Complete Guide on How To Build a Commercial Kitchen

In the food industry,commercial kitchens are very popular. A well-established commercial kitchen is a key element to running a successful food business. Building a commercial kitchen is quite challenging. Proper ideas and planning are required to build a good commercial kitchen.

The main target of any restaurant business is to boost restaurant sales and make more profit. In the food industry, commercial kitchens contribute to financial success. As a food business entrepreneur, you must have knowledge about how to build a commercial kitchen.

What Is A Commercial Kitchen?

A commercial kitchen is a type of kitchen that is used commercially. It is designed for different types of hospitality businesses that produce food. The main concept of a commercial kitchen is to prepare food in high volume for the customers.

Commercial kitchens prepare food that is to be sold. It has the ability to handle a high volume of food orders. The commercial kitchens must follow some specific hygiene and safety standards. 

A commercial kitchen should be large enough to fulfill certain features, like a fire suppression system, a walk-in refrigerator, blast chillers, and exhaust systems, etc. Among the commercial kitchen equipment, blast chillers and walk-in freezers are the most commonly used equipment. These pieces of equipment help to adjust the temperature in different parts of the kitchen.

Businesses like restaurants, bakeries, and caterers usually use commercial kitchens so that they can produce a high amount of food. Commercial kitchens are generally made to make more profit in the food business industry.                          

How To Build A Commercial Kitchen

A commercial kitchen is a valuable asset for any business. Effective and efficient commercial kitchens allow easy food productivity and ensure more financial success. In the food business, the quality of food and the quality of service are both directly affected by the kitchen.

We know that every restaurant and bakery are unique. They have different needs and requirements. So it is crucial to build a commercial kitchen according to your needs. In this article, we have provided a complete guideline on how to build a commercial kitchen.

To build a commercial kitchen, we have to know the equipment of a commercial kitchen.

Commercial Kitchen Equipment

A successful kitchen is organized and has specific equipment that ensures more productivity. Some kitchens have their own design and layout. They organize their kitchen in a certain way to match their concept. But now we will talk about those components that are mandatory for all types of commercial kitchens.

01. Storage

A commercial kitchen must have a good storage area to store different types of equipment, like place settings, cooking tools, and ingredients.

Storage is an essential part of a commercial kitchen. You also need a separate place to store items, like refrigerators for decomposable foods and a pantry for dry foods. Along with these, you need a cupboard for place setting and tools like utensils, plates, glasses, and linens. This storage can help a lot in managing a proper inventory management system.

Storage Equipment List

• Walk-in refrigerators
• Reach into refrigerators.
• Blast Chillers.
• Undercounter Refrigerators.
• Commercial Refrigerated Preparation Table
• Display Refrigerators.
• Food storage containers, etc.

02. Cooking Station 

When we talk about the kitchen, the first thing that comes to mind is the cooking station. It is a place where the actual action happens. An ideal commercial kitchen needs a good cooking station to cook food.

Nowadays, most of the restaurants have gas range-oven combinations in their cooking stations. A commercial fryer is also an essential element of a cooking station. You can also decorate your kitchen with a digital kitchen order system. It is known as the KDS(Kitchen Display System). However, this KDS system is widely used in the cloud kitchen. You can also keep some additional cooking equipment for making special dishes.

Cooking Station Equipment List

• Commercial stoves and ovens.
• Deep Fryers.
• Steam Ovens.
• Grylls and Charbroilers
• Convection Ovens.
• Pasta cooks, etc.

03. Food Preparation 

Food preparation is an important part of a commercial kitchen. Different types of food preparation areas are needed in a commercial kitchen. It depends on what type of food your kitchen is preparing.

These food preparation areas can be divided into several sectors, like washing areas, counter space, cutting tools, storage containers, mixing areas, etc.

Food Preparation Equipment List

• Commercial food processors.
• Grinders and miners.
• Stand mixers and planetary mixers
• Vegetable Peelers.
• Commercial Blenders.
• Slicers, dicers, etc.

04. Washing Station

If you are running a food business, then you need to deal with a lot of washing or cleaning. In a commercial kitchen, you have to wash several things, like dirty plates, glasses, different types of ingredients etc .

