The Zeroll ice cream scoop is considered an original if not the original ice cream scoop.  It has not changed much at all since it was introduced in the 1930s.  This scoop’s handle is filled with a fluid to conduct heat from your hand into the scoop in order to slightly melt the ice cream as you dip, so the scoop slices through the ice cream creating a nice smooth ball that easily slips onto a cone or into a dish.

This scoop is also more cost effective than other models because as the ice cream forms a ball, it is not compressed so it appears larger because it is somewhat hollow.  If you’re just wanting a lighter portion or if you’re aiming for higher profits and easy scooping, the Zeroll is your answer.

Another nice thing about this scoop is it has no levers, springs, or extra parts, so it is easy to clean.  Plus there is no need for the lever/spring action, so it works equally well left or right handed.

Yet another nice thing about the Zeroll is that is was invented in Ohio and is still made in the U.S.A.  We stock this scoop, so you can order the original ice cream scoop from the original online kitchen company – ABestKitchen.  Get the Zeroll here.

Look cool and feel cool in Chef Works professional clothing with summer style. Chef Works Cool Vent baggy pants and Cool Vent chef coats wick moisture and are breathable and provide ventilation to keep you looking and feeling good in the kitchen.

This new line includes comfortable fitting pants, coats, and hats that will keep you cool in the kitchen and looking good too.  Coats feature Cool-Vent slits in the back, side, and/or underarm for added breathability on hot summer days and night.  Pants also incorporate the Cool-Vent inserts for breezy ventilation.  We are carrying lots of styles from Chef Works catalog, and can special order for you if you are looking for something in particular.  Stay cool this summer – abestkitchen@AKitchen

Cold beer is a truly valuable selling point that customers pay attention to. Some people will even give extra praise when beer is nice and cold. If you want to serve your customers the coldest beer possible at your restaurant or bar, some standard service methods include freezing your mugs or pint glasses, keeping bottled beer on ice, and chilled draught lines. If you chill it too cold, beer will freeze. Putting beer on ice will chill it to 32 to 33 degrees Fahrenheit, and a refrigerator will come close to 32 degrees as well, but have you considered that because beer contains alcohol, it can be chilled below the freezing point of water? Enter the beer froster.

Beer frosters are designed to keep beer at 23 degrees – well below the freezing point of water, but not quite cold enough to freeze the beer. Any water condensation on the beer bottles will freeze, putting a nice frosty finish on the bottles. With Fogel’s beer frosters, you can truly serve the coldest beer possible.

Fogel’s frosters are available in horizontal models for underbar use and vertical units with glass doors for merchandising.  With these coolers, you’ll most likely want to rotate the beers regularly to ensure bottles or cans at the bottom of the units are not freezing.  That said, customers might be drinking those frosty beers at a fast enough rate to prevent that from happening!

Check them out here: Beer Frosters

Here’s to a great summer with beer that is colder than ice –

Rick@AKitchen

As this is being written, it’s February.  Pretty much the entire country under a the veil of winter.  In fact, the entire continental U.S. is blue on the weather map.  But in 6 months, it will be a balmy summer day in August.  Grills will be lit, lawns mowed, it will be warm, sunny and the mood will be right for juice.  So let’s take a little vacation from the cold and talk about summer, juice, and juicers.

Small Juicers

An amusing lemonade, a refreshing margarita, or a quick drizzle of citrus calls for Amco’s original hand juicer or one of these other small handheld squeezers. Commonplace at any bar, and not to be confused with lesser quality imitation models, Amco’s lemon and lime squeezers are built to last and will keep us cool on this vacation.  So give your hands a rest and get one of these affordable juicing tools.

Larger Juicers

OK.  Now, on our vacation, the kids are operating a lemonade stand, there’s a barbecue, the neighborhood friends are outside relaxing, and it’s starting to feel like a little block party.  We need some more serious juicing. Cue the heavier duty stand up juicers. Our favorites are the Zeus and the Titan – these heavy duty models can really press. The Zeus can even do pomegranates. They are sturdy and attractive, and will support a hefty lemonade operation and more. For the price, you will not find a better manual juicer than the Titan or Zeus.

