Heavy - Duty Ranges Catching On

How to pick the range to match your kitchens need. Alan Sutton looks at some of the models available

Just as in other areas of life, technology is making kitchens more efficient and less reliant on skilled staff. Ambassade ovens, in particular, are taking on more of the workload, especially where bulk cooking is required. But they can't do everything, and the truly essential piece of equipment for every catering business is still the traditional range. Operating from morning till night, the ranges take a hammering. It must be reliable and, should anything go wrong, caterers must know their supplier has a fast and efficient back up service. Importantly, though, things are less likely to go wrong if the range is doing the job it was designed for.

The main advantages of heavy-duty equipment are higher outputs, faster heat up times and greater durability in volume operations working over long periods.

"When looking for a range, it is essential that customers purchase the right one to adequately cope with the demands of the establishment', says David Taylor, sales and marketing manager for Angelo Po. "They should ensure that the equipment can cope with the output required for service. The debate over buying medium or heavy-duty is often a difficult one to answer, but it is suggested that the build quality of heavy-duty can often be an investment over time".

The two millimeter stainless-steel top fitted to Angelo Po's ranges makes a big difference, say Taylor: "Build quality is one of the main reasons our customers come back to us. The biggest mistake is buying on price. Customers are then left with equipment that cannot cope with output expected in a busy kitchen and often doesn't stand up to the day-to-day demands".

Back-Bar Ranges

With a wide portfolio of commercial ranges, Angelo Po has added back-bar ranges to its medium and heavy-duty offers. Heavy-duty comes in four, six or eight burner options, boiling tops and solid tops, and all ovens are two in one gastronome and available in gas or electric. Terry Ashmore, national sales manager at Wolf Catering Equipment, stresses the importance of a proper job evaluation before opting for a medium or heavy-duty range: "This should be based on the outputs and size of the restaurant requirements, and how many hours a day the range will be in use.

"Operations such as school meals, pubs and small restaurants are unlikely to gain any advantage from switching from a medium to heavy-duty range, whereas hotels that offer breakfast, lunch, conference and dinner facilities most definitely would. To move down to medium in those situations is a false economy. Normally the same materials are used in construction but with a difference in the gauge of metal. Heavy-duty would also have a much higher proportion of stainless-steel finish".

Wolf, a sister company to Hobart, offers equipment supported by the Hobart national service team. Hobart has recently improved its after-sales service for both companies by supplying its 200 service engineers with new-style vehicles, fitted out to carry an extensive variety of spare parts. Thi enables the engineers to achieve a higher first-time completion rate. Reliability, quality and longevity are the three requirements that caterers look for in ranges and they are prepared to pay extra for them, says Charvet UK sales manager Colin Leonard. "Budget medium-duty is fine in its place, but for long-term investments, quality heavy-duty ranges will pay dividends many times over. Taking the long-term view always works out cheaper in the long run".

Lincat also takes the view that it is better to buy bigger and more powerful than to bear the extra expense of replacing a key piece of equipment. However, as product manager Diane Semley says, there is confusion over where medium ends and heavy-duty begins: "Some people measure it on the look of the equipment, some on the dimension, typically 600mm deep being medium and 700 mm deep being medium to heavy. But the classification gets blurred when we add in other considerations like the build quality - for example, does it have welded corners or is it rivetted together? What grade of steel is used? And so on. "There are many things to consider, and the end user must decide what is needed and get away from the trap of buying on price alone".

Further Considerations

Electrolux product manager Chris Syder adds the speed factor to the list of important considerations for a range: "Caterers want quick results. Fan-assisted ovens are fine but can be very expensive. Combis and convection ovens are superb, but the six-burner range market has never dwindled here, unlike elsewhere in Europe."

Electrolux's six-burner range is 900mm wide, with four shelves offering zonal cooking on two shelves. Sister company Zanussi offers the four or six burner/ plate 600 line and the 700 line, Professional Duty, with four electric plates or four or six gas burners. Falcon says it has identified four separate market areas for ranges: fast counter-top cooking, which it is meeting with its compact 350 range; the three, six, nine Dominator series of medium to heavy-duty equipment, led by the six-burner Dominator range (claimed to be the UK's top selling cooker); the Chieftain heavy-duty series; and the 900SX series.

Elro's Swiss-made Sirius cooking suites are all-electric and include higher-spec technology with a combination of induction and infrared cooking under the same ceramic hob. Built in modular format, cooking islands can be tailor-made with various options.

Pratap Gadhvi, managing director of Valera and sole importer of Sanyo equipment, hails induction ranges as the new way. "Where traditionally this technology has only worked with expensive, high-ferrous-content pans, the new Sanyo counter-top models need only standard 19-8 or 18-10 stainless steel", he says. According to Bonnet Cidelcem, solid tops are replacing traditional six, eight and 10-burner ranges. It reports a significant increase in sales of its Maestro range, which produces temperatures of 500-550 degree Celsius at the centre of the bull's eye and 280 degree Celsius at the outside edge. The benefits offered by the Maestro bespoke range are also offered in the modular Grade Carte and Toque Blanche Series. Frialator is claiming market-share gains with its Grizzly medium-duty and Montague Leged heavy-duty ranges. The Modular Montague combination includes fry tops and hot tops and two, four or six burners.