Boosting Restaurant Profits With Energy Efficiency

Appliances and Food Preparation: Ranges

Like broilers, ranges are manually controlled and can be energy guzzlers depending on how you use them.

Maintain and adjust burners. Wavy, uneven or yellow flames are all signs that it's time for a good burner cleaning and adjustment of the air shutter. Loosen the adjustment screw and move the shutter until the flame is bullet shaped and mostly blue, then retighten the screw. Never drill out the burners or the gas orifice to get a bigger flame-you'll end up lowering the efficiency of your burner.

Put a lid on it. Use a lid on stockpots to hold in heat, boost efficiency and shorten cook times.

Consider induction technology. Induction ranges are a potential alternative to traditional range tops; they are more expensive then traditional gas or electric ranges but offer very high efficiency, rapid heat up, precise controls, and easy maintenance. Induction hobs can be purchased as single units or grouped together and can be set on top-off or built-into counter tops. Induction cook tops do require magnetic cookware in order to work properly.