Professional Knives: Paring, Steak and Spreader - Part 2

In our last post we discussed the difference in bread, chef and boning professional knives. Today, Public Kitchen Supply will examine the distinctions between pairing, steak and spreader knives. Understanding how kitchen utensils function is crucial knowledge for chefs. Using a knife incorrectly can result in poorly sliced meat and increases the chances of being cut.
Pairing knives are ideal for peeling and cutting fruits and vegetables. A good paring knife should rest firmly in your hand allowing complete control over the blade. This type of cutlery is typically smaller with a straight edge, it is usually between 2.5” to 4” in length. This is a great utensil for deveining shrimp. Public Kitchen Supply recommends Mundial’s 4" Black Spear Point Paring Knife. This spear pointed paring knife is great for preparing food in commercial and residential kitchens. Mundial treats the knife’s handle with sanitized antimicrobial protection to keep germs and bacteria out of your kitchen. Pairing knives are an excellent tool for creating gorgeous garnishees.
Steak knives are an expected eatery tool. Choosing strong quality streak knives is especially important because it can speak volumes about your business, home or the meal itself. If you takes pride in cooking thick premium cuts of meat, we suggest Update International's 4.75” Wooden Steak Knife. These knives are beautifully crafted retaining their edge longer, repelling erosion and blemishes. A strong steak knife should be sharp with serrated or forged blade.
Another great kitchen knife is a spreader. This type of cutlery is used for sandwiches, spreading sauce, jams or butter on bread. A spreader’s blade is typically very wide with a serrated edge on one side. It is usually 3.5” in length, allowing plenty of room between the users hand and the bread. The Mundial 3.5" White Serrated Sandwich Spreader is a great example of this type of cutlery. It is made of heavy gauge stainless steel with a white molded polypropylene handle. We strongly recommend spreaders for sub shops and those who make sandwiches regularly.
Chefs must have a strong understanding of the utensils and tools they choose to use in their kitchen. This knowledge is important because purchasing the wrong utensils can be a costly mistake but most importantly it can jeopardize a person’s safety. Ensure your home and business is safe by researching your culinary tools before purchasing them. For more information about knives and smallware kitchen tools visit our website at PublicKitchenSupply.com

Professional Knives: Bread, Chef, and Boning - Part 1

Knives are a necessary product for restaurants and homes. Public Kitchen Supply works hard to provide our customers with durable high-quality knives that will make their cooking and dining experiences enjoyable. It is important to understand that knives come in many different forms. Three of the most popular types of cooking knives are bread, chef, and boning.
A bread knife’s serrated edge is what ensure baked goods will not become crushed or flattened. These type of knives typically have a 6” to 10” long blade. The Mundial 10" White Bread Knife is a great example of what bread should be cut with. It’s great for baking and slicing bread because its 10” blade can cut through an entire loaf in one cut. A strong grip is crucial when cutting delicate baked goods, make sure the bread knife you purchase has a secure grasp with a micro-serra or ergonomic handle finish.
A chef knife is perhaps the most heavily relied on tool in the kitchen. This type of cutlery is considered all purpose. It is exceptionally broad, great at cutting all types of food, and typically features a strong heavy blade. The blade should be strong enough to cut through bone and tough meat. Public Kitchen Supply recommends the Mundial 10” Round Tip Black Chef’s Knife. This knife is individually sharpened and tested to ensure perfection. The black polypropylene handle is coated with antimicrobial protection to reject bacteria and germs. Before purchasing a chef knife make a mental check list of how it will be used in your kitchen, a good chef’s knife should meet these qualifications.
If you want to use a knife that is specifically designed for removing bone use a boning knife. This kitchen utensil removes bone from many different types of meet like beef, fish, pork and poultry. A boning knife typically has a thin flexible blade that is about 5” to 6” long. The Mundial 6" Curved Boning Knife is excellent at deboning meat. Its curved design keep the blade away from the user while easily puncturing meat and removing the bone. While chef knives can accomplish the same task it is more difficult.
While bread, chef and boning knifes are all considered knives, they perform entirely different tasks. Knives are clearly an important tool in the kitchen. Misusing or cutting with a dull knife is dangerous to the user and those around him. Ensure safety and clean cut products by researching and purchasing the proper knife. For more information on Mundial knives visit our website at PublicKitchenSupply.com