A separate washing area is compulsory for a commercial kitchen. In the washing station, you can use three compartment sinks for washing utensils. A warewashing machine is also a very important equipment for washing stations. This machine can quickly clean plates and other stuff that helps a kitchen run quickly and smoothly.

Washing Station Equipment List

• Commercial Dishwashers.
• Commercial glass washers
• Rack and shelves.
• Pan and pot washers, etc.

05. Service Station

The service area is considered to be the final stage of a commercial kitchen. A service area is used for plating dishes and passing them to waiters for delivery.

These service areas should be near the dining room. It takes less time and a short distance for the waiters to travel from the kitchen to the dining areas. When planning for the service areas, you should think about the heat lamps. These heat lamps can control the food temperature and keep your food warm until it is served to customers.

Service Equipment List

• Work Stations.
• Preparation Tables.
• Heat Lamps.
• Stainless steel sinks, etc.

Commercial Kitchen Layout

If you want to know how to start a commercial kitchen, then you must have to keep the knowledge about the commercial kitchen layout. Setting the layout for your commercial kitchen is not an easy task. 

A perfect layout can improve your kitchen efficiency and optimize communication among the kitchen workers. You can also use commercial kitchen software to design your kitchen layout.

Here, we have discussed some common and unique layout designs. You can choose the best one that is suitable for your commercial kitchen.

01. Island Style Layout

The island-style layout is a very popular commercial kitchen layout. In this layout, cooking equipment like ovens, fryers, grills, etc. is placed in the middle of the kitchen. Which means the meal is at the center of the kitchen. In this layout, the meal becomes the visual and basic heart of the kitchen.

This is considered the best layout design for a commercial kitchen that has abundant space. As the meal is at the center of the kitchen, it makes for easy communication among the staff. It has plenty of spaces that are easy to clean. This layout is best for a square-shaped kitchen. But it can also be very useful for other sizes and shapes.

02. Zone Style Layout

This is a widely used kitchen layout. In this design, your kitchen will be divided into different zones for different activities. You can separate zones for each activity, like salad station vs pastry station or dishwashing vs food preparation.

Zone-style kitchen layouts are best suited for commercial kitchens that offer a large space. It allows many different types of dishes at the same time. These layouts ensure proper communication and supervision because they have a completely open space at the center. Zone-style layout is best for hotel restaurants, event space kitchens, catering kitchens, or ghost kitchens.

03. Assembly Line Layout

Assembly line layout is a type of layout where a central row is organized in a single line. It is a straight-line layout that starts with the food preparation and ends with the area where the food is being served.

Assembly line layout allows multiple workers at a time to work. It helps workers focus on an individual task that ensures better food services. This layout design is better for those restaurants that have limited menus but serve large amounts of food. It is ideal for high-volume and quick-service restaurants like burger shops, pizza shops, sandwich shops, etc.

04. Galley Style Layout

It is a kitchen layout that is anchored by two parallel countertops of cabinet walls, which are facing each other with limited space. This design is suitable for a tiny commercial kitchen.

All the different stations and kitchen equipment are positioned along with the parameters in the galley kitchen layout. If you are building a commercial kitchen in your home with limited space, then a galley layout is the best option.

05. Open Kitchen Layout

An open kitchen layout is a unique kitchen layout design. It is an interesting kitchen layout that allows customers to enjoy the show. As the kitchen is open to the dining room, guests can see what is happening inside the kitchen.

If you are building a commercial kitchen at home, then an open kitchen layout design may not be suitable for you. A large space is needed for an open kitchen layout. In this layout, customers get the most satisfaction because the food is being prepared in front of them. As the space is large, it ensures easy flow and movement. In this kitchen layout, washing and storage are pushed back into the kitchen.

How Much Does It Cost To Build A Commercial Kitchen?

A commercial kitchen is the heart of a food business. If you are a business entrepreneur and are going to start a food business, then you should know about the building cost of a commercial kitchen. It will help to calculate the estimated cost of building a commercial kitchen.

