Star Light, Star Bright: Star Panini Grills, Star Roller Grills, and Stainless Steel Griddles at RapidsWholesale.com

Star Commercial Kitchen Equipment

A recent presentation left Rapids Wholesale reps “Starry-eyed” — particularly when it comes to commercial Panini grills, hot dog roller grills, and commercial charbroilers and griddles. Lorne G. Deacon, regional sales manager of Star Manufacturing , paid Rapids reps in Marion a visit this month to shed light on some high-demand equipment for restaurants, sandwich shops, convenience stores, and other businesses.

Deacon’s spotlight fell on some new features of Star’s Ultra-Max line, which includes heavy duty griddles, charbroilers, hot plates, and other related restaurant-grade equipment. In addition, Deacon delved into hotdog and sandwich grilling options. To learn more, take a peek at the videos and information below — and, as always, give us a call at 1-800-472-7431 if you still have questions!

Ultra-Max: Commercial Charbroilers, Griddles, and Hot Plates

Star has added some updates to its Ultra-Max line — including the twinkle of added stainless steel griddle components. Deacon said they’ve done away with thermal plastic knobs , replacing them out with stainless steel ones. Star has also upgraded the warranty on Ultra-Max units like this 36" gas griddle or this 36" commercial charbroiler to three years!

Ultra-Max griddles — among the best griddles you’ll find — come with a 1” thick chrome plate that holds heat, decreases energy expenses, and reduces clean-up time. The charbroilers come with adjustable grates and steel drip deflectors that steer grease away from the water pan. Star also does hot plates, like this gas unit. These units boast a flat top, making it easier to move pans from one burner to the next. As Deacon said, “we have an offering in every single countertop space, we feel.” 

Ultra-Max Product Spotlight Video

Star-Max and Ultra-Max Technology Upgrades Detailed Video

Star Hot Dog Roller Grills

Summer, the season of hot dogs, is on the horizon. Customers can load them with chili, or squirt on some ketchup. They can enjoy them on-the-go, at a carnival, or outside at the park under the June sky — but first, you’ve got to grill them.

Star roller grills are designed to show off your product. Built with a slight slant, hot dogs and brats roll in easy view, tempting passers-by. Rapids carries models with both standard non-stick and Duratec advanced non-stick rollers. Our roller grill lineup includes models for 35 or 40 dogs, with an optional a bun warmer.

Star Rollergrill Products Spotlight

Pro-Max Commercial Panini Grills and Sandwich Grills

Who wants a cold sandwich when they could have a warm, toasty one? One-by-one, sandwich shops and other restaurants are catching on to the allure of melt-y, cheesy heated sandwiches. If you’re looking to get on board with this trend, or to increase your production of these popular offerings, a Star sandwich or Panini grill may be your best bet.

For flexibility when it comes to sandwich and Panini grill recipes, you may want to try the Grill Express. This versatile grill can handle a skinny quesadilla, a packed 3” sandwich , and most anything in-between. It comes equipped with two cast iron plates, offering excellent heat distribution.

If you’re focusing on Paninis, we offer both cast iron and aluminum ribbed Star models. These come with a removable grease drawer, and an accurate thermostat rated between 175° and 450°F.

Star Panini Grills Product Spotlight Video

To order any of these units, check out the Rapids Wholesale website, or call a rep at 1-800-472-7431!

Written by Holly Hines.

Ovention® Matchbox® Demonstration Event Scheduled at Rapids Wholesale!



https://rapidswholesale.com

Ovention Bus is Parkin' at Rapids!

Come join Rapids Wholesale for a FREE LIVE Demonstration of the 2013 Kitchen Innovations Award winning new oven design by Ovention – the Matchbox Oven! Ovention, inventor of the popular TurboChef® oven, revealed this revolutionary new design at the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) show in Orlando, and the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago. It was a pretty big hit with chefs, restaurant owners, and dealers at the shows. We wanted to see more and invite you to join us. Ovention was happy to oblige and is coming to treat us with a tasty demonstration.

The Matchbox® Oven

The Matchbox oven is kind of like a conveyor oven, but with some very distinct improvements. Unlike a traditional conveyor oven, the unique "End Cap" system minimizes hot air escaping from the cavity of the oven greatly reducing energy consumption. Doors open only when food is going in or coming out of the oven. No hood is required to operate, and with its small footprint, you can install it almost anywhere. The Matchbox oven has an intuitive touch screen display with which you can pre-program up to 1000 different cooking settings to bake, broil, grill and roast your favorite dishes. 