November is Good Nutrition Month

Believe it or not, we have a whole month that is dedicated to good nutrition. While some believe every day should have a focus on good nutrition, nutritionists know that not everyone does their best at this. What is considered "good nutrition" though? Good nutrition is not the same for everyone. Some people lack certain vitamins more than others, requiring them to ingest more of one food; however, there are guidelines set forth that people should strive to achieve each day.

To start with good nutrition, begin by looking at the food pyramid. While they've changed this in recent years, most people know the standard daily nutrition we need according to this food pyramid. It tells you suggested amounts for grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and meat and beans. While this gives you guidelines, most people still find it hard to translate these volumes into real eating.

Basically, follow a couple of simple steps when planning your meals to keep yourself eating healthy and nutritious. Just because it's healthy, doesn't means its bad either. Here's some steps to remember:

1. Your plate should have a good balance to it. The colors of your food is important to its nutrition. So, think about the natural color of the food, not the color it is with toppings or seasonings. If you have a good balance of green with red or orange and brown than you probably are on the right track. This means you probably have a green vegetable or salad with a potato or pasta, maybe a small piece of red meat or fish rounding out your plate. Good color is pleasing to the eye too, making your food "taste better."

2. Don't be stubborn when it comes to change. You may love whole milk, but try a different kind of milk. Recent studies now suggest that we don't need as much as the recommended 8 cups of milk a day anymore. Try skim milk or 2% milk. Soy milk or almond milk are other good alternatives that are very healthy for you as well. Both soy and almond milk do have a distinct flavor to them but can be delicious when used the right way. Use these with your morning coffee or in a smoothie, and infuse the nutrition that these milk's boast.

3. Remember that there's a limit to red meat. This is one rule that everyone knows but some people can't seem to handle following. They ask the question: how can they possibly get the protein they need everyday? This is simple: red meat is not the only thing that carries protein. Fish, which is also high in omega-3, a good nutrient, is also high in protein. Nuts, protein bars, beans, tofu and more, also help you get that boost of protein without ever touching red meat.

4. One of the easiest things to remember is don't over-indulge yourself. If you're preparing food for yourself at home, pay attention to serving sizes on packaged foods. Most things will surprise you as to how small a true serving size is. If you need help on homemade foods, you can purchase plates that are preportioned. As long as you don't pile on, these separated plates will help cut down serving sizes. When you're out at a restaurant, try to eat just half your plate. Take the other half home and have for leftovers the next night. This can be very difficult to do when you're at a restaurant, so just cut each of your items in half and know that once you're done with your half, you're done.

These tips aren't anything surprising or difficult to do, it can just be difficult when you're tempted. The trick is to not crave something and prevent yourself from having it. Try your best to eat healthy most of the time. If one day you want a piece of cake, eat a small slice of cake. Prohibiting yourself from eating something typically backfires and makes eating "healthy" a "diet" rather than simply eating healthy. Keep your nutrition in the front of your mind this month and try your best to eat smart.

Eat Right Academy of Nutrition and Dietitians.(2012). Eat Right with My Plate. Retrieved from: http://www.eatright.org/nnm/handoutsandtipsheets/

