Hot Dogs are America’s Favorite

Hot dogs are considered one of America’s favorite summer time foods.  In fact, most hot dogs are consumed between Memorial Day and Labor Day each year.  On average, Americans eat about sixty hot dogs in each year – that is a lot of hot dogs.  If you think about it - would a baseball game, Fourth of July cookout, or just hanging out with friends in your backyard be the same without a hot dog?

Hot Dog History

In 1987, a city in Germany celebrated the 500th anniversary of the hot dog.  The city was Frankfurt, which is where the term frankfurter comes from.  This first hot dog was actually created in 1484; which is before Columbus even set sail for the new world.  In 1867, Charles Feltman opened up the first Coney Island hot dog stand in Brooklyn, New York.  It is claimed by some that in 1880, a St. Louis street vendor invented today’s hot dogs when he asked his brother-in-law, a baker, to invent a roll or bun that would hold the dogs.

Hot Dogs are Best when Steamed

There is one thing, however, that stands out about hot dogs.  The hot dogs that you cook at home never seem to taste as good as the ones that are cooked and prepared by a vendor or by a restaurant.  Why is that?  Could it be that hot dogs cooked in a hot dog steamer are always juicier than hot dogs cooked on a grill?  Could it be that hot dogs that are served in a steamy warm hot dog bun taste better than hot dogs served on a toasted bun?  The answer is most definitely “yes” to both questions.

Hot Dog Steamers

ShortOrder.com carries some of the industry’s best hot dog steamers by Star Manufacturing International.  Star’s hot dog steamers feature side-by-side design to better control the temperatures of both the hot dogs and the hot dog buns.  The Star classic design also features top-loading for quicker and easier access to the hot dogs and buns.

If you are ready to start serving one of the favorite foods of summer, give one of our customer representatives a call and we will get you started.

Char Broil Burgers for a Taste of Summer

The temperatures are starting to rise, the sun seems to be shining more, and everyone’s thoughts of food are turning to the wonderful taste of a char broil burger. You know, char broil, that smoky, and grilled to perfection with the intricate pattern of grill marks way of cooking that only comes from a steel cooking surface over an open-flame. If you are like me, once that warm weather hits and summer is well on its way, this is the only way you want to enjoy your burger.

Char Broil Burgers for Better Tate

Charbroiling is actually one of the best ways to cook meats, be it chicken, steak or pork, to well-done or somewhere near there. Charbroiling enables the grill master to maintain the speed at which the meat is cooked, as well as the tenderness. Meats cooked on a char broiler also come off the grill perfectly moist and never dried out.

Char Broil Burgers Indoors for Outdoor Flavor

Restaurants are able to bring the outdoors inside by having a Char broil grill in their kitchen. There are several considerations a restaurant should take into consideration before purchasing this restaurant equipment appliance. Shortorder.com offers a char broiler buyers guide that includes an explanation and comparison of the three main types of char broilers: char rocks, lava rocks and radiant heat.

Tips for the Perfect Char Broil Burgers

The following tips will assist your restaurant staff in making the best Charbroiled burgers they can on your char broil grill.

1) Use the appropriate grate for the menu item.

2) Season the grates before the first use by preheating them to open the pores and brushing them with oil.

3) Pre-heat the grates before cooking to help reduce sticking.

4) Dip food in seasoned oil before grilling to reduce sticking and to enhance flavor.

5) Consider positioning grates on an angle for charbroiling. It will drain the grease better and gives you better control of heat distribution. Well done items go toward the top to cook slowly and thoroughly. Rare items go toward the lower position to cook rapidly on the outside and leave the inside rare.

6) Wire brush the grates after each use or batch of food product.

Lakeside carts may not be the first product type that pops into your mind when you think of the perfect kitchen, but for us right now, our attention is fully fixed on exactly that: Lakeside carts.

