Gas prices are skyrocketing; solar activity is at its peak and someone just won the Mega Millions in the lottery. With that and the daily troubles of life, you and your customers have enough to worry about. Of course, while seated in your restaurant, your customers only seem to worry about having a great experience and eating food that delights the soul. On your end, it’s not always that simple. Delectable foods often need a fabulous recipe, the right ingredients and restaurant equipment that create magic. When it comes to fryers for your establishment, Gen2 Fryers help make impending doom, the cost of petrol and winning numbers irrelevant.

Need proof? At Short Order, each of our Gen2 Fryers received a 5 Star rating and our Editors Choice. Don’t just take our word for it. Food Service Equipment Supplies Magazine voted each Gen2 Fryer “Best in Class” and all you need to do is check out what’s under the hood. Stainless steel fry tanks and door liners are impressive enough. Yet, the other features, such as the Invensys thermostat and built in Flue Deflector make the each one, including the Gen2 Fryer GEN2-F3-LP a solid choice. A full port drain and the fry tank ‘cool zone’ just add to the “hot” factor. What is really hot besides the oil is that Gen2 Fryers come in 40lb and 70lb capacity, LP and Natural Gas. Fryers aren’t the only Gen2 production that will make you feel less apprehensive about your commercial restaurant equipment purchases. From their amazing griddles to their assortment of range ovens, you need not concern yourself with the trivial thought of having the right restaurant equipment for the job.

Are you ready? This is the reality. The price of oil will probably always fluctuate and scientists will have varying interpretations of the Mayan calendar. You probably won’t win the lottery. Heck, it might snow tomorrow in Key West. But, at least when it comes to cooking deliciousness, Gen2 Fryers, griddles and ranges are one thing you don’t have to worry about. 

What’s the Price of Price Fixing?

Price fixing – that is, when a manufacturer sets a minimum retail price for their products – may be secretly taking a bite out of your bottom line.

In our free market economy, supply and demand usually determine where prices are set. If a product is popular, the price rises; if it doesn’t sell well, the price falls. However, every now and then, a manufacturer tells its retailers that they can’t sell a product as cheaply as they’d like to. Price fixing like this makes it hard for those retailers to bring you the best, most competitive deals.

Price Fixing and the Economy

Price fixing has a chilling effect on the restaurant industry and business in general. Both at work and at home, you may find that the products you want or need are out of your budgetary range – even though the manufacturer could sell those products at an affordable price if they wanted. If hundreds or thousands of people aren’t buying the products they desire, that means less money moving through the economy, and more demand for business credit in an economy that’s already strapped.

Thirty-five of the 50 state attorneys general wrote Congress in May 2008, asking that they pass a law to make price fixing illegal. They believe that “resale price maintenance” or price fixing will feed inflation and add $300 billion to annual consumer costs.

What You Can Do About Price Fixing

We at Short Order are committed to bringing you the best possible value for your restaurant equipment needs. We believe we deliver a compelling combination of service, support, and yes, competitive prices. Price fixing affects our business, and it probably affects yours too.

If you want to take a stand against price fixing, sign the petition at StopPriceFixing.org. The site has plenty of stories and information about price fixing and how it affects your wallet.

Needing restaurant equipment repair can be frustrating, and it happens to all of us sooner or later. That pizza oven or ice machine you depend on for your restaurant to function does you no good if it’s not working. Every moment a piece of equipment sits there broken is another moment you’re losing out on what it’s supposed to be doing. Work can get backed up, and business can be lost all because of a broken piece of equipment.

Finding someone to handle your restaurant equipment repair in a timely fashion can sometimes be difficult. And unfortunately once you do get someone out to look at it, they may have to give you some bad news if the damage is serious. You may get lucky and only need a very minor repair like a new light bulb, replacement burner or a new pilot light. But costly repair parts or long hours involving expensive labor might be required. Or a needed part might have to be shipped in order for the repair to be made, causing you to have to wait even longer to have your restaurant equipment back in use.

Restaurant equipment repair can really cost you, even to the point where it makes more sense to just buy a new piece of equipment to replace the broken one. So how do you decide to go with repair or buy a new one? Well, you’ll want to take into consideration how much it’d cost to replace. Then compare that with how much it’d cost to repair the broken one. Factor in time it’s not in service, labor costs and parts costs. You can also take into consideration the age of the piece of restaurant equipment. Restaurant owners find that when they look at it this way, it’s often a better choice to buy a new piece of restaurant equipment to replace the broken one.

You can buy new restaurant equipment at the lowest prices at ShortOrder.com. With our Low Price Guarantee, you have the assurance that you’re getting the lowest price out there. Find Frymaster fryers, Manitowoc ice machines, Globe mixers and more at ShortOrder.com.

Beverage-Air Refrigerator Resource Launched

Beverage-Air refrigerator buyers will now be able to learn more about their refrigerators – and get some great information – just by stopping by ShortOrder.com. Beverage-Air products now have their own informative blog on the restaurant equipment website that will inform restaurant equipment buyers how to enjoy their Beverage-Air refrigerator and get the most out of it for years and years to come. The Beverage-Air refrigerator blog is at beverageair.shortorder.com.

