Outdoor Cooking Equipment: Everything you need to know
Engaging in outdoor cooking presents a unique opportunity to add a variety of delicious and distinctive dishes to your menu and impress your customers. Whether you’re looking for your first grill or trying to enhance your restaurant’s grilling expertise, picking the right BBQ tools for the job is essential. This guide to outdoor grilling examines different types of grills and accessories available for your commercial kitchen equipment in Tulsa, OK, and provides valuable insights on how to maintain your equipment, ensuring it remains in excellent condition and doesn’t hinder the creation of a flavorful outdoor grilling menu.
Outdoor Grills:
A substantial debate surrounds which outdoor grills yield the most delectable results. However, the reality is that it ultimately boils down to personal preference. When contemplating the ideal grill for your establishment, it’s beneficial to explore the two most prevalent types:
Charcoal
For enthusiasts who relish smoky and mesquite flavors infused into their meats and vegetables, charcoal stands as the traditional grilling option. Cooking with charcoal BBQs offers various popular methods, such as searing, utilizing indirect heat, and incorporating wood chips for a smoky essence in your dishes. If your chef team prefers high-temperature cooking, charcoal grilling is an excellent choice.
For culinary enthusiasts who delight in the intricacies of high-temperature cooking, charcoal grilling emerges as the paramount choice, providing a pathway to culinary excellence. The formidable heat generated by charcoal embers sets the stage for achieving the coveted sear, adding a delightful char and elevating the flavors of the ingredients. The adaptability of charcoal grills affords precise control over the cooking process, granting chefs the liberty to experiment with various techniques and craft culinary masterpieces.
Gas
Gas grills are optimal for culinary teams that value adherence to precise cooking parameters. The ability to set and control the temperature ensures that food is cooked on a uniformly heated surface. Gas grills exhibit fewer hot spots, minimizing the risk of overcooking or charring your dishes, and they boast a convenient cleaning process post-use. Certain gas grills even offer the flexibility to establish variable temperature zones, allowing for the simultaneous cooking of diverse food types to ensure everything is ready at the same time.
The appeal of gas grills is rooted in their capacity to simplify the cooking process, liberating valuable time to prepare other culinary delights. These grills come equipped with various innovative features, allowing for the simultaneous and precise cooking of different types of food. Whether succulent steaks or tender vegetables, each ingredient can be expertly cooked to its optimal doneness, resulting in a harmonious symphony of flavors on the plate.
Indispensable BBQ Equipment
While numerous devices and gadgets aim to enhance the convenience of outdoor grilling, specific tools are deemed indispensable. Here are essential BBQ tools you should acquire:
Grilling Tongs: Sturdy and versatile, these utensils facilitate effortless flipping, turning, and maneuvering of food on the grill, ensuring precise control for even cooking and minimizing the risk of mishaps.
Grill Brushes: Featuring tough bristles, grill brushes are vital for maintaining a clean cooking surface. They effectively remove charred residue and food particles, ensuring a well-maintained grill for your next grilling endeavor.
Grilling Spatulas: With a wide, flat surface, grilling spatulas make flipping delicate and oversized food items a breeze. Whether flipping juicy burgers or delicately handling fish fillets, these spatulas provide the perfect balance of flexibility and sturdiness.
Meat Thermometer: A crucial tool for precision and safety, a meat thermometer ensures that your grilled meats reach their desired internal temperature, guaranteeing optimal flavor and food safety for your customers.
Meat Skewers: For crafting flavorful kebabs and skewered delights, meat skewers allow you to thread marinated pieces of meat, vegetables, and even fruits, imparting an irresistible smoky flavor and achieving perfectly cooked skewers.
Grill Cover: As a protective shield for your grill, it safeguards against harsh weather conditions, dust, and debris, extending its lifespan and ensuring it remains in top-notch condition for the next grilling session.
Basting Brushes: Playing a crucial role in enhancing flavor and moisture, basting brushes are instrumental in applying marinades, sauces, or melted butter. They ensure an even distribution, resulting in succulent and mouthwatering grilled dishes.
These tools simplify the process of infusing flavor into your food while cooking and play a crucial role in safeguarding against foodborne illnesses. For instance, adherence to food safety practices during grill cooking is paramount in your commercial kitchen. This includes proper meat storage, ensuring meats reach the recommended temperature before serving, and securely storing leftovers.
