Equipment in Action: Restaurant Ranges
Sure, wood-fired ovens and sous vide cookers are fun, but when it comes to most-used equipment, nothiBy
By Lisa Bertagnoli, Special to R&I -- Restaurants & Institutions, 2/1/2007
Chef Jeremy Sabo’s range is so central to the kitchen at Vivace that he has not one but three six-burner gas ranges at the 170-seat Italian restaurant in Raleigh, N.C. That’s 18 burners on which to sauté vegetables, cook pasta and stir perfect risottos—in short, execute all the tasks these culinary workhorses do with ease.
One of Sabo’s ranges is equipped with a convection oven and another a conventional oven. The third, outfitted with a refrigerated bottom, serves as a pasta station.
On busy nights, every burner is in action. Sabo estimates that the ranges help produce 80% of Vivace’s menu. “All the sides, even the grilled items are prepared on the ranges,” he says.
Of course, most ranges aren’t technological wonders but no one disputes their usefulness. Higher-tech substitutes, such as induction cookers, haven’t supplanted the traditional gas or electric range as the cooker of choice for most operators. “Sometimes the simple pieces of equipment work best,” says Carlos Tello, engineering consultant with Strategic Restaurant Engineering, a Miami-based consulting firm.
Still, operators have choices, and decisions always should start with the menu. Operations that need only to boil water will choose one type of range; those reliant on to-order cooking, sautéing and pan-grilling will opt for others.
The most basic choice is gas or electric burners. Though natural gas costs are high, gas burners’ quick control attracts many operators, Tello says. With efficiency of movement so important in busy kitchens, ranges equipped with refrigerated rails are growing in popularity. One manufacturer offers a range with a raised cold rail behind two burners where cooks can store prepped raw ingredients; the proximity of the food saves cooks steps and time.
Fired up
As commonplace as they are, ranges present a paradox: While they are by no means trendy, they’re absolutely essential, the rigorous workhorse necessary for executing the majority of food trends.
- Seasonal and locally driven: Every entrée on Seattle’s Earth & Ocean’s menu uses the range for at least one component. Among Chef Adam Stevenson’s options: seared ahi tuna with fresh spaghetti, eggplant caviar and romesco sauce; roasted venison chop with beluga lentils and horseradish crème; gnocchi (above); and crisp pork belly with braised chickpeas and winter chard.
- Asian accents: Many of the foundation preparations of Asian cuisines begin with range cooking, including pad Thai, dim sum and the Chinese barbecue and Asian vegetables served at the University of Georgia, Athens.
- Healthful preparations: The National Restaurant Association calls the growing use of pan-searing, grilling and braising a top food trend for 2007; the range top nails all of them, including dishes such as steamed edamame and seared beef carpaccio and goat cheese ravioli in fresh tomato broth.
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