Food Idioms for a Friday

It's pretty simple to see that food rules our lives. Not necessarily in a bad way either, it's just that we need, and relate to food so well that it ends up running our lives. For example, we have mornings which are scheduled around breakfast, we have a break in the middle of our days for lunch and then we have dinner at the end of our day. It's how we structure our day. Our lives and schedules revolve around food and meal times. Not just that; most holidays are built around eating. Thanksgiving, we have a feast; Fourth of July, again, we have food. So what about our language? Surely we have food inspired sayings too. We have lists and lists of food idioms!
We've all used a food idiom in our daily speech at one time or another. If you think you haven't, you just might not know what a food idiom is. Here's an example: "as flat as a pancake." Sure, some areas of the world probably use different ones, but we've all got them. Food is so much a part of our lives that we use it to relate to something else so someone can understand what we're trying to say. As flat as a pancake means it's completely flat. There's no bumps, no mounds, no hills, nothing. Most of the time it's used to describe a landscape and when you say this, people know exactly what you mean. There's no confusion.
As flat as a pancake is just one of these sayings. But there's many, many more. "Take it with a grain of salt" is a great one. There's so many that we all know, we don't even realize we're relating something else to food. Pay attention the next time you have a long conversation with people. Try to see how many of these sayings pop in without even realizing it. Here's a list of our favorite food idioms:
As cool as a cucumber. As slow as molasses Bad apple/Bad egg Bite off more than one can chew Bite that hand that feeds you Bring home the bacon Like Taking Candy From a Baby Like Two Peas in a Pod Piece of cake Sugarcoat (something) Too many cooks in the kitchen The whole enchilada	Couch Potato Cream of the Crop Don't cry over spilled milk Not my cup of tea Living High off the hog Eat like a bird Have a lot on one's plate Icing on the Cake In a nutshell Packed in like sardines Spill the beans Walking on eggshells
It's great to see how much food influences the rest of our lives and our speech is no different. Which is your favorite food idiom or do you have one that should be added to this list?

Ninja vs Vitamix: How Do They Compare?

At Public Kitchen Supply customers are often curious about brand differences. Two brands that are continuously questioned and compared are the Ninja Blenders versus the Vitamix Blenders. While both Vitamix and Ninja Blenders have desirable abilities, you need to look at the situation in which they will be used most often, commercial or residential? In this blog we'll break down some of the most noticeable difference between the two brands.
The biggest difference between Vitamix Blenders and the Ninja Blender is that Vitamix offers both commercial and residential options whereas Ninja Blenders only offers residential. This is an outstanding difference because commercial products are designed to last much longer than residential as they typically use higher quality materials. In cookware, commercial merchandise is made for restaurants that require them to be carefully tested for kitchen safety. Residential equipment are not put under the same scrutiny. Because commercial grade appliances are usually a higher quality product, they tend to be more expensive. When comparing the price of the Vitamix 32 oz. Drink Machine to Ninja’s Mega System Blender there is a wide gap in cost, obviously making one much more affordable for an home user rather than a commercial business. Although commercial products may initially cost more, it’s important to realize residential products are designed to be used intermittently rather than all day every day.
In order to better understand the cost difference between these two blenders, their design and makeup must be analyzed. For example, The Quiet One Vitamix Blender is notably 4 times quieter than the Ninja Ultimate Blender. Vitamix designs their blenders to have a wide range in speed control providing a greater selection for precise recipes, perfect for smoothie shops that have many different recipes in rotation. The Ninja Mega System Blender only has three speeds, which is all that a home-user typically utilizes. While Ninja Blender’s manufacturer, Euro-Pro, encourages consumers to use their blender for many different culinary tasks such as: dough mixing, crushing ice, pureeing, processing food and kneading dough, home-users, once again are more apt to try different things with their less-costly blender, especially when they may not be able to afford a different appliance for each of those tastes. Vitamix, on the other hand, provides just sauce and smoothie recipes for their blenders.
One of the strongest indicators when deciding between two like products is the warranty. If your Vitamix breaks within seven years of purchase it will be repaired, replaced, and taken care of by the manufacturer. Furthermore you can purchase an extended warranty for your Vitamix blender, offered in an additional three years of extended protection. Euro-Pro offers a limited warranty lasting for one single year for their Ultimate Ninja Blender. Euro-Pro will repair or replace the Ninja Blender if it has been used in normal household use within the one year, free of charge. Again, while there is a big difference in warranties, you again have to realize the initial cost difference as well as the targeted user.
When comparing the Ninja Blender to Vitamix Blenders it comes down to what you need a blender for. One is commercial, one is residential. While most Vitamix Blenders are more expensive than the Ninja Blender they are undoubtedly designed for more frequent use. Vitamix’s commercial quality, versatility, and warranty is designed for use in a restaurant or high traffic spot whereas Ninja Blenders should be used in a home setting.