Let's see, how much does a commercial kitchen cost to build?

The cost of building a commercial kitchen is roughly $15,00 to $100,000. But a larger commercial kitchen buildout cost may be $250.000 or less. Suppose the commercial kitchen cost per square foot is $250, then it will cost $250.000 to build a 1000-square-foot commercial kitchen.

Building a commercial kitchen is not an easy task. The cost of building a commercial kitchen depends on several factors. Here we discuss some important factors that can affect the estimated cost of building a commercial kitchen.

01. Size of the kitchen

When we talk about the cost of building a commercial kitchen, the first thing that needs to be considered is the size of the kitchen. Because the cost to build a small commercial kitchen for a bakery and the cost to build a restaurant kitchen are totally different. If the kitchen is larger, the cost will be higher.

02. Location

Location is another major cost consideration for commercial kitchen construction. It creates a big impact, which can dramatically change the estimated cost. 

Suppose you are planning to build a commercial kitchen in New York City, and another person is planning a commercial kitchen in a small town. Will the cost be the same? Definitely not; the cost of building a kitchen in NYC will be much higher than in a small town. So the location of the kitchen really matters a lot for the estimated cost.

03. Instrument and Equipment

Instruments and equipment are the most important factors in a commercial kitchen. For maximum durability, you need to buy a good-quality instrument that lasts a long time. So you need to invest more if you want to buy high-quality instruments and equipment. It will increase the estimated cost of building a commercial kitchen.

04. Design and Layout  

The design and layout of the kitchen play a significant role in the estimated cost of building a commercial kitchen. A poor design and layout can reduce your kitchen's ability. For this, you need a good designer who can make a proper design and layout for your kitchen. A good design and layout of the kitchen definitely reduce the building cost. So you need to think about the design and layout when you estimate the total cost of building a commercial kitchen.

05. License and Fees

Depending on your location, you might need to get permission and license to build a commercial kitchen. You will have to pay fees for these. It is basically for different types of permission, like health permits, area permits, fire permits, etc. So the cost of permission and licenses can reduce or increase the total cost. You need to do proper research about these permission or license costs.

How To Set Up A Commercial Kitchen

When you are going to build a commercial kitchen, you have to know the process of commercial kitchen installation and setup. It is quite challenging and costly. You need to invest some cost to set up a commercial kitchen. Perfect setup is very important to making an ideal commercial kitchen. A highly qualified commercial kitchen contractor can do the task smoothly.

As we know, all kitchens have the same purpose like food preparation and serving. But there is a lot of difference between a home kitchen and a commercial kitchen. 

For a perfect commercial kitchen setup, several basic things need to be considered.

01. Space Efficiency

While setting up a commercial kitchen, you need to think about space efficiency. For these, you have to analyze what plays an important role in your kitchen and what doesn't. This can save valuable space and make better use of the kitchen.

02. Kitchen Setup Flow

Kitchen setup flow or movement plays an important role in an efficient commercial kitchen. It can reduce confusion and prevent accidents.

03. Kitchen Flexibility

While setting up a kitchen, it should be flexible enough. In the food industry, menus and other things are changing constantly. So your kitchen should have the flexibility to adapt to the constant changes.

04. Hygiene and Sanitation

Hygiene and sanitation are considered the most essential parts of a food business. So you need to make sure that your kitchen is neat and clean. Proper hygiene and sanitation ensure food safety in restaurants. To maintain proper sanitation and hygiene, you need to pay close attention to waste disposal.

05. Energy Saving

As we know, running a restaurant uses a lot of energy through the use of equipment. We can save energy by making proper equipment arrangements. Equipment for cooking and baking should be kept away from cold storage equipment to minimize the need to use more power to make up for the extra heat.

Final Thought

An efficient and effective commercial kitchen is a key factor for a successful restaurant or food business. You can get many advantages from using a commercial kitchen. A good commercial kitchen can smoothly flow the kitchen operation. This article is a full package of information about how to build a restaurant kitchen or a commercial kitchen. I hope you will get enough ideas from here, and it will help you to build a perfect commercial kitchen.