How To Choose The Right Commercial Refrigerator For Your Restaurant

Every good restaurant needs a high-functioning kitchen. For this reason, restaurant owners invest in top-notch commercial refrigerators. As a restaurant owner trying to upgrade your business, you need to find a quality fridge for your commercial kitchen. However, it can be difficult to choose the right fridge. After all, the food that you plan on serving to your customers is going to be stored in this fridge. Whether you serve tossed salad or burgers, you will store your ingredients in your new commercial fridge. Thus, it is crucial to purchase a high-quality one. With this being said, there are a few things that you should pay attention to when you are scanning different commercial fridges for sale. If you put enough time into finding the right fridge, you can rest assured knowing that you and your restaurant’s customers will be thoroughly satisfied with the food.

Begin With Thorough Research

The first thing that you should focus on is researching exactly what you want in your fridge. Some restaurants will benefit more from fridges that have warranties on them whereas other restaurants have the budget to handle repair costs down the line. Some people place more importance on energy-efficient fridges and saving money through those whereas other people will pick out the first fridge that they see. When you are thinking about what you want in your fridge, you will want to make sure that you have thoroughly researched what aspects of purchasing a commercial fridge for sale would most benefit your restaurant.

Determine What Your Restaurant Needs

Different restaurants will have different priorities and kitchen functions. For instance, a restaurant that focuses on providing fresh fish and meats is going to need to make use of a freezer/fridge combination. On the other hand, a restaurant that wants to stay as far away from freezing food as possible can easily make do with a simple commercial fridge. As you are doing your research on what type of fridge suits your needs, you will want to factor in the function of the fridge as well and how many people will be needing to use the fridge at once.

Set A Realistic Budget

Additionally, you need to set a realistic budget in order to purchase the right commercial refrigerator for your restaurant. Take a look at your current financial situation. Determine the amount that you can afford to spend on such a crucial restaurant asset. Then, use the research you conducted along with the restaurant needs you established to calculate a realistic budget. In doing so, you set yourself up for an affordable purchase without sacrificing quality. Take this step to ensure that you select the perfect commercial fridge for your business.

Focus On Increasing Traffic Flow

As with the last point, where you need to consider how many people will be using the fridge at once, you will need to think about how much space the fridge should offer. A small restaurant that doesn’t serve too many people can probably make do with a relatively small fridge, which can help the restaurant save a lot of money in the commercial fridge department. On the other hand, if your restaurant is one that serves many people throughout the day, you will want to make sure that you have more than enough space both inside the fridge and at the entrance. That way, your kitchen staff will not end up causing a bottleneck and slowing everything down. Successful restaurant owners consider the number of restaurant sales when selecting a commercial refrigerator. A good rule of thumb is to invest in a fridge that is slightly larger than what you think you will need so that you are not taken by surprise with limited space. If you follow this advice, you will avoid kitchen traffic jams and obtain a quality commercial refrigerator.

Choose A Convenient Location

Just as it is important to make sure that the workplace is flowing smoothly, especially during the busiest hours of the evening, you will want to make sure that your new fridge fits in nicely with the rest of the kitchen. If you are purchasing a new fridge because the previous one you had was too small, you might have to do some thinking about where a larger fridge would go. If you can, you should speak to all of your kitchen staff about where the new fridge should go and where they would find the most use out of its placement. Restaurant owners who know that their kitchens need renovations might determine that it is the perfect time to completely change the layouts of their kitchens.

Think About The Condenser

Another factor that you need to think about is the condenser. A fridge’s condenser is something that is arguably the most important part of purchasing a commercial fridge. Its main purpose is to regulate the temperature within the fridge. You can choose to have the condenser either on the top of the fridge or the bottom. Each one has its benefits and disadvantages that you will need to factor into the decision and it might be worth it to include this in the research that you plan on doing before you settle on a specific model of fridge. Condensers mounted on top of the fridge are less likely to clog and won’t blow warm air back into the fridge when opened up. On the other hand, bottom-mounted condensers are much easier to clean up, which makes maintenance much easier for everyone involved.

Choose A Type Of Fridge

Believe it or not, there are actually several different types of fridges that you will need to choose from based on your needs. There are some regulations for specific restaurants that you will need to pay attention to. You will also need to think about whether or not your customers can see the fridge and making sure that the fridge looks nice if they can see it. However, this should absolutely be your last concern. Your main priority should be to choose a fridge that serves its functional purpose. Some fridges, such as walk-ins, are wonderful for very large restaurants where you need to have everything within easy reach. For a smaller restaurant or area, you could choose a unit that fits under the counter for quick and easy access to important ingredients. These are all things that you will need to consider when you are picking out your fridge.

Take Your Time

Unless there is an emergency that is leaving you with only a little bit of time to pick out a brand-new fridge for your restaurant, you shouldn’t feel ashamed about taking some time to mull over your decision on a brand-new fridge. After all, this is one of the biggest business decisions you will face as a restaurant owner. You wouldn’t want your time and money to go to waste. Instead, you will want to be able to think about all of the different aspects mentioned above about choosing a new fridge for a restaurant. By taking your time to weigh the benefits and disadvantages of a certain fridge model, you can rest assured knowing that by the time it is fully installed and in place in your restaurant, it will be working smoothly and easily.

Prepare For Growth

Furthermore, you need to prepare for growth in order to select the best commercial refrigerator for your restaurant. Regardless 0f how long you have been in business, your goal is likely to grow. You want to build a larger customer base and earn higher profits. As you know by now, your commercial fridge will play a major part in that. For this reason, you need to select a fridge that will be able to meet your needs even as you grow. Prepare to store larger quantities of food to feed more customers on a daily basis. Many restaurant owners purchase walk-in commercial refrigerators in order to prepare effectively. Keep this in mind when choosing a commercial refrigerator.

In order to beat out your competition, you need to offer customers the highest quality food. Therefore, you need to invest in a high-functioning commercial fridge for proper storage. Follow the above tips to select the best option for your restaurant.