Whether you are the head chef of a five star restaurant getting ready for this evening’s dinner service, or you are preparing lunches in a school cafeteria, the ability to quickly and efficiently prepare your food is a must. Having the best in commercial microwave ovens and knowing how to use them can make a great kitchen even better. We’ve outlined three of the most important uses of commercial microwave ovens below.

Thawing
Knowing when and how to properly thaw frozen foods is one of the most challenging parts of cooking, mostly because, when done properly, it can take literally the entire day. However, if you use commercial microwave ovens like the Panasonic NE-1022F, thawing your ingredients can be a quick and painless process. Here are a few things to remember:

• When in doubt, use your commercial microwave oven’s thawing button for best results. The Panasonic NE 1022F comes with 1000 watts of power, ensuring that your food will be cooked perfectly every time on any heat level you need.
• Make sure to stop the microwave and check your food throughout the pre-set time. If the food is warm, let it stand for a few moments before turning the microwave back one to ensure that it’s only defrosting, and not cooking. Give foods like soups or purees a stir before continuing to ensure even heat distribution.
• Remember, for safety’s sake, to cook whatever you’re preparing immediately after you defrost it.

Steaming
Many people aren’t aware that steaming vegetables in commercial microwave ovens retains more nutrients than cooking them on the stove. For best results, add a little water, cover your dish with plastic wrap, and cook on high for a short amount of time. The Amana RC30S2 for example not only has 100 customizable memory settings, but 11 preset power levels designed cook your food perfectly whichever way you’d like it.

Reheating
Another little-known trick for commercial microwaves is that they can reheat and re-crisp meals or snacks like fries or potato chips. The key is to place a paper towel or napkin on top of the plate of food. The napkin will absorb the moisture that makes the food soggy leaving it crisp and ready to eat in just seconds.
Whether you’re thawing chicken for dinner with the Panasonic NE-1022F steaming veggies with the Amana RC30S2, or using one of our many other commercial microwave ovens, Short Order has what you need to reheat, steam, defrost, and cook all of your food to perfection.

Here at Short Order, we take our products and the quality of the food they help make very seriously. Not only do we want to provide you the very best in restaurant equipment, but we also want to make sure you can get the best results for whatever it is you’re preparing. Take our extensive selection of state-of-the-art Gen2 Griddles, for example. Here are a few tips on how to use our griddles as efficiently and effectively as possible:

Take Your Time
Kitchens can get hectic, and when you are in the middle of a big rush, things can fall through the cracks. It’s easy to forget to heat the griddle before service and try to crank the heat up as high as possible in order to make up for time lost. This creates two problems. First, the drastic rise in temperature will waste energy and cost you money. Second, that much heat created that fast will make for an uneven cooking temperature which means the outside of your food will be overcooked or burned while the inside is still cold.

Take the TG-48C-NAT Gen2 Griddle for example. It’s heavy-duty gas griddle and thermostatic controls gives you a heat range from 150 to 450 degrees Celsius. With a little preparation and the help of custom thermostats, you can get the perfect temperature for any recipe you need so your food is cooked to perfection on the inside and out.

Use Thawed Ingredients When Possible
Similar to slowly raising your temperature, try to avoid putting frozen food directly onto the Gen2 griddle. The surface will have to produce more heat and energy in order to cook the food. And sadly, just like heating the surface up too quickly, food won’t cook as well in the center.

Keep Away from Cold Spots
In order to maximize your griddle’s efficiency, try your best to keep it away from doorways and overhead air conditioning units. The less cold air your Gen2 griddle has to compete with, the hotter it gets with less time and energy.

Keep it Clean
Keeping your griddle clean, just like all other restaurant equipment, is a given, but cleanliness also helps cut down on energy costs. A large surface like the Gen2 Griddle MG-24C-NAT makes cooking a breeze. However, it can be an intimidating surface to clean. Pro Tip: Instead of scraping and cleaning a cold griddle surface, heat the griddle to where it’s barely warm. This will loosen up all the debris and making cleaning up a whole lot simpler.

Fall is fast approaching, and with the changing leaves comes a change in seasonal menus.  Gen2 Ranges are an optimum tool for cooking this season as the weather changes from balmy to blustery, and culinary focus shifts from summery to soothing.

As those cool winds sweep in, so do fresh fall vegetables.  Swap out the last of the summer zucchini for sweet potatoes, butternut squash, carrots, apples, cauliflower and of course, pumpkin.  It seems that the coming of autumn means putting pumpkin in everything.  Bake it in breads, cakes, pies, cookies; roast it for stuffings and sauces and soups; flavor lattes with it; even whip it in with butter.  There are all sorts of unusual ways to incorporate fresh fall flavors into dishes.

Usher in these warm foods and their tantalizing tastes with Gen2 Ranges.  Outfitted with the efficient burners and oven features that are necessary in a fast-paced environment, Gen2 Ranges fit smoothly into any commercial kitchen operation.  A seasonal menu needs variety, but also requires longevity.  You know that fall flavors will be in high demand; anticipate that need with equipment like the Gen2 Range.  The Gen2 commercial range (60-GEN2-10B-S26-LP), for example, is equipped with 10 open liquid propane burners and 2 ovens for optimum efficiency in a busy kitchen.  A prep area and back shelf also allow for storage and flexibility while you work.

Using seasonal ingredients helps keep a kitchen current, keeps customers satisfied, and sets a restaurant apart.  Fresh fall foods are a must this autumn.