How to Choose Key Cooking Equipment for a Commercial Kitchen: Ovens, Ranges, Grills and Fryers
Cafés & Coffee Shops
Fast‑Casual & Quick‑Service
Hotels & Banquet Kitchens
Ghost Kitchens & Food Halls
Catering & Central Kitchens
The heart of every commercial kitchen is its cooking line. Ovens, ranges, grills and fryers determine how fast you can cook, which dishes you can offer and how consistently you can reproduce your menu across shifts and locations.
This guide explains how to choose key commercial cooking equipment – including commercial ovens, ranges, griddles and grills and commercial fryers – so you can match your cooking line to your menu, volume and kitchen layout.
What types of ovens, ranges, grills and fryers does a commercial kitchen need?
The ideal cooking line depends on your menu and concept. A bakery focuses on ovens, a burger kitchen needs fryers and griddles, and a hotel may require all of them in separate production zones. Start by understanding the main equipment families and what they do best.
| Equipment Type | Primary Role in the Kitchen | Typical Use Cases & Concepts |
|---|---|---|
|
Commercial Oven
commercial oven |
Baking, roasting, finishing and reheating. Provides even, controlled heat for pastries, bread, meats, vegetables and tray‑baked dishes. | Restaurants, cafés, bakeries, hotel kitchens and central kitchens that need consistent baking and roasting results across multiple trays and batches. |
|
Commercial Range & Open Burner Stove
commercial range |
Boiling, simmering, sautéing and pan‑frying in pots and pans over open burners or hotplates. Often includes an oven base below for extra flexibility. | Full‑service restaurants, hotel kitchens, bistros and canteens that cook a varied menu with sauces, soups, pan dishes and side items. |
|
Griddle & Chargrill / Grill
commercial griddle |
Flat griddles cook items on a smooth plate (burgers, eggs, pancakes), while chargrills add grill marks and a grilled flavor to meats and vegetables. | Burger shops, diners, steak and grill restaurants, breakfast cafés and fast‑casual concepts with grilled sandwiches, burgers and skewers. |
|
Commercial Deep Fryer
commercial fryer |
Fries, chicken, seafood and other fried foods. Provides controlled oil temperature and basket handling for consistent color and texture in high‑volume service. | Quick‑service restaurants, fast‑casual kitchens, bars with fried snacks, cafés and hotel outlets offering fries, wings and finger foods. |
|
Combi Oven & Multifunctional Oven
combi oven |
Combines convection heat and steam to cook, roast, poach and regenerate food with flexible programs and controlled moisture for consistent results. | Hotels, banqueting kitchens, central production kitchens and restaurants that need flexible batch cooking and controlled reheating. |
How can you match cooking equipment to your menu and foodservice concept?
Before choosing a specific oven or fryer, clarify your core menu and service style. Different concepts rely on different equipment, even if they share some dishes in common. Use the table below as a starting point.
| Foodservice Concept | Typical Core Equipment Set | Key Planning Questions |
|---|---|---|
|
Café & Coffee Shop with Light Meals
|
Compact convection oven or combi oven for baking and reheating, small range or hotplate for soups and sauces, plus a countertop griddle or contact grill for panini and hot sandwiches. | Are most menu items baked, toasted or cooked to order? How many hot meals do you serve per hour at peak times? |
|
Fast‑Casual Burger or Fried Chicken Concept
|
Flat griddle or chargrill for patties, one or more commercial fryers for fries and fried items, and a holding or finishing oven for buns and baked components. | What is your target order volume per hour? Do you plan to expand from one fryer to multiple fryer banks as you grow? |
|
Full‑Service Restaurant & Bistro
|
Commercial range with open burners, convection oven or combi oven, a griddle or chargrill depending on menu focus, and at least one fryer for sides and speciality dishes. | Which dishes are cooked at which station? Where do you expect bottlenecks during busy service – the grill, the range or the fryer? |
|
Hotel & Banqueting Kitchen
|
Multiple combi ovens for bulk cooking and regeneration, several ranges for sauces and finishing, a grill section for à la carte items, and fryers sized for buffet and banqueting needs. | How many covers do you handle across breakfast, lunch, dinner and events? Do you batch‑cook and reheat, or cook mostly to order? |
|
Ghost Kitchen & Delivery‑Only Concepts
|
Compact, high‑output fryers, modular griddles or grills, and space‑saving ovens that can support several virtual brands from the same line with overlapping ingredients and cooking methods. | Which brands share equipment best? Can you design a line where the same fryer or grill serves multiple menus without slowing down service? |
|
Central Production & Commissary Kitchen
|
Larger combi ovens, multiple convection or deck ovens, heavy‑duty ranges and fryers arranged for batch cooking, cooling and distribution to satellite sites or outlets. | What batch sizes and production cycles do you operate? How will cooked items be cooled, stored and transported after leaving the cooking line? |
How do different oven, range, grill and fryer options compare?
