Appliance purchase and installation costs for any catering business can be a significant overhead, especially when upgrading in the mass catering market, particularly local authorities providing frontline services such as school meals to children who might otherwise go hungry.
Statistics reported in 2022 stated that around 22.5% of the student population were entitled to free school meals, a 9% increase from 2021 and this figure is increasing year-on-year. This raises issues for schools around how to cater for increasing numbers of pupils entitled to school dinners, in the most cost effective way.
If you need to change or upgrade your appliances, now is the time to make service more efficient and effective, not only in terms of the quality of food served but also from a cost perspective.
One possible solution that kitchen economists have suggested is the installation of bratt pans. A bratt pan is a large, deep frying pan often used in commercial catering. They are specifically designed for cooking multiple portions of food at once and could be a great way to help reduce the cost of providing school meals.
Saving money is not exclusive to school dinners; any catering business knows that a healthy bottom line is essential, but what is a bratt pan, and how can this appliance make a difference to your company?
What is a Bratt Pan?
Bratt pans (sometimes called tilting skillets) are large cooking pans often used in restaurants, conference centres, hotels, hospitals, educational settings, correctional facilities and other large catering establishments. They are specifically designed for cooking large quantities of food at once, making them ideal for catering businesses that need to cater for large numbers of people.
Capable of performing multiple cooking techniques such as steaming, stewing, roasting, simmering, boiling, and shallow and deep frying, bratt pans combine the functions of multiple pieces of equipment into a single high volume appliance. Many bratt pans will also offer a tilting pan feature which allows large quantities of food to be poured out and transferred to other containers safely while also allowing for easier cleaning.
Many different types of gas bratt pans and electric bratt pans are available from leading brands including Lincat, Falcon, Blue Seal and Firex, but one of the most popular brands is Rational iVario Pro. Rational Bratt pans (previously known as iVarioCooking Centers) are made from high-quality materials and have several features that make them ideal for commercial kitchens.
One of the critical features of Rational bratt pans is that they have an intelligent cooking system. Smart cooking means the appliance can automatically adjust the temperature and cooking time to ensure chefs cook the food evenly and correctly. Innovative cooking is a valuable feature for catering businesses as it can help to reduce the risk of serving undercooked or overcooked food.
Another feature of Rational bratt pans that makes them ideal for use in any high volume catering setting is their ability to connect to a water supply. A direct water supply means catering staff can use them for steaming and boiling food.
Rational bratt pans are also very easy to clean. They have a non-stick coating, which staff can easily wipe down after use. Any cleaning feature that makes life easier is valuable as it means that catering businesses can save time and money on cleaning costs.
How Can Bratt Pans Help to Reduce Costs?
Bratt pans can help to reduce the cost of catering in two main ways. Firstly, by investing in Bratt pans, catering businesses can save money on buying separate frying pans, saucepans and boilers. So there is no need to have different pieces of equipment taking up space and draining resources.
Secondly, bratt pans can help to reduce the cost of energy bills. Cost efficiency is inbuilt because the latest technology and design have made them energy efficient, so they use less fuel/electricity than other types of cooking equipment.
The bratt pan manufacturers say, their multifunctional systems offered “up to 40% lower energy consumption” and were “four times faster than traditional cooking appliances”. And to add to that, the appliances save time and energy because no early switch on or preheating is required.
In quiet periods, catering professionals turn the temperature down until it’s needed, knowing it’ll just take a few minutes to get ready again. Using this up-to-date technology means bratt pans can cut down on waiting times, energy wastage and carbon emissions.
Choosing the Right Bratt Pan for Your Commercial Kitchen
For commercial kitchens that want appliances that incorporate multiple conventional pieces of equipment into one single unit without sacrificing quality and performance, the Rational iVario 2-XS Cooking Center is a popular option.
The multifunctional Rational iVario 2-XS Cooking Center has a grill, Bratt pan, range, and deep fryer built into a compact frame that can deep fry, boil, blanch, and pan fry. The flexibility of positioning is standard when it comes to countertop situations. It is always possible to meet enormous demand with precise results thanks to the twin cooking areas, each of which holds 17 litres.
Struggling with high volume cooking and need a multifunctional piece of equipment that can reduce energy consumption and combine multiple appliances and cooking techniques into one footprint? Get in touch with the team today to discuss how bratt pans can reduce costs.