Bread and Batter Stations

Common Questions About Bread and Batter Stations

Why should I invest in a breading station when I can do it by hand?

While hand breading is certainly a viable option, it's not the optimal choice for establishments who need fast, quality food production regularly. Hand breading may seem like a cheaper alternative to bread and batter stations at first, but it'll cost you more in the long run when you consider its production output, inconsistency, and longer labor times. Manual breading requires a three-stage process, while breading tables consolidate operation into a streamlined, compact solution. Prebreaded frozen foods are another alternative, but they can cost as much as 50 percent more than fresh product. These foods also can't offer customers diverse flavor profiles that will set your operation apart from other establishments.

Are breading tables only good for meats such as chicken?

Chicken is a popular specialty of bread and batter stations, but it's not the only product that breading stations are equipped to handle. Below is a series of foods – along with varying forms of chicken – that batter tables can contribute to your menu.

Some bread and batter stations can be equipped with accessories that are designed for producing round-profile menu items such as cheese curds and poppers, meatballs, rice balls, and mushrooms.

What qualities should I look for in a bread and batter station?

A good breading station should have a compact footprint in your kitchen. If you want something more portable, consider a breading table with casters. Stations with a spring-loaded, hinged marinade basket expedite raw product delivery into the breading lug. Hand-sifter models separate the dough balls for consistent, sifted bread.

Stainless steel bread and batter tables are recommended because they're durable and they facilitate cleaning. If you want more breading workroom, consider a model with a removable extension shelf that can be mounted on the right or left side of the table. Some breading stations are programmable and come with touchpads, so you can load product and push the button while the equipment does the rest.

How will a breading station benefit my employees?

Breading tables are simple to use, and this approachability minimizes training costs. Hand breading can be very involved and messy. Even with standard procedures, there is no guarantee that every employee will be able to replicate each step of the process to meet those standards, especially in high-volume kitchens where time is crucial. Bread and batter stations maintain consistent, precise coatings no matter who operates the machine, making labor more efficient. The machine can perform two times faster than a single employee using hand-breading methods, resulting in less stress, less worker strain, and fewer messes in work areas. Breading stations increase employee productivity by optimizing thorough cleaning and quick service.

How do I clean a breading table?

Breading tables might appear more formidable to clean than simple hand-breading stations, but this is a misconception. Bread and batter stations are an assembly of multiple machine parts that can be removed for swift cleaning. The smaller pieces are usually machine washable, and large components can be wiped down with soap and water then air dried overnight.

What's the difference between breading tanks and liquid tanks?

Some breading station configurations are equipped with both a breading tank and a liquid tank. The former accommodates dry coatings such as panko, flour, breadcrumbs, seasoned coating blends, and corn flakes. Users can create their own unique coatings to stand out from the competition. Liquid tanks, on the other hand, are suitable for products such as traditional egg washes, water, buttermilk, juices, and slurries.