Check out this Video for a tour of this Revolutionary New Oven Technology

Rapids Wholesale Live Public Demonstration Details

We will be hosting the Ovention bus and crew under the sun at our place. Mobile Kitchen Captain Aaron Ulmer along with Chris Merritt CFSP, ServSafe, MAFSI and Partner/Owner of Midwest Professional Reps will be here to answer any questions you may have. These guys are EXPERTS on all things Ovention, and fine cooks to boot! They'll be preparing samples while demonstrating how the new technology works.

Expect to enjoy:

• Hot Dogs and Buns
• Panini Sandwiches
• Pizzas
• Cookies and Brownies
• Broiled Shrimp
• Roasted Veggies and more

The event will be held in our parking lot at:

Rapids Wholesale

6201 South Gateway Dr

Marion, IA 52302

1-800-472-7431

We expect them to be set up and cooking from 1:00 to 4:00 PM.

Everybody is invited to come check out these amazing machines!

More Data on the Ovention® Ovens

rapidswholesale.com

rapidswholesale.com

Commercial Kitchen Cleaning Chemicals for Tough Grease Problems and Carbon Buildup

Commercial Kitchen Cleaning Supplies at RapidsWholesale.com

You may already come to Rapids for your restaurant and bar supplies. But what about commercial kitchen and restaurant cleaning supplies? Turns out, Rapids has that covered too!

When it comes to built-up grease and residue on bake-ware, pots and pans, stainless steel, fryers, and more, our sales reps have several solutions to offer. Take a look at some of our featured options:

Carbon-Off! Aerosol and Liquid Gel

Baked-on carbon that sticks to pans, muffin tins, Panini presses and other items can cost businesses. It can result in premature replacement of equipment, misspent labor, and inconsistently-prepared products.  Carbon-Off!— available in both an aerosol can for regular maintenance, and a gel solution for tougher jobs — makes carbon removal surprisingly simple, according to Patty Russell, National Sales Manager at Discovery Products, the company that makes Carbon-Off!

Carbon-Off! contains a thick, waxy paraffin that easily picks up residue. Russell demonstrated how it combats carbon for Rapids sales reps at the Marion, Iowa location this week.

Russell advises users to apply Carbon-Off! and then leave it to cool and dry. After only an hour, its job is done. At this point, users can literally peel or brush it away from the surface of pots and pans, taking layers of carbon with it.

See it action, check out this video . . .

Fryer Puck

During her visit, Russell described a tale of wasted labor that may be familiar to business owners serving fried food. It goes like this:

The fryer — where profit-boosting French fries and other snacks are cooked — needs cleaning. So, you send an employee away from the storefront, prep, or cooking duties to start the cleaning process — and to babysit the machine in case the cleaner boils over.

Perhaps the employee gets bored, or distracted, or tired. For whatever reason, his attention drifts. The cleaning solution in the fryer comes bubbling to the top and spills over the edge. It’s back to step one. Meanwhile, you’re one employee down.

The solution? Take advantage of Fryer Puck’s low-foaming formula. It keeps the cleaner from boiling over, works on a variety of fryer types, and spares you wasted labor and a mess.

Russell explains how is works in this video . . .

Brite Shine

If stainless steel equipment in your kitchen is visible to customers, it’s on display — and subject to customers’ scrutiny. To keep your reputation squeaky clean, you need to keep your equipment clean, too.

For jobs like this, we offer Brite Shine, a product that strips away grease and allows users to buff surfaces until they gleam. The website for Brite Shine states the cleaners contains only “food grade or other high quality” ingredients.

During a demo, Russell showed sales reps the results of wiping down the commercial refrigerator in our test kitchen with Brite Shine. Though its surface hardly looked dirty to start with, once all fingerprints and traces of grease were gone, the difference was obvious. Now, imagine this effect applied to all your greasy machines!

Live demo in our test kitchen in this video . . .

Foam Plus

Try Foam Plus to clean your ovens and even griddle tops. It can be used while the equipment is still warm!  Simply heat the dirty oven to 200°, spray your Foam Plus, wait a whopping 15-30 seconds and wipe off.  Rinse with a vinegar rinse. Done!

Patty explains how to apply in this video . . .

If you think any of these products might save you time, labor, or hassle, don’t hesitate to give us a call! Rapids sales reps are available to answer questions or place orders Monday through Saturday at 1-800-472-7431 — or, you can place your order online at rapidswholesale.com!

Written by Holly Hines

Vollrath Commercial Kitchen and Serving Equipment Review

RapidsWholesale.com

Bright purple stainless steel bowls. Water-free soup rethermalizers. Fry pans with coatings that make sense, and tongs without springs. Intrigued?

