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Kitchen Equipment
This is how I’m building a real small kitchen — one that turns out artisan breads, bagels, cookies, jams and jellies, breakfast sandwiches and smoked fish. It’s about buying the right machines and not overpaying: commercial over residential, used over new when the used piece is sound, electric where I want placement freedom and gas where it earns its keep. I run a 20-quart Vevor mixer and a double Blodgett convection oven, and I’ll show you what I’d put in a small shop, what to inspect before you buy, and exactly what it all costs.
Why I Buy Commercial Duty cycle, NSF certification, parts and real output — why a home range dies under production and commercial gear keeps going (and where a prosumer piece is fine to start). Explore →
Cheap Imports & Reading the Reviews The Vevor story: convection ovens that cook wildly uneven vs. the 20-quart dough mixer I actually run — and how to read the reviews so a bargain doesn’t bite you. Explore →
Buying Used Equipment Where to find it and what to check, category by category — compressors, elements, gaskets, bearings — plus the story of my double Blodgett convection oven. Explore →
Electric vs. Gas The hood question that decides everything: why electric buys placement freedom without an exhaust fan, why gas almost always needs one, and which is cheaper to run. Explore →
Outfitting a Small Kitchen The whole build-out for artisan breads, bagels, cookies, jams and breakfast sandwiches — zone by zone, sized small, from the mixer to the three-compartment sink. Explore →
The Numbers: What It Costs Spreadsheet-style tables — every major item priced new vs. used, a lean-used build total against a buy-new total, and what it costs to keep the lights on each month. Explore →
Smoked Fish & Meat Adding smoke to the operation — outdoors or under a hood — and the serious food-safety reality of selling smoked fish: botulism, Listeria, HACCP, and why it isn’t cottage food. Explore →
Starting in a Food Truck How a truck can be the primary kitchen while the shop gets built — or stay the main kitchen for good. The commissary catch, and the ways to sequence it. Explore →
The Rofco B40 Oven My pick to start a bakery: a squat Belgian brick oven that bakes true deck-oven crust and spring at a quarter the price of a commercial deck — and the one you keep forever for small batches. Explore →
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