Commercial Juicers

It’s been a great summer.  We’ve had so much success juicing lately that we’ve decided to incorporate juice into a larger operation. We need some juice power to generate profits. The Uniworld UJC-N50 Commercial 1/4 HP Electric Juicer devours citrus. It’s a heavy 33 lbs in weight and it’s quiet motor is designed for years of daily use. Slice some oranges, grapefruits, and lemons and extract juiciness. You can find it and more models here: Commercial Juicers.

Enjoy,

Rick@AKitchen

P.S. – don’t forget the little umbrellas.

It’s always crepe season, and there’s never a bad time of day for crepes. For breakfast, lunch and dinner, in winter or summer, a crepe is always good. Hearty, savory crepes with meat and cheese on a cold day, fruit filled crepes on a sunny day in spring, chocolate crepes for dessert, mmmm.

Crepes are easy and fast to make, which makes them well-suited as healthy additions to menus at concessions, coffee shops, and fast-food stops. As a dessert, your find crepes at fine dining restaurants too. And at home, they are a fast, fun, and easy-to-make treat. Since it’s always a good time to make them, here are some instructions and helpful equipment for making crepes.

Wood Vs. Plastic Cutting Boards

Food Safety

Various styles of cutting boards and butcher blocks are used judiciously in kitchens and restaurants everywhere.  Avoiding contamination by using separate cutting boards for various food types, washing boards with hot soap and water between cutting jobs, and using the right board type are basic concepts in every kitchen.  There seems to be some debate, however, over what type of board material is best.  Many people believe that wood is unsafe, and plastic is more sanitary.  But why then, would butcher blocks and wood cutting surfaces be used in restaurants and commercial kitchens everywhere?  And why would wood surfaces be approved by NSF and health departments if they are unsafe?  It turns out, when it comes to preventing growth of bacteria, wood is superior to plastic cutting surfaces.

A somewhat recent study at UC Davis was surprised to find out about wood’s superiority after they set out to design a way to disinfect wood so it would be as safe as plastic.  They soon determined that on wood surfaces, bacteria such as Salmonella quickly disappeared from the cutting board surfaces, even surfaces that had many knife cuts.  Plastic, however, especially plastic with grooves from knife use, tended to harbor the bacteria over time.  It seems that on wood surfaces, the bacteria are kept away from the cutting surface because they are absorbed by the wood, where they eventually die.  Plastic allows any bacteria to live for some time on the surface, and knife cuts in plastic can harbor the bacteria for some time.  Check out the study here:

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/docliver/Research/cuttingboard.htm

That doesn’t mean plastic does not have it’s place – it does somewhat dispel, however, the common household belief that plastic boards should be used for meat and fish rather than wooden boards.  And, of course, proper washing and taking steps to avoid cross contamination should be practiced with any board surface.

Other Wood Benefits

Wood boards and butcher blocks can last a lifetime.  The cutting surface of a wood board can be maintained and treated with products such as John Boos Mystery Oil to keep the block looking like new and prevent drying & cracking. If needed, a thick board can also be sanded down to remove knife scars and other flaws. A thick board, if taken care of, can last decades, if not a century or more.

Wood cutting surfaces are better for your cutlery.  If you’ve invested in some nice kitchen cutlery, you’ll want to maintain the blades.  Often, dulling of knives is actually caused by the blade folding, ever so slightly at the knife edge due to impact while chopping.  The surface of wooden cutting boards is less inclined to cause this knife damage than hard plastics and other materials.

Wood boards and blocks are attractive.  A good block or board looks good and adds character to a kitchen.  In addition to cutting boards, check out our selection of maple top tables and butcher block tables for some beautiful and functional blocks.

Wood Board Types

End Grain boards are the constructed by binding the wood sections vertically so that the “end” of the cut pieces make up the cutting surface.  This results in a board that is superior in its ability to resist and hide knife cuts as well as being attractive.  Because the grain is on-end, it allows knives to penetrate somewhat, making it a more forgiving surface that is easier on your cutlery.  Your knives will stay sharp longer with this type of board.

Edge Grain boards use the long-end of the block pieces to make the cutting surface.  This results in an attractive and sanitary board as well, while being easier to manufacture and therefore somewhat more economical.  An edge-grain board, however, will dull knives somewhat more quickly than an end-grain surface, and it will show more knife marks over time.  Don’t worry, that doesn’t stop chefs and professionals like Rachael Ray from using them.  Edge-grain cutting boards and blocks are practical, high in quality, and perfectly suitable for any kitchen – commercial or residential.