If you are, you’re in luck. After a meeting with Vollrath District Sales Manager Jason Mercil, the sales reps here at Rapids Wholesale in Marion are prepared to help you learn about these new, unique items.

Vollrath Commercial Fry Pans

To start the education: fry pans. Anyone familiar with buying coated fry pans knows the topic can be complicated, and quality is especially important. Research shows non-stick coatings that contain PFOA, a man-made chemical compound, may be dangerous if repeatedly consumed. So, if tiny bits of the coating break off into food, that food may contain harmful materials.

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency is working with manufacturers to keep this chemical out of American-made goods. And Vollrath has made some changes, too. They now carry three PFOA-free types of coating:

PowerCoat 2 ™: This is the basic coating. It’s safe, durable, and simple.

Vollrath Fry Pan with PowerCoat 

Steelcoat x3 ™: This variety contains bits of steel right in the coating, making it extra-durable.

Vollrath Fry Pan with SteelCoat X3

Ceramiguard ™: This coating is the strongest. It contains bits of ceramic — even tougher than stainless steel.

Vollrath Fry Pan with Ceramiguard

The new coatings, Mercil explained, are also 20% stronger. This is because the layering process required to make the pans safer also makes them sturdier.

Check out this video of his presentation on Vollrath Fry Pans.

Vollrath  Commercial Small Wares

The topic of sturdiness brings me to my next category: small wares. During his presentation, Mercil illustrated why restaurant owners might find Vollrath ladles worth the price, compared to the economy line. To demonstrate, Mercil held a Vollrath ladle in one hand, and a cheaper variety in the other. After a few powerful flicks of his wrists, Rapids reps watched the economy ladle’s thin aluminum handle begin to droop and warp, while the Vollrath model stayed strong.

Here is the video, check it out!

Rapids reps also handled Vollrath’s Kool-Touch ™ Utility Tongs, with flexible memory metal that allows for a spring-free, one-piece design. This simple design involves less crevices and tiny spaces, making it easier to clean.

Check out how cool these tongs are.

But Vollrath does more than just pans and small wares. This includes water-free induction rethermalizers. These models offer more temperature control than other warmers, with a digital control that can be set in Fahrenheit or Celsius. Vollrath even offers bold colors, like red, green, and black models for occasions where the warmer may be visible.

Later, Rapids reps got a look at an item you may not immediately associate with Vollrath: a slicer. This slicer comes equipped with an easily removable blade to allow for quick clean-up — a feature most affordable slicers don’t include.

Vollrath Slicer

At the end of the demo, we got a look at an array of colorful, curvy, unique sets of dishes and display and buffet wares. “We’ve really expanded our buffet line quite a bit,” Mercil commented.

In particular, Mercil showed off a set of stainless steel bowls in colors varying from a grape-like purple, to golden yellow, to two shades of green. These bowls are designed to hold food near its correct temperature without sweating on the outside.

Vollrath Stainless Steel Bowls

Mercil also demonstrated an example of a Miramar ™ pan for buffets, which features contours that draw onlookers’ eyes inward, towards the food on display. The corners on these pans are designed to be stronger. They can also be used to pour contents straight from the pan.

Innovations like these keep Rapids working with Vollrath. They help us meet our goal of providing restaurant and business owners with creative, well-made products that make sense. To learn more about these and other Vollrath items, don’t hesitate to give us a call at 1-800-472-7431, where you can reach a sales rep!  Or jump on RapidsWholesale.com online chat!

Written by Holly Hines

Blendtec Commercial Blender Training Review

Blendtec Commercial Blenders Training at RapidsWholesale.com

Imagine a commercial blender so quiet, the sound melts away into the background.  Sound nice?  Well, this month, the reps at RapidsWholesale.com didn’t have to imagine. We heard for ourselves when Bryan Bonine, a representative of The Pinnacle Group, paid us a visit to pass along his knowledge of Blendtec blenders. Bonine came equipped with a brand new model aptly named “Stealth” — a machine Blendtec calls the “World’s Quietest Commercial Blender.”

During a demo here at the Marion Rapids location, we watched as Bonine placed one of the two jars Stealth comes with into a sound-dulling enclosure, on top of a 3.8 horsepower direct drive. When he started the machine and dropped the lid on the enclosure, the noise diminished from a screech-like whine to something more like a hum.

