A quality commercial food processor can make life easy for any restaurateur. But which solution is the right fit for your business? A few things we ask ourselves when matching customers with food processor products are below, but we are mindful of the fact that everyone has different needs — and our team at Eleven36 is always on-hand to match you with a commercial food processor that makes the most sense and does the job you need it to do.
How an Industrial Food Processor Can Unleash Efficiency
Whether you are jumping into the restaurant business for the first time or an experienced hand, you can imagine how a commercial or industrial food processor can help you handle a high volume of ingredients with speed and keep customers happy and staff free. Your typical commercial food processor will either be a batch bowl processor or a continuous feed processor (or offer a combination of the two). A batch bowl commercial food processor will allow you to do a number of useful cuts and contain your batch all in one place. A continuous feed processor will allow you to do even more chopping as you feed vegetables, herbs, and so forth through a chute on the processor, but it won't necessarily offer the precision and customization options of a batch bowl processor. A more heavy-duty industrial food processor, like a buffalo chopper, for instance, or a vertical cutter mixer, produces very high volumes of chopped food and needs high horsepower so that the unit doesn’t slow down or overheat while chopping. When you are thinking about your business’ needs from a commercial food processor, you will want to look at budget, but also batch capacity, motor power, and rotations per minute, ensuring your blades can get through the food (meat, vegetables, fruits, etc.) with appropriate speed and power. If you're new to the culinary industry, make sure to check our guide on how to use a food processor to maximize kitchen success
Maximizing Culinary Creativity
If you are running a restaurant, deli, cafe, or other food establishment that doesn’t need the most heavy-duty industrial food processor on the market, a commercial food processor with the power and capacity to help you prep or even make your meals and sides, like hummus, pesto, etc., will still be enormously helpful.
A professional food processor that meets your needs can be a continuous feed processor, a bowl batch processor, or a combination of both, whatever works for your business’ size, food capacity and menu range (what’s on the menu now and what you are dreaming about for the future!). You’ll be able to switch out discs in the processor in order to cut cleanly, in a serrated fashion, or to mix liquids, and to pair with the food item you are trying to process better. A professional food processor is an excellent tool for consistency, the key to freeing up creativity in other areas in the kitchen!
The Workhorse of the Kitchen
Not every restaurant or food service facility needs a super-powered food processor for their needs. A good restaurant food processor allows your kitchen to make a number of different styles of cuts or blends and emulsifications, while being easy to clean so you can move on to the next dish that needs it. These units will save you time on chopping and slicing every day, putting your kitchen workflow into high gear.
Key Features of Professional Food Processor Units
Let’s break down what makes a professional food processor tick!
The motor: Are you going to be using your commercial food processor all day? Are you going to be using a restaurant food processor for tough cuts, like meat or cheese or root vegetables? The highest horsepower models are going to be able to do huge bulk jobs all day; if you are planning on using your restaurant food processor for simpler prep jobs in the morning or before dinner service, that kind of power probably isn’t necessary. You’ll also want to look at rotations per minute when choosing a food processor, particularly if you’re planning on using it for big jobs.
Attachments: With attachments, your use of a commercial food processor is practically limitless! Attachments refer to the various blades, discs and other components that come with your restaurant or industrial food processor. Smooth, serrated and perforated blades make quick work of everything from nuts to liquid, allowing you to make products from salsa to salad dressing. Dough blades can help with baking bread or making pizza. Different discs lend different shapes to the food being processed, from julienned carrots to butter to potato products, including waffle fries (yum). Juicers and egg whips will help with those items, so you can make fresh squeezed juices or delicious desserts and omelets.
Safety: Getting hurt using your commercial food processor is not on our menu. Our machines have locking mechanisms, emergency stops, and safety features to make sure you are safely operating the unit. Put together, all of these features make a high-quality professional food processor a great investment for a food service facility of any size.
The Menu-Booster
Who said you can’t be creative with a food processor? Here is a glimpse of all the amazing stuff you can easily make:
Appetizers and sides: Vegetables, including tough root vegetables from carrots to leeks to squash, can be chopped nearly any way you like. Cheeses can be sliced, diced and grated.
Sauces and dressings: Use the blending and pureeing features of your professional food processor to make mayos, salad dressings, aiolis and sauces, like cocktail sauces, or thick soups.
Dough and pastry: Use your dough blade for pizza and bread, or your egg whisk for baked goods.
Protein and meat processing: Easily grind and mince up meats for pies, patties and burgers.
Versatility in cooking up and down the menu: Did we miss something above? Think of anything you can chop and dice, slice or shred, puree or blend, or grate — a commercial food processor can do that for you.
Choosing the Perfect Fit For Your Business
A tool like a commercial or restaurant food processor is an important asset in the kitchen, so you want to make sure you get it right. When you’re purchasing, look for bowl or continuous feed capacity in a professional food processor that matches your menu needs. Think about the type of ingredients you use and if they will need a high horsepower machine (in other words, if they’re tough to chop, choose an industrial food processor). Take a look at the unit’s measurements so that it fits your space. And don’t stress — at Eleven36, we want to make sure your kitchen gets the best balance of quality, features and cost-effectiveness in your commercial food processor, and our passion is to find a spot-on solution for you that feels right. We will make sure you have the tools you actually need — and that help you make food and drinks that are utterly delicious.