Popular Commercial Catering Equipment Categories
Choosing Commercial Kitchen Equipment
Commercial kitchen equipment isn't a bigger version of what's in a domestic kitchen. It's built to run twelve hours a day, six or seven days a week, and it's certified to Australian standards for gas, electrical and food safety. Putting domestic gear into a commercial kitchen will void the warranty, and in most cases it won't pass a council or insurance inspection either. Here's what to sort out before you buy.
Power and gas supply for commercial kitchen equipment
Most serious cooking equipment runs on either three phase power or natural gas. A lot of sites, particularly older shopfronts and regional venues, only have single phase and LPG. Check what you've actually got at the meter before you spec anything, because upgrading a supply can cost more than the equipment. If you're on LPG, the appliance needs to be ordered in the LPG configuration or converted by a licensed gas fitter. Our cooking equipment range has gas and electric options across most product lines.
Sizing commercial catering equipment for your covers
Undersized equipment is the most common mistake we see, and oversized is the second. A combi oven is sized by tray capacity, a deep fryer by oil volume and recovery time, a dishwasher by racks per hour. Work backwards from your busiest service, not your average one. Getting the sizing right on your commercial catering equipment is the difference between a kitchen that keeps up and one that fights you every service, and buying capacity you never use costs you in energy every day it runs.
Commercial refrigeration and ambient temperature
Commercial fridges and freezers are rated to a climate class. In most of Australia you want equipment rated for high ambient temperatures, particularly if the unit sits near a cooking line or in an unairconditioned back of house. A unit rated for European conditions will struggle through an Australian summer and run its compressor into the ground. It's the one category of commercial kitchen equipment where the local climate genuinely changes what you should buy.
Commercial kitchen design and fitout
Equipment selection and kitchen layout are the same job. Where the extraction canopy sits determines what you can put under it. Bench heights have to match your equipment, not the other way around. Hand basins, coving and clearances are set by the food safety standard, not preference, and getting them wrong means a second visit from the inspector. Our design team works from your floor plan and menu to lay out the line, the prep area and the wash up, so the commercial catering equipment you order actually fits the space and the workflow makes sense before anything is delivered.
Custom stainless steel fabrication
Very few kitchens are a standard shape. Our engineering team fabricates benches, shelving, sink runs and fixtures to suit awkward corners, non-standard widths and existing plumbing. If nothing off the shelf fits your space, send us your dimensions and we'll quote it.
Financing commercial catering equipment
New venues often don't want to sink capital into equipment before they know what trade looks like. As an approved SilverChef dealer we can set most of our commercial kitchen equipment range up on Rent-Try-Buy, which lets you run the gear for twelve months and then buy it, upgrade it or hand it back. For established venues replacing a single unit, outright purchase is usually the cheaper path.
Installation, servicing and warranty
Commercial gas and electrical work has to be done by licensed tradespeople, and manufacturer warranty is normally conditional on correct installation and regular servicing. We have in-house refrigeration mechanics and licensed technicians, so installation, breakdowns and scheduled servicing are handled by the same business that supplied the gear. That matters more with commercial kitchen equipment than people expect, since a single fryer or dishwasher down mid-service costs you more than a year of servicing.
Why buy commercial catering equipment from MVO
We've been supplying commercial catering equipment to restaurants, cafes, pubs, clubs, aged care facilities and bakeries for over twenty years, with delivery Australia-wide and showrooms you can visit if you'd rather see the gear in person. Design, supply, install and service all sit under one roof, so there's one business accountable when something needs sorting rather than three pointing at each other.
