By CAMBRO MANUFACTURING
All of the incredible sweet creations served at the catered events at one of Orlando’s most popular amusement parks and resorts are made in one kitchen. This elite group of bakers helps support $90 million of business; to put that in perspective, they have 1,200 weddings this year alone. When you are catering that many events, it’s imperative that your kitchen is organized as efficiently as possible. However, even kitchens that produce superior desserts for exclusive events have opportunities to improve. One of our Orlando sales reps, Dave Steinhardt, worked with one of the pastry chefs and asked these 4 questions to drastically improve their kitchen’s efficiency.
1. Do my sheet pan racks need to move?
Sheet pan racks are a staple in nearly every pastry kitchen. Traditionally, sheet pan racks are only available with wheels, but many chefs don’t actually need their racks to move, they just need their sheet pans to have a place to be stored.
Steinhardt noticed all of the speed racks in the kitchen were being held with product that didn’t move. When he suggested they install Camshelving® with the Universal Storage Rack instead, they were able to repurpose at least eight of their sheet pan racks for other kitchen needs. Plus, they were able to take light boxes from a different area and store them on top shelf of their now secure shelving.
2. Where am I using space inefficiently?
In addition to the lack of mobility, Steinhardt also noticed their sheet pan racks were only full on the top rails; the bottom rails of most of their racks were completely empty, wasting valuable storage space. When Steinhardt noticed their 50-pound flour bags were stacked precariously high in an underutilized space, he got an idea.
Underneath the sheet pans, Steinhardt used Premium Series Dunnage Stands to increase the weight capacity of the bottom shelves to safely and securely store their flour bags. With the flour bags in a better spot, the kitchen is now able to bring in pallets of items in its place.
3. Is any of my equipment holding me back?
The kitchen had a high density storage system, which is extremely effective at increasing storage capacity, but it was metal. Not only was it old and difficult to adjust, but it also didn’t have the capability of using Camshelving accessories to improve organization.
They decided to switch to a smaller Camshelving® Premium Series High Density Storage System to give them more flex space, but even with a smaller footprint they’re still able to hold more product on their new system.
“It feels like a bigger space because we have so much open space now, but we have even more product on shelves, which is pretty great,” said the chef.
Steinhardt suggested adding the Camshelving Universal Storage Rack to their HD shelving to create drawers of product. Now, employees can immediately grab the container they need instead of taking one off to get to the one underneath. They also were able to move ingredients next to their corresponding prepped drawers, eliminating the chance of chefs accidentally doing double the work.
Overall, the pastry team has noticed that although there is more product on the shelves, their new shelving rolls much easier. “These feels sturdy, they run smooth,” said the chef.
4. Do I store small ingredients?
Condiments wiggle, wobble and fall over constantly when they’re stored on metal slotted shelving. Camshelving has the choice of solid shelves to create a more stable foundation and the option of shelf dividers to keep them separated and ID tags to make it easy to differentiate between bottles that look similar.
“We have a coffee extract and a maple extract that look the exact same, and without fail, they would always get mixed up. Those dividers have really kept it all straight and clean, which my pastry chef OCD loves. The signage for it too has been great. The team knows exactly where it goes back,” said the chef.