How do you Design a Menu?

When it comes to a restaurant, menu design may often be overlooked. This is a huge mistake. As a restaurant owner, your menu design is very important. It can determine the feel of your restaurant as well as the quality of the food. You don't want to give your customers the wrong idea, so it's important to ask yourself a few key questions while creating and designing your menu.
First, remember that it's the first impression that people get of your food. How you choose to present your food is like presenting yourself for the first time. You need to ensure that your menu fits your restaurant's style. When you hand a customer your menu, do you want it to be a single page menu, a folded menu, or triple-folded menu? Do you want it to be with plastic covers or a thick piece of paper that's disposable every night? How often your menu changes should help decide this, along with the amount of food you offer.
Next, consider your categories. People like organization when it comes to menus. Do you want to break it in to appetizers, salads, sandwiches, pastas and desserts? Do you want to use different terms for each? What works best for your restaurant style? Make sure the order flows logically. You don't want appetizers at the end of the menu if that's typically ordered first. Where will you offer your sides? Would you rather it be very noticeable on the menu so your waiters and waitresses aren't constantly repeating them or would you rather them be unobtrusive and hidden? Maybe you don't have sides but every entree includes a salad, where will you list that note?
Again, ask yourself questions about the fonts and colors. Certain colors stand out more than others, certain fonts provide a certain feel. What do you want your customers to get from the font type and color. Fonts that are sans serif portray a more casual feel while serif fonts provide a more classy, formal feel. Bold colors may also give off a family restaurant, or quick service atmosphere. Do you want that to be your restaurant or do you want to stick with a classic black and white menu that may seem that you focus more on the food than frills?
Is pictures a yay or nay on menus? Well that depends on your restaurant style. Certain food styles may require them. Typically you'll find pictures of food that's more specialized or a certain cuisine. For example you may see more pictures next to Japanese cuisine or Mexican cuisine so people are more aware of what they're ordering. If a menu item is in a different language, it might have a lengthy description or a picture to help that customer. Some people feel that images "dumb down" a menu, while others prefer to see the food they're ordering. This option is based on the clientele that will be ordering.
These are all questions you want to ask yourself as you're designing your restaurant's menu. There really is no right or wrong answer, but you do need to consider your customer base and what they expect. All the elements of the menu work in conjunction with each other. You can't expect a plain black and white menu to scream "Classy Restaurant." You may accidentally use the wrong font and then it just looks like it's a pop-up restaurant that is waiting for their real menus. Putting together the right menu presentation is all about delivery, categorization, fonts, colors, picture choices, and working with the restaurant style. You must remember too, you don't necessarily have to get it right on the first try. Your customers will provide you feedback throughout their dining experiences. If they often ask where are your drinks or sides, consider moving those sections to accommodate them. It'll be a work in progress but always keeping in mind, your menu is extremely important to your success. After all, it is how you "sell" your food.

photo credit: avlxyz via photopin cc

Which First Aid Supplies are Required in Restaurant Kitchen?

