Commercial steam kettles are the ideal piece of equipment for quickly heating up soups, stews, sauces or pasta. Depending on the amount of people you’re cooking for, a kettle is often the most efficient and effective way to cook or to retherm extremely large batches of these types of foods. Steam kettles are warmed evenly through the use of a jacket which surrounds the full kettle or possibly ¾’s of the kettle, and it is filled with hot, high pressure steam. The heat from the steam surrounds the whole of the kettle and evenly heats the contents so that you don’t get hot or cold portions.
Commercial kettles are the ideal piece of equipment for institutional cooking like schools, long-term care facilities and correctional facilities. You can find kettles as small as 3-gallons or over 100 gallons. You can also find twin kettles, which have two bowls. You will also find direct steam kettles, gas kettles or electric kettles.
Whatever size commercial kettle you utilize, here are some tips to ensure you are operating your kettle for efficient energy use:
1. Utilize a water treatment system, including a water filter, to minimize scaling
2. Be sure to use a timer to prevent overcooking and wasting energy. Steam cooking is very quick compared to other cooking methods because the heat is surrounding the whole bowl.
3. Utilize the lid whenever possible to limit heat loss.
4. Clean and maintain the boiler for direct-steam kettles to maintain performance and conserve energy for efficient operation.
