Prepare for Your First Catering Job By Focusing on the Heat
Owning your own catering business is exciting. You can control your market and environment to follow your cooking passion the way you want. But catering a meal is very different from serving customers in a brick-and-mortar restaurant. Make sure your first job ends with rave reviews by focusing on your food's temperature:
Why is temperature so important?
First, temperature keeps food safe. The last thing you want to do is cause a food poisoning outbreak at a wedding or a large corporate event. But once you move beyond that crucial factor, temperature is important because it's what decides the lasting impression of your catering. Hot plates that are served cold is an easy thing to complain about, and it's an easy rating to leave on your Yelp pages and other review sites.
Temperature also changes the texture and taste of your food. Dried bread might turn stale or gummy. Cold chicken turns rubbery and tastes extra salty. By controlling the temperature, you can ensure the food tastes just like it did when it left the kitchen. Here's how to make sure that happens:
1. Use portable warming drawers to hold food in stasis.
If you're catering an all-day event and you have a one-man operation, you can't leave to go prepare and bring in more food. You have to bring everything you need for the whole day. Make sure bread and rice or vegetable dishes stay safely warm and fresh all day long with holding drawers that prevent contamination or temperature loss.
2. Bring a slow cook oven that you can wheel into the event.
Use slow cook ovens in your kitchen that can be unplugged, loaded into your van, and wheeled directly into the event site. By using the same equipment in and out of your kitchen, you can consistently create hot, delicious food. Using mobile cooking equipment also means you have what you need to get through the day.
Go to Thermodyne Foodservice Products, Inc. to find heating and warming equipment that is specifically designed for the catering industry.
Posted in: Cooking Tips & Recipes