A clean safe work environment is beneficial for both employees, employer and customers. Staff members who are treated well are more likely to be productive. Practicing kitchen safety in your restaurant is extremely important because disease and injury can easily occur when preparing food. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration or OSHA, helps employers and employees reduce job related deaths, illnesses and injuries. Part of OSHA’s responsibilities is to set guidelines businesses must meet in order to operate. At Public Kitchen Supply we make it our duty to inform and provide OSHA compliant first aid supplies at an affordable cost.
OSHA requires that employees are given a healthy and safe workplace that is sensibly free of work-related hazards. It is unreasonable, especially in the food industry, to expect accidents not to happen. Because of the inherent risk in the restaurant business OSHA has required all business’s to have a first aid kit with the following supplies: Gauze pads, box adhesive bandages, one package of gauze roller bandage, two large gauze pads, two triangular bandages, scissors, wound cleaning agent, latex gloves, a blanket, tweezers, adhesive tape, resuscitation equipment like a resuscitation bag, airway or pocket mask, splint, two elastic wraps and directions for requesting emergency assistance. For example, these Antiseptic Cleansing Wipes are perfect for first aid kits as they help prevent infection to cuts, a common injury when cooking in a bustling kitchen.
When reviewing OSHA’s first aid requirements it can be daunting to think of the time and work it’ll take to find and refill your first aid kit with the items listed above. Public Kitchen Supply removes the difficulty by providing an OSHA compliant first aid kit from DayMark. The cabinet is designed to keep your supplies organized and clearly labeled, making it easy to restock and access during an emergency. The kit features a SmartTab ezRefill reminding you when it is time to restock your cabinet and immediately provides reorder information.
OSHSA conducts about 40,000 yearly inspections. If your business fails to meet OSHA’s standards the inspector can request employers to be removed immediately from the health hazard. If an employer fails to comply, OSHA has the right to ask a federal court to order the business to comply. While it is important to follow OSHA’s standards from a legal stand point it is crucial to understand why these guidelines exist.
Simple tools like band aids and burn cream can easily treat minor injuries before they become serious. Those in the food industry understand how small problems can quickly expand when not taken care of quickly and efficiently. Keep your employees and your business safe by complying with OSHA standards. You can count on Public Kitchen Supply to provide OSHA approved first aid kits so you can keep your business safe and successful.

Choosing Your Charbroiler

Commercial charbroilers are a great way to add a distinct smoky flavor to dishes. Not only does charbroiling add amazing flavor to the food but it also infuses grill marks into the food providing great color to the food when it's delivered the the waiting customer. Many different types of restaurants use charbroilers for a variety of entrees and sides. There are several different types of charbroilers; gas radiant, charcoal rock and electric radiant, all providing an array of unique options to your commercial kitchen. Public Kitchen Supply has researched the benefits and detriments of each charbroiler to help you find the best one for your business.
Gas charbroilers are fantastic if you want to have more control over your meat's taste; gas burns clean resulting in allowing a food's more natural flavors to come through. This is a beneficial when chef's season and cook their foods to a precise recipe. When you want the flavors to speak for themselves, you'll want to choose a gas option. Gas charbroilers take much less time to grill and clean compared to their charcoal and electric counterparts. Simply turn off the grill, let it cool and wipe clean with a washcloth. Public Kitchen Supply recommends the Saturn Heavy Duty 36” Gas Counter Charbroiler. This grill is designed to be set on a counter-top in your commercial kitchen. It has 4” chrome legs leaving plenty of space underneath to protect the surface it is set on. This specific broiler features a six burner setup, each burner has an individual control for more cooking control.
Another fantastic piece of cooking equipment is charcoal broilers. This grill is great for chefs looking for a smoky flavor in their meats. These charbroilers use natural gas to heat ceramic rocks under the grill. The rocks will provide fire and a charcoal smell to the food. As the food is grilled, fat and great will fall onto the coals giving the meat a delicious broiled taste. It should be noted that these dripping increases the risk of fire and should be carefully monitored throughout the cooking duration.
Electric charbroilers are a great option for people looking to save energy. Electric charbroilers tend to be more efficient than gas models because it’s constantly under a heat source. This type of grill will cost less to maintain compared to the gas charbroilers, but your energy bill will increase once it is installed. A meat's smoky taste will be much less when cooked on electric grill compared to a charcoal broiler as it is not actually grilling with gas or charcoal.
Gas radiant, charcoal rock and electric radiant are all great charbroilers, but remember the cooking surface you choose has a lot to do with the food you’ll cook on it. Public Kitchen Supply recommends that gas and electric charbroilers work well indoors for achieving that outdoor grilling flavor. For further information on charbroilers visit our website at Public Kitchen Supply.

