitamix at Surfas, a restaurant supply store here in the LA area), tongs (I prefer Edlund locking tongs), cake pans and wire racks. The Vitamix kicked the cr*p out of my Kitchenaid blender so much that I gave the Kitchenaid away. Also, restaurant supply stores are the only place that I've found _liquid _Barkeeper's Friend. 

However, I will say, of these, the half-sheet pan wire racks that I bought from Surfas were the best things I ever bought. They fit the half-sheet pans perfectly, were cheap, and I use them for almost everything - roasting, prep (raising rinsed or marinated items off the liquid prior to cooking), for draining fried foods and also keeping fried foods warm in the oven, aging meats for short periods of time in the fridge (the racks allow for circulation of air underneath the meat) . . . all kinds of things. 

I just need to find a local restaurant supply store that carries Dynamic immersion blenders. 

Have any of you guys bought from KaTom? They have the best price on the Dynamic Minipro Immersion Blender and I'm considering buying it through them although they don't honor the warrranty if the product is used non-professionally.


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 4, 2011)

mr drinky said:


> No, it wasn't the Vitamix (though that is an interesting point). I caught an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations a couple weeks ago, and he mentioned that when you use commercial slicers and slice meat really thin, it ends up cooking the meat a bit. I imagine it depends upon how much things heat up (volume) and the type of meat though.
> 
> k.


 
Strictly speaking, cooking is the preparation of food by means of the application of heat, and the heat being transferred via the air and friction of the slicer are so minimal and unintentional they will never matter.

He's probably referring to the fact that these things are a giant PITA to sharpen and generally get kept up by grindy stone attachments, and the edge is extremely rough. The increased number of broken barriers in the food(as compared to, say, a polished yanagiba), paired with meat's natural tendency to lose color due to oxidation very likely created the impression that it was being slightly cooked.

Nothing better than roast beef straight off the slicer--1 minute later, it's not the same.


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## Eamon Burke (Oct 4, 2011)

Salty dog said:


> I've been using my stones to sharpen my slicer. What a difference!


 
I would love to do that and consider it weekly. My boss would throw a fit!


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