But quiet isn’t the Stealth’s only feature. With 42 programmed blend cycles — it can take on a wide variety of recipes.  And if the 42 blend cycles don’t meet your needs, you can also customize your own using Blendtec’s Blend Wizard app. In addition, the Stealth can handle 200 or more blends a day, at 20-25 seconds per blend — perfect for bars and coffee shops pumping out high volumes of blended coffee drinks or frozen margaritas and daiquiris. In Bonine’s words, “every coffee shop’s going to want that because it’s so quiet.”

Check out this video of his presentation.

youtube.com/RapidsJR

It’s also great for restaurants making dressing, vinaigrettes, and spreads. In fact, the Stealth can handle very fine-tuned blending recipes, thanks to a feature Blendtec calls “capacitive-touch control surface.” This means the machine has a touch sensitive, illuminated slider control you can swipe like an IPad to carefully control the blender’s speed.

Here is a closer look at the user interface.

youtube.com/RapidsJR

The Rapids reps gathered a wealth of information to share with restaurant and business owners about the Stealth as well as other new blenders in Blendtec’s line-up. The Q-Series, which is a step down from the Stealth, features a less-advanced — but still effective — sound-dulling enclosure, as well as 30 programmed blending cycles. Another model, the SpaceSaver, does much of what the Q-Series can do without hogging counter space.  However, it lacks touchpad controls — and only the Stealth has the illuminated slider control.

So, what happens if your Stealth breaks or malfunctions? For starters, Blendtec covers parts, labor, and freight under a three-year warranty. And the drive socket? That’s covered for life.

If you want to see Blendtec’s blenders in action for yourself, go visit Bonine at the 2013 National Restaurant Association show in Chicago in May. Or, for something on the zany side, check out Blendtec’s YouTube sensation called “Will it Blend?” featuring proof that glow sticks, IPads, and even Justin Beiber are “blend-able!”  

Or, if you’re ready to order or get more information, call 1-800-472-7431, or you can jump on our online chat!

Written by Holly Hines.

Commercial Kitchen Walkthrough with Rapids Wholesale

Kirkwood kitchen equipped by Rapids Wholesale

Ever have this happen?  It’s the middle of the afternoon, and the second largest party you've ever booked is due to arrive in just a few hours.  You’ve been up all night prepping and organizing.  You’ve gone over every little detail, down to the stupidest little thing, dozens of times in your head.  Tonight’s performance has played over and over in your mind -- at the expense of sleep.  But it’s your kitchen, your name on the menu, and you live for this. 

Sweat on the brow and a tickle in the stomach is par for the course on a day like today.  And then, a sudden calm comes over you.  Confidence builds as you realize you are ready now!  You got this, it’s a lock!  You’ve given the line staff the pep talk.  Morale and energy is high!  All the training and preparation has brought you to this exact moment.  Your well oiled machine is on autopilot!  It’s go time, and then . . . “hey boss! range won’t light?!?”

Reliability and Consistency.  Think about those two words, and how, in this moment, they will determine your overall Quality.  As you scramble to become operational, you are cutting into the precious little time you need to make tonight Perfection.

When you get a spare second, before the next big thing, look at your kitchen.  Take a good long look at YOUR kitchen.  Do it when you are all alone.  Look at the fryers, the range, the ovens.  Look at the slicers, the processors and mixers.  Look at the sinks and the warmers and even the darn hoods.  Is everything working right?  Is everything ready?  I offer you this: your staff will say everything is A-OK to avoid the degreaser bottle.  The tape (don’t deny it) may hold another week if it has to.  Just remember whose name is printed in the menu.  Is it worth it?

You need to make sure your kitchen is geared up properly for the rush, and we can help.  Equipping you and keeping you running is what WE do.  We’ve been doing it since 1936, and we do it well!  We have everything you need and an experienced support staff on stand-by.  Stories like this one are told daily around here.  Many of us have found ourselves standing, alone in our own kitchen, preparing.

Check out this video from our YouTube page that shows you what we carry for your kitchen and how to order it.  And as you watch it, think about your kitchen.  Think about your current model and condition of the gear you see on the screen.  Then ask yourself, "is it ready for the rush?"

We’ve heard just about every kitchen horror story there is here.  Don't get yourself stuck in a pinch. These things are often preventable with a little foresight.  For bigger operations with multiple locations, we can even offer you a “one call” resolution to any potential kitchen catastrophes or facility failures with our in-house affiliates Chain Restaurant Solutions.  These folks are lifesavers.  Here are just a few of the companies that agree and take advantage of our expertise!

Do you have any kitchen catastrophes or front-house fumbles to share?  We'd love to here them!  Leave them in the comments below!

Cheers,

Paul