How to Sanitize Squeeze Bottles

Squeeze bottles are a common kitchen tool in restaurants and bars. They are great for purchasing sauce in bulk, storing sauces and creating clean cocktails but they can easily carry germs. Public Kitchen Supply has investigated several ways to sanitize squeeze bottles, preventing the spread of food-borne bacteria. When cleaning plastic squeeze bottles it’s important to know the type of plastic it is made of. Most plastics are sensitive to heat and strong cleaning agents, making it important to examine the cleaning products being used and the plastic's heat sensitivity.
Washing plastic with anti-bacterial dish soap and water will kill surface bacteria instantly but may not sanitize plastic completely. To insure a deeper clean, soak plastic squeeze bottles, like the Update International® 12 oz. Red Squeeze Bottle, in bleach-water. The cleaning solution should be made of between 5 to 10 percent bleach. Bleach does not take a long time to disinfect, so this is a quick and simple process. After the bottles have sat in the bleach solution rinse them with distilled water. It’s important to note that most plastics have non-wetting surfaces that resist attack and clean easily. Do not use strong alkaline cleaning agents or scouring pads on any plastic, this will dramatically decrease the life of your squeeze bottle.
Another great sterilization method is heating plastic. Before proceeding with this method it’s very important to know the type of plastic your squeeze bottle is made of. Squeeze bottles like Tablecraft® - Oil & Vinegar Bottles can be used in the microwave and dishwasher because it’s made out of polypropylene. If your bottles are heat resistant, wet your plastic containers, the interaction between the microwave’s / dishwasher’s heat is what sterilizes your kitchen equipment. Microwave your container on high for two minutes.
Ultraviolet sterilization is a non-heated, safe method often used in laboratories, water treatment, food processing and restaurants. Purchasing a UV lamp for cleaning squeeze bottles may sound like a bizarre purchase but they come in a commercial size. UV lamps are one of the safest sanitation techniques because it does not contain harmful chemicals or high heat.
Squeeze bottles are a necessary tool for most food establishments but they quickly pass through staff and customers hands coating the exterior in germs. Public Kitchen Supply highly recommends using one of three sanitation methods discussed above to keep your restaurant clean and customers happy.

What is a Slip-Resistant Shoe?

Chef uniforms can often times be anything but attractive. They're worn for practicality, not necessarily for looks. While the clothes are typically standard cotton with a durable apron, the shoes don't have to be as basic. Chances are, if you work as a chef, line cook, or waitress or waiter, your shoes are all standard black with slip-resistant soles; however, brands like MOZO Shoes, change the standard. At Public Kitchen Supply, we don't want our chefs to be stuck wearing the same old shoes.
If you want to break out of the standard, you'll want to switch to MOZO shoes. When you choose to switch to MOZO Shoes, you have options. No longer are you confined to standard black pleather non-slip shoes. MOZO Shoes aren't just black, they provide a variety of colors and styles to both men and women. But more importantly, they're designed specifically for kitchen and restaurant use. They work hard to prevent their wearer from slipping. Slip-resistant shoes are held to a certain standard in the industry. They must be. When you're dealing with a busy restaurant, there can often be slick floors and you never know until you slip. Finding the perfect non-slip shoe is not an easy feat.
First you want to start with one that passes the ASTM standard for slip-resistance. MOZO Shoes ensure that they're shoes pass this standard before they are offered to their customers. They go through a series of test to ensure that under different circumstances, in different environments, they'll do their job well. The safety of their customers is at the top of MOZO's list of requirements. Just think of all the things a chef or waiter can slip on. Spills can occur in the kitchen or in the front-of-the-house. Freshly mopped floors can create a slick atmosphere and all it takes is one quick slip while carrying a tray of food to ruin a customer's dining experience.
Slip-resistance keeps chefs and waiters on their feet. You don't want to ruining a customer's experience simply because the waiter's uniform doesn't meet high standards for slip-resistance. The extra grip on the sole of a slip-resistant shoe provides more opportunities for the rubber to grip onto a dry, solid surface. If the sole was one solid piece of rubber without grips, there would be no traction. Slip-resistant is just what you need to solve the problem and ensure your diners receive their food promptly, without spills.
When you're ready to make the switch, or want more information on slip-resistant kitchen shoes, head over to our website, Public Kitchen Supply. There are a wide variety of shoes available to fit your needs. Select from slip on, with ties, leather, canvas, wedge, quirky and stylish, all featuring MOZO's amazing slip-resistant soles that will keep you on your feet.