To maintain meat tenderness without the risk of undercooking, an essential practice is to consistently rotate and flip it on the grill, ensuring even cooking on both sides. Using a digital meat thermometer eliminates the need for guesswork, providing precise information on when to remove the meat from the grill and ensuring optimal cooking and safety.
Advanced Outdoor Cooking Equipment
Sometimes, more than a conventional grill may be required to achieve the desired culinary excellence for your commercial kitchen. Advanced outdoor cooking appliances empower your culinary team to unleash their creativity when preparing dishes outdoors, captivating your customers with the exceptional food they can craft.
Here are a few pieces of equipment to contemplate:
Smokers
This category of grills stands out as the optimal choice for achieving slow-cooked and smoky barbecued meat. Smokers excel in providing superior temperature control compared to traditional charcoal grills, all while preserving the distinctive smoked flavor that is often absent in gas setups. It’s important to note that most dishes cooked on a smoker require a low and slow approach, making smoker grills ideal for outdoor cooks with patience.
Rotisseries
Rotisseries are excellent for ensuring even cooking with minimal effort and cooking expertise compared to alternative methods. You can acquire a rotisserie kit with a charcoal or gas grill or opt for a grill designed for rotisserie cooking. This cooking approach is well-suited for large roasts, whole chickens, or grilled turkeys.
An additional advantage of rotisseries is their ability to facilitate the gradual dripping of fat from the meat during cooking. The outcome is delicious and contributes to a healthier culinary experience.
Pizza Ovens
Accepting any other standard becomes a challenge once your customers have experienced pizza from a wood-burning oven. Fortunately, you have various options for selecting a wood-burning oven that meets your restaurant’s requirements. Pizza ovens not only facilitate the preparation of pizzas and various recipes but also contribute significantly to the visual appeal of your business.
Deep Fryers
An outdoor fryer proves to be an excellent choice for creating delectable chicken or fried turkey in an outdoor setting. When in the market for a fryer, it’s essential to consider the volume of customers your restaurant caters to and the size of the chickens or turkeys you intend to cook. While a single-tank fryer typically suffices for most restaurant owners, opting for a larger one is advisable to serve larger groups of people.
Outdoor Griddles
An outdoor grill offers a flat heating surface, making it ideal for preparing side dishes or putting the finishing touches on items cooked on the grill. Safety takes precedence when using an outdoor grill; acquiring a wind guard and dome cover is essential.
Outdoor Kitchen Components
For those truly passionate about grilling and expanding their menu offerings, the opportunity exists to transform their outdoor space into a dedicated haven for cooking. Envisioning the ultimate grilling space for your restaurant involves incorporating various outdoor kitchen components that enhance the overall culinary experience:
Outdoor-Rated Refrigerator: This essential addition enables you to keep ingredients fresh and chilled, ensuring everything is readily available. Easily store marinated meats and fresh produce, maintaining them at the optimal temperature until they are ready for use.
Outdoor Sink: Bid farewell to the inconvenience of shuttling between your indoor kitchen and grilling area for cleanup. Installing an outdoor sink provides a designated space for washing utensils, rinsing fresh produce, and maintaining cleanliness during food preparation. This convenient addition saves time and effort, allowing you to concentrate on the core task – crafting delicious meals.
Integrating these carefully chosen outdoor kitchen components allows you to craft a space that effortlessly marries functionality with culinary finesse. Immerse your staff in the pleasures of grilling, embracing the creativity that blossoms within a dedicated outdoor space. Here, you can entertain customers, fashion mouthwatering dishes, and cultivate enduring memories for your guests.
Equipment Maintenance
To keep your grilling equipment in good condition, clean it after each use and at the start and end of the grilling season. Scrape the grilling grate with a wire brush before each use and empty ashes if your grill generates them. Clean the grates and empty the grease pan after each session for gas or electric grills. Use dish soap, a degreaser, and a scouring sponge for a deeper cleaning. Start the grilling season with a deep cleaning to address any contaminants that may have affected the grill’s cooking surfaces during the winter.
Conclusion
Outdoor cooking is a great way to add unique and flavorful dishes to your restaurant’s menu. To get the most out of your BBQ, you’ll need the right tools and equipment. Grilling tongs, grill brushes, spatulas, meat thermometers, skewers, grill covers, and basting brushes are all essential. And don’t forget commercial-grade outdoor cooking equipment like grills, smokers, and pizza ovens. You can create a delicious outdoor grilling menu that will impress your customers by maintaining your equipment and following food safety practices.
