Choosing the Best Refrigerated Prep Table for Your Establishment
Refrigerated prep tables are necessary for any foodservice operation that must assemble meals, such as pizzas, sandwiches, and salads. Refrigerated prep tables typically are equipped with a refrigerated base and a flat workspace area, as well as a removable cutting board and cold pan storage. Choosing a prep table is dependent on what you will use your refrigerated prep table for. Whether your menu calls for an assortment of pizzas, a variety of salads, or specially made sandwiches, KaTom's food prep table guide will help you find the best refrigerated prep table for your business's needs.
What Size Best Suits Your Needs?
Refrigerated food prep tables are available in a variety of sizes, ranging from compact units for preparing sandwiches and salads to larger units used for preparing pizzas. Because sandwiches and salads do not require much room for preparation, refrigerated prep tables from 27 to 72 inches are the best fit for these needs. Cutting boards on most sandwich and salad prep tables typically feature a depth of 8 to 20 inches. Pizza prep tables usually are larger than sandwich and salad prep tables, allowing for the size of the pizzas and amount of toppings. The cutting boards on pizza prep tables typically range from 16 to 20 inches, ensuring the pizzas fit on the cutting board without any risk of falling to the floor.
Regardless of what type of refrigerated prep table you get, they all come with their own benefits. Smaller, more compact prep tables provide a smaller footprint, making them ideal for small establishments such as sandwich shops. If you own a pizza parlor, then investing in larger refrigerated prep tables will better suit your business. These larger refrigerated prep tables are also ideal for holding more ingredients and prepped foods, so the size of your unit determines how much refrigerated space there will be for holding ingredients that need to remain cold.
Do You Need Doors, Drawers, or Both?
Refrigerated prep tables can come equipped with doors, drawers, or a combination of both. Below, we'll explain the differences between the three.
Doors
Units with doors are typically equipped with shelves for holding food and ingredients, similar to how reach-in refrigerators are designed. The wire shelves in units with doors are adjustable, so you can store jugs of dressings, jars of toppings, and other packaged products that need to remain cold.
Drawers
Units with drawers fit food pans so you can easily replenish ingredients used in the assembly area. Having food pans full of food and ingredients in drawers enables quick and easy access when food and ingredients on the prep line run out.
Combination
Combination units are equipped with both doors and drawers, so they can accommodate food and ingredients on wire shelves or food pans. These units are larger than units with just a door or drawers, so you should ensure you have enough room in your kitchen before investing in one.
How Are Most Refrigerated Prep Tables Constructed?
The top part of refrigerated prep tables typically consists of a workspace, a rail for holding pans or trays, and cold storage. The cold storage area behind the prep table's workspace is designed to hold the food pans employees pull from when assembling food and can have one, two, or three rows. Generally, these are configured to hold various sizes of food pans, although most configurations fit sixth- or third-size food pans. The number of food pans that will fit in the cold storage area, which can range from 8 to 30, depends on the size of your units.
Refrigerated prep tables are designed to hold products in their refrigerated cavities between 33 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit. Refrigerated prep tables' refrigeration systems can be mounted on the side, front, or rear, which is something you should consider when choosing a food prep table and deciding where you will keep it. Most refrigerated prep tables are stainless steel, which is easy to clean, durable, and corrosion resistant. They may also be constructed of clear-coated aluminum – which is also durable and resistant to corrosion – or galvanized steel.
What's the difference between pizza and sandwich prep tables?
It's important to choose the best pizza prep table or sandwich prep table for your needs. The main difference between pizza and sandwich prep tables is the type of food that is prepared on it. As mentioned above they also differ in size, with pizza prep tables being larger while sandwich prep tables are more compact. The cutting board on a pizza prep table is also much wider than the cutting board of a sandwich prep table because they need to accommodate pizzas. The top storage areas of pizza prep tables and sandwich prep tables may differ, as pizza prep tables can usually store third-size food pans, while sandwich prep tables can usually accommodate sixth-size food pans. This allows sandwich prep tables to hold more ingredients.