Beverage-Air and ShortOrder Keep Cool Together

Beverage-Air and ShortOrder.com have had a long and wonderful relationship and the blog is a sign of ShortOrder’s commitment to this top restaurant refrigerator manufacturer. ShortOrder.com has been carrying the refrigerator manufacturer’s products for years and considers Beverage-Air to be one of the restaurant equipment buyer’s first choices for efficient, low-maintenance cold food storage.

Beverage-Air Means Quality

Beverage-Air, the largest supplier of commercial refrigeration, was founded in 1944 by Herman Buffington in the small town of Spartanburg, South Carolina. The headquarters still exists in Spartanburg and is where all the state-of-the-art designs created by Beverage-Air are researched and designed.

Beverage-Air is best known for its reach-in merchandiser coolers, freezers, refrigerators and self-contained beer dispensing units. However, Beverage-Air is quickly becoming the leader in pizza and food preparation units, school milk coolers, and deli and floral display units.

Beverage-Air’s vision is “to be the global preferred supplier of quality equipment to the foodservice, beverage and related industries by being pro-active and innovative employees who are measured by our customers’ satisfaction, our company’s reputation and profitability.”

Beverage-Air Refrigerator Blog Just Tip of Iceberg

ShortOrder is very excited to be adding the Beverage-Air refrigerator blog to the information that ShortOrder already provides to restaurant owners and their equipment buyers. From the Buyer’s Guides on everything from steamers to ice machines to the “What’s Cookin’?” newsletter and restaurant equipment blog that keeps you up-to-date on the restaurant industry, ShortOrder.com has got all your bases covered.

Food Safety Matters

Food Safety … It isn’t something most people think about on a daily basis, except for the restaurant industry that is.  We think about it everyday because the last thing any of us want is for someone to get sick from the food that we work hard to prepare.  We also don’t want to think about our restaurant being shut down because we didn’t meet food safety standards.

Food Safety Guidelines

With the right equipment and the right knowledge, food safety is a pretty easy thing to handle.

Some great guidelines to remember are:

-  All restaurant employee employees should follow hygiene guidelines; such as washing hands after using the restroom and before preparing food.

-  Cross-contamination of foods should be avoided at all times.  Wash, rinse and sanitize all food contact surfaces, such as work tables, slicers, and other preparation equipment.

-  Foods must be cooked to recommended internal temperatures.

-  Hot foods should be held hot at temperatures of 140 degrees Fahrenheit or greater.  Holding cabinets provide a constant source of proper heat.

-  Cold foods should be kept cold at temperatures of 41 degrees Fahrenheit or lower.  Keep a thermometer in your refrigerator to make sure the temperature is at the proper setting.

-  Abusing standard time and temperature standards for food should be avoided at all costs when handling prepared foods.

-  Leftovers should only be reheated in the oven once; after that they should be tossed out.

Food Safety Means Better Health

As stated earlier in the post, food safety matters to everyone … restaurateur, chef, employees, and patrons can all be harmed by foodborne pathogens.  There are more than 250 known foodborne diseases that cause anywhere from minor illness to death.  By following the simple guidelines listed above and by making sure all of your equipment is functioning properly, you can help prevent disease and illness caused by unhealthy foods.

Ice Machine Slime Is An Important Maintenance Issue

Ice machine owners may be getting slimed without knowing it.

Ice machine slime is more than a funny-sounding phrase that evokes fond memories of watching Bill Murray in Ghostbusters at the matinee. For restaurant equipment owners, ice machine slime is a real health hazard that can run a kitchen afoul of the health inspector and possibly shut down a thriving foodservice business.

The Gory Details on Ice Machine Slime

Ice machine slime is such a prevalent hazard that muckraking Houston newsman Marvin Zindler made the sentence “Slime in the ice machine!” a household phrase along the Texas coastline. Ice machine slime isn’t deadly to healthy adults, but still, it can be harmful. It also has a distinctive taste and smell, and can be visually disgusting to your customers. Here’s what the City of Houston says:

It is a type of mold or fungus that accumulates from bacterial growth on surfaces that are constantly exposed to clinging water droplets and warm temperatures. Water residuals may be present on these surfaces due to machine construction or the presence of scouring utensils such as steel wool or scouring pads. If the residuals are left exposed and not wiped clean or the machine is not sanitized regularly, you will then see bacteria and mold growths in the moist, cool environment of your ice machine. Most times, slime will take on a pinkish tone; if left untreated, the pink will turn to red, green, brown and even black ropes of slime hanging from the freezer panels inside the machine after a while. Pretty picture, isn’t it?

Green and pink ropes of slime hanging in your ice machine and dropping in customers’ drinks… it may not be fatal, but it could soon be sending your once-healthy clients to the lab for some health tests.

The Ice Machine Slime Answer

If for example you’ve got ice machine slime in your favorite Manitowoc ice machine model SD-0852A, how do you handle the problem?