At ShortOrder.com, we get excited by quality restaurant equipment - everything from Manitowoc ice makers to Hobart glass washers. But the sad fact is that the more complicated kitchen appliances get all the glory. We’d be the first to admit we tend to focus on the pricier refrigerators and ranges - the cooking tools that perform the tasks you think of first when you think of food preparation.

But we think we all owe Lakeside carts an apology, because a solid, well-built, rustproof, and multi-use stainless steel cart is a thing of beauty and an essential for the professional kitchen.

You don’t want your staff making unnecessary trips across the facility, reducing efficiency and increasing the risk of an accident. Without a good Lakeside cart, how does your staff transport ingredients, dishes, and cooking implements from freezer to char broiler, or from kitchen to outdoor buffet? If your chef is stuck catering an important meal in an inhospitable location, what’s more indispensable than a Lakeside cart for prep, organization, transportation, and presentation? In a pinch, he or she can rely on a Lakeside cart as a station for worry-free chopping, heating, cooling, serving, and display. That’s a lot of work for a piece of restaurant equipment that you don’t even have to plug in.

Lakeside carts like the Lakeside Utility Cart 422 can bear the weight of several people - the 422 can carry 500 pounds - and look good doing it. The toughest of our Lakeside cart selections, the beefy Lakeside Utility Cart 944, can haul an astonishing 1000 pounds, and still not look out of place in a conference or dining room thanks to the careful manufacturing and natural style of brushed stainless steel. Lakeside carts are built to strict standards and feature all-welded stainless steel construction, swivel or fixed casters in a range of sizes, easy-to-clean design, assembly-free manufacturing, and the quality synonymous with the Lakeside cart product. Lakeside carts have been a mainstay in the foodservice and restaurant equipment industry for over 50 years.

We feel like it’s easy to overlook the contributions and usefulness of these gorgeous and durable Lakeside carts, but we’re trying to put an end to that. We’re proud to have Lakeside carts as a part of our utility cart selection, and we think you’d be proud to have a few Lakeside carts in your kitchen.

As more and more people are watching what they eat, things are changing in the restaurant industry to meet the demands of health-conscious consumers. Trans fats have been banned at New York City restaurants, and now a popular food festival is requiring its vendors to meet standards on fat, cholesterol, and salt.

It’s the Taste of Buffalo festival in Buffalo, New York. Attracting tens of thousands of food-lovers, Taste of Buffalo is a two-day event that’s been going on for 23 years. The idea behind the change in the festival, according to its organizers, is to show people that healthy dishes are just as good. And some of the participants in the festival even noted that nobody could tell the difference when they changed their recipes to make them healthier. To read more about the changes in the Taste of Buffalo food fest, just go here.

At Short Order, we realize that healthy eating habits are very important. Cooking healthy meals may be made easier with the right equipment, and you’ll find everything you need at ShortOrder.com. From commercial ovens to commercial refrigerators, we have what you need to make that perfect meal.

Considering a Char Broiler purchase in the future? There are a few questions you need to answer before making your decision. First of all, which type are you looking for? There are three types: Cast-Iron Radiant, Stainless Steel Radiant and Lava/Char Rock. The radiant or char rock acts as a storage bank of heat. The more cold products you throw on the broiler, the more heat is drawn from the heat bank.

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Choosing the Best Commercial Range For Your Restaurant

Choosing the best commercial range for your restaurant doesn’t have to be a difficult task. When shopping for a restaurant range, you’ll want to consider a few things. The first is whether you need a heavy duty range or a medium duty range. Most restaurants and chains use medium duty ranges, but places like hotels, schools, hospitals and high volume restaurants use heavy duty units to get the job done. Something else to consider is Short Order has a variety of ranges with open burners and griddle tops, and you can always contact a Short Order associate to help decide which commercial range is right for your restaurant, hotel or place of business.

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It’s been a while since I was in grade school, but I can remember exactly what I used to get every day for lunch in sixth and seventh grade: a basket of fries, a can of Coke and a freshly baked cookie that was roughly the size of my face. This was what I ate for lunch five days a week.

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