Wallin Foodservice Resources

Now that the school year is back in full swing and offices are filling back up, the hectic pace and get-everyone-fed race is on once again. Demand for meals prepared outside the home is back up, increasing the need for higher production and efficient service.  How can your business take full advantage? Since employees can only move so fast, especially if they are new or already doing the work of more than one person, equipment can be the difference maker. It can expedite cooking, extend shelf life of pre-cooked food, and even provide a well-organized infrastructure for faster service. Labor Day is also right around the corner. This day was originally founded in the late 1800’s as a celebration of the American worker and the American work ethic. However, today, what amounts to a three-day weekend for many is a time when most foodservice employees remain hard at work serving others. With that in mind, this is the first of a two-part series about ways to help your hard-working s...

Order Customization Made Easy Remember when asking for omissions or substitutions when ordering a meal was considered impolite? Things have changed a lot since then. Customization is no longer the exception: it’s the rule. Having the operational agility to take special requests and customizations in stride has become essential to serving today’s discerning consumers. The right infrastructure and the proper tools make it easy for staff to quickly handle customizations in the space you have, without missing a beat. Productive Prep Stations A well-designed prep station provides a foundation for seamless order customization. Important features include maximized space utilization, pan wells deep enough for flush-mounted 6" deep pans, and consistent safe temperatures below 41° F. A sizeable, cutting-board work surface and refrigerated storage beneath the table add up to efficient use of space and labor. Another space-optimizing feature to look for is stations that are 100% front b...

  Achieving French Fry Mastery from Fryer to Table Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, French fries remain America’s favorite way to eat potatoes. On-premise or off, amid economic highs and lows, they provide a simple pleasure in good times and a satisfying source of comfort and familiarity in the not-so-good ones. The beloved French fry also has a well-deserved reputation for being hard to hold. How do you maintain the perfect texture and presentation from fryer to holding to serving and keep your customers coming back for more? The Fryer Formula Whether you’re working with fresh cut potatoes or frozen product, you’ll need a fryer that can hold consistent temperatures and help you make the most efficient use of your oil while keeping it fresh. Frymaster’s Filter Quick with EasyTouch electric fryers were designed to reduce operating costs by using 40% less oil (30 lbs.), while providing easy-access, closed cabinet fully automatic filtration. This easy-to-operate syst...

The Keys to Safe Food Holding      To wrap up September, National Food Safety Month, we turn our attention to safe holding of both hot and cold foods. You’ve received, stored, and prepared food with great care. Often the last step before serving, holding is a time when the greatest risk to food is time and temperature abuse, while the risk of cross-contamination remains. From staging for pickup or delivery to hot serving wells and bulk food holding, an expansive variety of equipment has been developed to protect food safety and quality on its final journey from kitchen to table, so much so that an entire book could be written on the topic. Today, we’ll focus just on holding individual to-go and catering orders. Delivery and Takeout Order Holding There was once a time, not too long ago, that the industry standard was to place packaged to-go orders on a counter or bar for pick-up. Now, with increased off-premise business and the added need to support social distancing...

  Get Ready to Jazz up Your Tabletops and  Gear up Your Kitchen!  We’re stylin’ now! Wallin Foodservice Resources is pleased to announce the addition of leading brand TableCraft to our manufacturer portfolio. If you aren’t yet acquainted with TableCraft, we’d like to introduce you. This stylish brand can be found on tabletops and in kitchens worldwide, striking a balance between beauty and functionality with an extensive assortment of tabletop, beverage, buffet, catering, display, counter service, and bar supplies. And like the other manufacturers in our portfolio, TableCraft meets our high standards of safety, reliability, service, and quality. Always in step with our industry, TableCraft recently assembled a collection of tools to help foodservice operators adapt to the new landscape of foodservice, with products designed specifically to promote safety and hygiene. Hot well covers to temporarily re-tool buffet lines for pre-packaged single portions and safety shield...

Food Storage Safety Risks and Remedies Our last post reviewed safe receiving practices. The next step to safely shepherding food to the table is storage. Most foodborne illnesses are caused by one of the following three things: time and temperature abuse, poor personal hygiene, or cross-contamination. When it comes to food storage, cross-contamination is the most common culprit since food is all-too-often stored in a vulnerable manner. Risky Food Storage Practices Disposable coverings such as plastic film and aluminum foil are used extensively across the foodservice industry. They are inexpensive and convenient, but they pose some serious drawbacks that increase risk of cross-contamination and reduced shelf life. A single pan or container with a properly applied disposable cover typically doesn’t cause a problem until it’s accessed more than once, or it’s stacked on other pans or containers. Each time a disposable cover is lifted, pulled, or pushed back to access contents, its...

  Choosing the Right Handwashing Station for the Job From CDC and healthcare professional guidance to how-to videos like Gloria Gaynor’s pandemic version of her classic I Will Survive, we have all been trained that handwashing is more critical than ever during this unprecedented time. Not only does it protect each of us and those with whom we interact, but clearly visible and accessible handwashing stations now provide a sense of reassurance to employees and customers alike. Supplemental handwash stations come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and levels of portability. Where the station will be used, access to electricity, water capacity, and available space are important factors to consider when it comes to choosing the best one for the job.   Handwashing for Curbside, Drive-Through, or Outdoor Events It’s tempting to resort to hand sanitizer when working outdoors, but soap and warm water have been proven more effective because they physically remove germs from hands. A...

  Stepping Up Drive-through Staff and Customer Safety   In our last post, we talked about the organization and temperature maintenance aspects of to-go operations. What about drive-through? Organization is also key to supporting drive-through traffic, especially now that it’s at an all-time high. And although person-to-person contact is minimal due to the nature of drive-through, the need for enhanced safety protocol is essential. It may seem intimidating, but simple steps will go a long way.   Handwashing Providing employees with accessible, properly equipped handwashing stations is of paramount importance to protect staff and customers alike, wherever they interact. Staff who work outdoors as part of the drive-through or curbside team will likely need access to a supplemental outdoor station. In April, Chick-fil-A led the way in best practices when they announced they had begun a national roll-out providing outdoor handwashing stations, made by Cambro, for th...