The Houston health inspectors recommend using quarternary ammonium (QAC), which kills the mold/fungus and also inhibits additional growth for a period of time after the slime has been removed. This chemical won’t react with the stainless steel of your SD-0852A, and it’s also handy for keeping slime out of other restaurant equipment like your soda machine or the nozzles and hoses of your direct draw systems.

For other ice machine buying tips and maintenance advice, check out our ice machine buyers guide!

New Pizza World Record

Big Apple Pizza & Pasta in Fort Pierce, Florida is looking to break the longest pizza line world record. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the current record is held by the Tiziano Shopping Centre Tenant’s Union in Treviso, Italy. They had a line that was 611 feet 2 inches long back in October 28, 2006. Big Apple Pizza & Pasta owner Scott VanDuzer says that he will be able to make a line more than 700 feet long.

I wonder what kind of pizza oven he is using for baking all those pizzas.

Other Pizza World Records

Aside from the World’s Longest Pizza line record, there are a few other world records involving pizza that we feel are worth mentioning. There is the Fastest Time to Eat a 12” Pizza, which is held by Tom Waes from Ghent, Belgium. Tom ate a pizza in 2 minutes and 19.91 seconds on December 2nd, 2006. Then there is the World’s Record for largest pizza order set by Papa John’s on June 8, 2007.

Fifteen San Diego area Papa John’s Pizza stores delivered 13,500 pizzas at exactly 11:00 am to the same destination, General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard. The pizzas were a reward to the crew there for the completion of the Navy’s newest dry cargo/ammunition ship, the USNS Lewis and Clark.

Pizza World Records Require Pizza Ovens

We were thinking that the only way that a restaurant could break a world record is if they had the proper equipment. So, if you are planning on attempting your own pizza record, give one of our representatives a call and we can help you pick out the proper pizza oven. We have a large selection of sizes and brands, including Baker’s Pride, Garland and Montague, so there is sure to be one just right for your shop.

Do you think there is a world record for number of pizza ovens carried by one restaurant equipment company?

Green Restaurants Are Here to Stay

Green restaurants are sprouting up all over the place, as they should be. Restaurant patrons have a growing daily concern for the health of their environment and the health of their families. They are making their homes, apartments, offices, cars and lives more green; why wouldn’t they want their favorite dining spot to do the same thing. Fortunately for commercial kitchens everywhere, restaurant equipment manufacturers are helping out.

Green Restaurant Equipment

The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have united to form the Energy Star movement. Currently, five categories of commercial restaurant equipment have established Energy Star guidelines. They are fryers, hot food holding cabinets, refrigerators/freezers, dishwashers, and steam cookers. These certified units can save over 40% in energy costs compared to non-Energy Star models.

Some examples of Energy Star rated equipment are the Vulcan VPX3 Counter Boilerless/Connectionless Electric Steamer, the Hobart LXi Undercounter High Temp Dishwasher, and the Frymaster H55 High-Efficieny Gas Fryer.

We care about the environment at ShortOrder.com; so if you have questions about Energy Star rated equipment that we carry, just give us a shout and we will be happy to help.

Green Restaurant Tips

You don’t need to buy all new equipment at one time to become a greener restaurant. There are several other things that you can do to start you down the green path.

• You can use low-flow pre-rinse spray nozzles at the dish machines.
• Use compact fluorescent lamps instead of light bulbs in break rooms, storage rooms, offices, walk-in refrigerators, etc.
• Use take-out containers that can be recycled (#1 and #2 plastics and aluminum) instead of Styrofoam.
• Use organic foods in the kitchen.
• Make sure to use recycled paper products whenever possible (i.e. napkins, office paper, menus)
• Install occupancy sensors in the restrooms, storage rooms and any other low-traffic rooms. Lights will turn off automatically when the rooms are unoccupied.

Here’s to greener restaurants and a greener future!

Restaurant Equipment Events: What To Do in 2008

Yes, it’s already the end of February, but there are still tons of exciting restaurant equipment events in 2008. Everyone in the restaurant equipment industry will attend to represent themselves at expos, conferences, and food festivals around the world, to form a veritable “booth camp” of restaurant equipment industry experts.

The next big restaurant equipment event is coming up pretty soon. The Bear Stearns 14th Annual Retail, Restaurants & Consumer Conference will kick off on Tuesday, March 4th at 3:00 pm EST at the Bear Stearns headquarters in New York City. Presenters include Mike George, president and CEO of QVC, Inc., Safeway, Inc., and Wyndam Worldwide, to name a few.

International Restaurant Equipment Events

Looking to travel and represent? Then take off to one of the many European food and restaurant industry expos in 2008. Try the Health Ingredients (Hi) Europe event in Paris, set for November 4-6, at which over a hundred restaurateurs will be searching for the best restaurant equipment to match their supplies.

Can’t wait ’til November? Check out the Food Ingredients Central and Eastern Europe (FiCEE) event in Warsaw, Poland, at the Warsaw International Expocentre, April 22-24.

Got a sweet tooth? Make it to the Salon Passion Chocolat & de la Gourmandise in Montreal, Canada, November 7-9. Presenters and exhibitors will certainly be in the market for a good ice cream display and storage solution.

We’ll be out there. Will you?