Restaurant & Commercial Cookware
Restaurant cookware is available in different shapes and sizes to accommodate many kinds of dishes – from omelets and pancakes to stir fry and pasta.
Frying Pans
Fill out your cookware collection with our commercial frying pans. Whatever style of cooking and material you're looking for, we've got you covered.
Stock Pots
Stock pots heat rapidly and simmer evenly, making them ideal for preparing soups and stocks. A necessary piece of cookware, you can find our selection here.
Roasting Pans
Prepare succulent roasts and turkeys with these roasters, available in stainless steel, aluminum, and copper. Some have racks and handles for convenience.
Braising Pots
Braising pots enable you to cook low and slow on the stovetop for tender meats and hearty stews. They are available in sizes ranging from 2 to 74 quarts.
Pasta Baskets
Pasta baskets allow instant straining of pasta without discarding boiling water. They hold pasta and other products in pots or pasta cooker equipment wells.
Sauce Pots
Sauce pots are designed to reduce sauces and cook vegetables. Their wide bottoms provide full contact with the heating surface.
Wok & Stir Fry Pans
Restaurant woks feature tall, sloping sides for high-heat stir frying and deep frying. Find the right material and wok style for your business here.
Dim Sum Steamers
The dim sum steamer can steam everything from dumplings to fresh vegetables. Browse KaTom's selection to find one that fits your establishment's needs.
Saucepans
An indispensable piece in most kitchens, the saucepan lets you cook sauces, sides, soups, and everything in between.
Metal Grill Pans
Browse metal grill pans designed to help operators cook and sear meat, vegetables, and more on cooktops, grills, and in ovens.
Steamer Baskets & Pots
Steamer baskets come in a variety of sizes to fit any pot or pan. Turn out perfectly cooked vegetables, eggs, and seafood with these steamer sets.
Saute Pans
Sauté pans have tall straight sides and wide bottoms for excellent heat conduction. Use them for searing, poaching, and deglazing.
Cookware Sets
Equip your commercial kitchen with the basics using cookware sets. Choose from a variety of materials to find the optimal set for any type of food.
Pressure Cookers
Browse a selection of rigorously tested commercial pressure cookers and find the right equipment to start cooking product more efficiently in less time.
Paella Pans
The wide, shallow paella pan is designed to cook the popular Spanish dish it's named after, but is just as useful for warming tortillas and toasting bread.
Double Boilers
Perfect for sauces, chocolate, custards, and more, the careful heat of a double boiler gives chefs total control. We'll help you find the perfect piece here.
Dutch Ovens
A Dutch oven is great for making stews, roasts, and casseroles. You can even bake in them. Choose between classic cast iron and colorful enameled cast iron.
Tortilla Pans
In addition to cooking tortillas, tortilla pans can be used to sear meats and toast spices. You can learn more about this versatile piece of equipment here.
Egg Poaching Pans & Cups
Poached egg cups are used to poach eggs individually, while egg poaching pans prepare eggs in batches of a dozen or more at a time.
Crepe Pans
For perfectly-formed crepes, choose a crepe pan in sizes from 8 to 12 inches. They're also good for making tortillas and pancakes.
Omelet Pans
An omelet pan's smaller size is perfect for eggs and smaller sautés. Many feature non-stick coatings for worry-free frying.
Cookware For Sale
Restaurant Cookware: What You Need to Know
Pans with short walls, such as paella pans, warm bread to a crisp, while tall pots cook soups and stews. Many types of professional cookware have handles for carrying, tilting, and moving; some come with lids for locking in moisture and flavor. The vital factors to keep in mind when selecting your cookware are durability, size, type, and price point. Select pieces of equipment according to your cooking technique and what your establishment will be serving. Because the various materials transmit heat differently, certain products will require commercial cookware with heating periods suitable for that specific food.
Nonstick restaurant cookware is best for delicate products, such as eggs and pancakes, because they won't get stuck to the surface and become damaged. This equipment requires little to no oil, so it's optimal for low-fat foods. Kitchens that do a lot of browning, frying, and searing should invest in enameled cast iron pans. This professional cookware can be used in multiple places, from stovetops and ovens to patrons' own dining tables. As for pan shapes, the most common ones are frying pan, griddle, saucepan, sauté pan, and stockpot.
Common Questions About Commercial Cookware
What is professional cookware made of?
One of the key differences between pieces of cookware is the material they're constructed of. Commercial cookware can be made of stainless steel, aluminum, copper, carbon steel, or cast iron. Aluminum restaurant cookware is very popular because it's relatively inexpensive and lightweight. This material heats up quickly and evenly without hot spots, but it's porous and can absorb flavors. For this reason, it shouldn't be used for cooking acidic and tomato-based foods. Over time, this material may bend and rust, but it's less expensive to replace than other types.
For a more durable choice, you might opt for stainless steel. Stainless steel professional cookware is heavy and resistant to warping after heating up and cooling down repeatedly. This kind of cookware doesn't hold flavors from one dish to the next, so it's ideal for sauces and deglazing. Stainless steel commercial cookware is protected against rust, and some of the sturdier models have nickel and chrome added in. Slow to heat – especially the tougher types – stainless steel can be more prone to hot spots.
Copper restaurant cookware isn't nearly as popular but has a classy look that works well in demonstrations. It's a great conductor, so heat spreads evenly across the cooking surface. This kind of professional cookware is often lined with stainless steel to ensure food doesn't change color or flavor and reduces the risk of corrosion building up on the interior. Although copper cookware isn't as strong as other choices, it can maintain a nice appearance if handled with care.
If you're working with very high temperatures, you may want to choose carbon steel – a great material for caramelizing sugars and browning meats. Carbon steel commercial cookware is a heavyweight, durable choice, but it requires seasoning to maintain the nonstick layer on the cooking surface.
Cast iron cookware is dense, versatile, and ready to take on every recipe. It can be used for cooking many kinds of foods and holds heat well, but it's vulnerable to corrosion and shouldn't be used to cook tomato-based foods. Like carbon steel, it needs to be seasoned at least once a year to keep the pan nonstick and rust free.
What is seasoning?
Some pans, such as cast iron and carbon steel, require regular seasoning to stay in tip-top shape and keep the restaurant cookware nonstick. This nonstick layer is created by baking oil or fat in the pan and helps keep them free of food and rust. To ensure this baked-on layer lasts, you shouldn't clean the pan with hot water or a metal scrubber. Nowadays, some cast iron pans are safe in the dishwasher, though this may strip off some of the seasoning.
What is induction-ready cookware?
To cook food, induction cooktops use an electromagnetic field to heat induction-ready, magnetic cookware. Cooking with induction commercial cookware is more energy efficient than using traditional pans on gas or electric stoves. The more magnetic or iron-filled a pan is, the faster it'll heat up and the hotter it can get.
Shop KaTom's collection of the best cookware to find the right pieces for your operation.