Within each equipment family you have multiple options: different oven types, range configurations, grill plate designs and fryer sizes. The table below summarizes common choices and when they might suit your kitchen.
| Category & Option | When It Works Best | Questions to Consider |
|---|---|---|
|
Ovens: Convection vs. Deck vs. Combi
Convection oven – fan‑assisted, even heat
Deck oven – stone/plate decks for bread & pizza Combi oven – dry heat + steam modes |
Convection suits general baking and roasting across restaurants and cafés. Deck ovens suit artisan bread and certain pizzas. Combi ovens suit sites needing flexible cooking and regeneration over several menus and services. | Is your menu focused on bread and pizza, or varied roasting and baking? Do you need steam‑assisted cooking and regeneration for banquets and buffets? |
|
Ranges: Open Burner vs. Solid Top
Open burner – direct heat to pots
Solid top – flat plate, sliding pan zones |
Open burners offer quick response and strong heat for sautéing and boiling. Solid tops provide a larger continuous surface for moving pans between hotter and cooler zones without lifting them off the heat. | Do your chefs prefer direct flames for wok or sauté cooking? Or do they work with many pans at once and need flexible heat zones on one surface? |
|
Grills & Griddles: Smooth Plate vs. Ribbed vs. Chargrill
Smooth griddle – flat plate for even contact
Ribbed plate – light grill marks Chargrill – bars and flame contact |
Smooth griddles suit breakfast lines and burgers where even browning is key. Ribbed plates and chargrills support grilled presentation and flavor on steaks, skewers and vegetables. | Are grill marks an important part of your presentation? Do you cook many breakfast items, or primarily grilled meat and vegetables? |
|
Fryers: Single Vat vs. Multiple Vats
Single‑vat fryer – one oil bath
Multi‑vat fryer – separate oil baths |
Single‑vat fryers suit smaller menus or single main fried items. Multi‑vat fryers allow you to separate different products and manage oil quality more easily across mixed fried menus. | How many different fried items do you offer, and do they share similar coatings? Do you need to separate products such as fries and strongly seasoned items? |
How should you position ovens, ranges, grills and fryers in your kitchen layout?
The location of each piece of cooking equipment affects safety, speed and communication. A good layout keeps hot zones organized, minimizes cross‑traffic and allows chefs to coordinate orders across the line.
| Cooking Zone | Equipment Role in Workflow | Layout & Safety Tips |
|---|---|---|
|
Oven & Baking Area
|
Houses convection, deck or combi ovens used for bulk baking, roasting and reheating. Often links to prep, plating or holding areas via trolleys or racks. | Leave clear space to open oven doors and move trays safely. Position near prep benches and holding equipment so staff can load and unload quickly without crossing busy aisles. |
|
Range & Sauce Station
|
Handles soups, sauces, pan dishes and side items that require constant monitoring and adjustments by the chef during service. | Place close to the pass or plating area to support last‑minute adjustments and sauce finishing. Ensure adequate ventilation and protection from drafts that could affect open flames. |
|
Grill & Griddle Line
|
Produces grilled and griddled items that often form the main component of dishes, such as burgers, steaks, skewers and cooked breakfast items. | Place under appropriate extraction. Position so the grill chef can communicate easily with the pass and other stations without turning away from the heat for long periods. |
|
Fryer Station
|
Delivers fried sides and main items, often operating continuously during service, with multiple baskets going in and out of oil at once. | Keep fryers away from major walkways to reduce splash risks. Provide space for drip racks and trays next to the fryers, and ensure safe, clear access for oil changes and cleaning. |
How can you plan capacity and standardize key cooking equipment across locations?
If you operate or plan multiple sites, standardizing your core cooking equipment saves training time and simplifies maintenance. At the same time, you need enough capacity for peak periods without over‑equipping quiet kitchens.
| Planning Step | Focus Area | Practical Actions |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Map Your Menu to Equipment
|
Understand which dishes rely on ovens, ranges, grills and fryers, and which stations handle the most items during peak service. | Create a simple matrix that lists dishes against equipment used and note where several high‑volume items share a single piece of equipment. |
|
2. Focus on Peak Throughput, Not Just Menu Size
|
Plan capacity around the busiest hour of the day rather than average trade, so you can keep up when orders spike. | Estimate how many portions each key station needs to produce in a typical busy hour, and check whether your planned line can comfortably handle that workload. |
|
3. Standardize Core Equipment Formats
|
Select a limited set of oven, range, grill and fryer configurations that you can repeat across most locations with minimal variation. | Decide on standard widths and burner counts for ranges, baseline oven sizes, and a typical number of fryer vats per concept or brand. |
|
4. Review Real‑World Performance
|
After opening or refurbishing, check with chefs and managers where the cooking line performs well and where it feels overloaded or underused. | Adjust future layouts and equipment counts based on feedback, and document the best‑performing configurations as your standard for the next projects. |
Disclaimer: This guide is for general information only. Always follow local regulations, safety guidance and manufacturer instructions when selecting, installing and operating ovens, ranges, grills and fryers in commercial kitchens.