Rick@AKitchen

 

It’s a cool Autumn evening, the perfect time to make some candy apples.  At ABestKitchen, besides all the big equipment and awesome kitchen supplies, we have some fun products, including candy apple dip and sticks.

I would suggest starting with the two dip varieties, then adding toppings and possibly a double-dip into some other gooey treat.  And why stop with nuts?  I am thinking of multiple options for dips and toppings at my candy apple party:

Crushed Oreos

Melted chocolate sprinkled with sea salt

The Caramel Apple Dip with Cocoa Pebbles

Melted chocolate sprinkled with crushed potato chips

The caramel dip rolled in M&Ms

Some version sprinkled with cinnamon, not sure yet

Caramel & popcorn

Any other ideas?  Leave a comment and let me know.  Also, one tidbit I picked up is to not use the coated apples from the store.  Try to get uncoated ones or buy directly from the farm – the candy sticks better without the coating.

Rick@AKitchen

 

 

Being in the restaurant equipment business, we typically think of our various lines of stainless steel tables & commercial restaurant shelving being used in commercial kitchens & restaurants.  These products are durable, sanitary, attractive, sturdy, affordable & flexible, with configurations available in seemingly infinite specifications and sizes.  Beyond restaurant use, these products are practical for use just about anywhere.

When it comes to storage and organization, these shelves and work tables can be configured to meet any need.  In garages, sheds, basements, storage areas, warehouses, or anywhere storage or workspace is needed, these tables and shelves are the perfect solution – measure, select the sizes you need, and rest assured you are getting a product that will last a lifetime.

Stainless steel tables are a no-brainer for food prep, but a heavy-duty stainless table works perfectly in the laundry room, in the garage as a work table, or anywhere an easy-to-clean work surface is needed.  They can be configured with options including under shelves and back splashes.  Browse our selection of sizes & options or build your own stainless table.

Most models of tables, shelving, and racks are available in stainless steel or rust-proof finishes such as galvanized and chrome-plated, so in addition to standard indoor use, these products can be used outdoors or in damp places.  So, why not use an easy-to-clean, rust-proof stainless steel prep table as an outdoor food prep area by your barbecue?  If you are cooking outside, it’s a valuable addition to your workspace.  I even know a fisherman who has a stainless steel table outside in the yard where he cleans his fish to keep the fishy smell out of his house.

Nexel offers a variety of different racks, accessories and configurations.  Have something you want to lock up or secure at night?  Nexel’s security shelving is perfect for party centers & bars that want to lock up their liquor, garages, warehouses, or offices where it is worth taking precaution.  Browse the full line of Nexel’s Shelving, Storage, and Transport Equipment for other configurations.

Think about it – where do you need a durable, easy-to-clean work surface or storage area?  Leave a comment and let us know.

Rick@AKitchen

 

 

 

 

 

With cool weather around the corner, consider spicing up your fall menu with fresh apple cider.  And with the help of a simple percolator, the preparation couldn’t be simpler.  Read more for an easy Hot Apple Cider recipe that will warm the hearts of your guests.

Perked Hot Apple Cider

1 gallon apple cider

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon all spice

1 teaspoon cloves

3 cinnamon sticks

Using a large automatic percolator like the Regal 10-30 cup Percolator , fill the filter with the brown sugar, all spice, cloves and cinnamon sticks. Pour the apple cider in the percolator and perk for 10 minutes. Serve in a glass mug such as the Libby Irish Coffee Mug , and garnish with the cinnamon sticks from the filter (optional). Yields 16-20 servings.

It’s mid-summer and food trucks and concession businesses are in full swing.  We’ve seen some great food truck ideas – a mobile wood fired pizza oven, a cupcake truck, a crepe truck, and a mobile soup truck to name a few. If you are looking for portable profits, we stock lots of Concession Equipment & Catering Equipment that can help.

 

If you are going to cook on your food truck, consider using induction countertop ranges. Induction ranges cook faster than gas, with less heat, and using less energy.  They are also easy to clean, and compact, which makes them perfect for operations like food trucks and portable concessions. Many professional chefs are acknowledging that induction cooking is superior to even gas due to its speed & efficiency. Within a small, hot space such as a food truck where energy use is often limited, induction makes sense.

 

Continue reading →