Italian food is a well-loved cuisine, offering classic and comforting staples with signature rich flavours and textures. To achieve the perfect result each and every time, from pasta to pizza, you’ll need the right commercial cooking equipment.
Whether you’re setting up a new restaurant or are looking to improve the quality and performance of your existing Italian cooking equipment, our guide covers everything you need. Discover what you’ll want to add to your kitchen, from ovens and accessories to the smaller utensils and upgrade your kitchen today.
What Should I Look for in an Oven for an Italian Restaurant?
As with any kitchen, the oven and stove are front and centre and will be the first thing you’ll want to look into. With a variety of models, sizes and specialty options that serve specific purposes in Italian kitchens, consider what your menu will look like, how much space you have and what your cooking priorities are. Here are a few of the key features to look for to make sure you’re choosing the best option for your business.
Heat Distribution
No matter what you’re cooking, you’ll want an oven that delivers even heat distribution. This is especially important when baking pizzas to get a uniformly crispy base.
Size and Capacity
Whether you’re cooking pizza or have a high turnover, having a large enough oven to get through all the cooking and baking you need is crucial. If you’re getting through higher volume of pizzas in particular, you may want to consider an oven with multiple decks or even a conveyor pizza oven.
Fuel Type
You may already have a preference for fuel type, but it’s worth considering whether you want a gas, electric or even wood oven. Electric ovens are often more affordable and deliver consistent, reliable heat. Gas ovens can be slightly more costly but deliver plenty of control and intense heat. Wood-fired ovens require a little more extra care and maintenance but can deliver a unique flavour and quality to your pizzas.
Top Oven Choices for Italian Kitchens
Commercial Gas Cooktops
Commercial gas cooktops are one of our top recommendations for Italian kitchens. They deliver reliable, consistent heat, which is crucial for simmering sauces, cooking pasta, making pot roasts and sauteing vegetables. Look for options with large cooking elements to accommodate bigger pots and pans for bulk cooking. The brands we recommend in this category are Luus, GasMax, and Fagor.
Oven Ranges
If your menu includes options other than the more traditional pasta and pizzas, you may also want to consider a solid oven range. Opt for a spacious option that gives you room to prepare everything, including classic choices like lasagna, roast meats, and grilled vegetables.
They’ll deliver the gas-top cooking capabilities you need while also allowing you to cook a broader range of meals. Again, we’d recommend looking at Luus, Fagor and GasMax for a high-quality oven range with a gas cooktop.
Combi Steam Ovens
Combi steam ovens are a versatile option for any restaurant, and Italian kitchens are no exception. They put the capability to bake, roast and steam in your hands and adapt perfectly to a variety of menu items. Whether you’re baking bread or steaming vegetables, combi ovens are a strong option for your Italian kitchen equipment list. The brands we especially recommend include Hobart and Fagor.
Deck Ovens
If your menu is heavily focused on crafting the perfect pizza, a deck oven might be one of the top choices for your kitchen. They’re an excellent choice when you want perfectly melted cheese with a beautifully crisp crust. They distribute heat evenly, and you can get models that are either gas or electric. If you want something a little more unique, you could also opt for a wood-fired pizza. Our top brand recommendations for deck ovens include Moretti Forni and BakerMax.
How Do I Choose the Right Pasta Maker for My Italian Restaurant?
While you can order pasta for your restaurant, there’s something more unique about making it from scratch. Adding pasta maker equipment to your kitchen is worth considering, though there are a few features and capabilities that you’ll want to look for when choosing the best option for your restaurant.
Capacity and Speed
When it comes to pasta, chances are, you’ll need a lot of volume. You’ll want to look for a pasta maker that can churn out high volumes while doing so at a decent speed. Calculating how much you go through in a day is important in finding the best option for your business to ensure your needs are met. We recommend looking at electric models that can handle high turnover, like those from ElectMax and Apuro.
Versatility
To maximise the potential your menu has, you’ll also want to look at pasta makers that come with multiple attachments to give you more versatility. From spaghetti and ravioli to fusilli and penne, having more options is a beneficial feature to have.
Ease of Cleaning
As with any kitchen appliance, your pasta maker will also need to be cleaned regularly to maintain food safety and hygiene standards. Look for a model that can be easily disassembled for simple and thorough cleaning. Stainless steel options are especially good for this. Due to their more durable materials and construction, stainless steel pasta makers also maintain their shape and quality over time.
What Types of Commercial Fridges are Best for Italian Restaurants?
Along with cooking and food preparation, you’ll also need a good refrigeration setup to ensure everything is kept fresh. There are a few fridge models we particularly recommend adding to your Italian restaurant’s set-up.
Commercial Fridges
A spacious commercial fridge is an essential part of any kitchen. Whether you’re storing fruits and vegetables, fresh or cured meats or various cheeses, you’ll need a reliable option to ensure quality. We recommend looking at options from brands including Williams, Thermaster, and Skope. They have a broad range of sizes and shapes, giving you plenty of options to find the right one for the space in your kitchen.
Pizza Prep Fridges
Pizza preparation fridges are the perfect option for keeping ingredients at hand while also creating space to put your pizzas together. With under-bench style storage that’s full of compartments to keep ingredients separated, they save space while also helping to streamline the assembly process in the kitchen. Options from Williams and FED-X are our top picks in this category.
Under Bench Fridges
If you already have a solid bench set up for food preparation but need more comprehensive refrigeration solutions, under-bench fridges are the perfect option. They help utilise what can sometimes be empty space, giving you faster access to essential ingredients while you work. Consider options from FED-X and AG Equipment, which both offer compact and convenient models to suit every kitchen.
Wine Fridges
Italian food pairs beautifully with wine, so you’ll want to ensure you’re serving your wines at the optimal temperature. Having a wine fridge with variable temperature controls ensures you can adjust and refine how chilled everything is while also keeping your wines in better condition. Consider models from Grand Cru or, once again, Thermaster if you’re looking for a high-quality wine fridge.
What Equipment is Essential for an Italian Cuisine?
Pasta Cookers
A must-have for any restaurant that needs to be able to prepare large quantities of pasta is a commercial pasta cooker. A staple in any Italian restaurant’s menu, these appliances ensure your pasta is cooked evenly, quickly and efficiently without sticking or becoming too soft. They’re programmable, allowing you to set exactly how long you’d like your pasta to cook for.
The result is an abundance of perfectly al dente pasta. You can opt for gas-powered models from brands like Zanussi, Fagor and GasMax. Or, if you prefer electric, we recommend looking at models from Apuro and Roband. Many pasta cookers can also be used to blanch vegetables as well, making them a multipurpose tool that can help expand your menu possibilities while also saving on labour time.
Espresso Machine
There are few things more quintessentially Italian than an espresso or cappuccino, meaning a commercial coffee machine is another essential appliance for your Italian kitchen. Whether you’re making coffee throughout the day or mixing up an espresso martini for patrons in the evening, you need a machine that can keep up with high demand!
There are plenty of outstanding coffee machine machine manufacturers to choose from. Our top picks include Wega, La Marzocco and Bezzera.
What Utensils Do the Italians Use?
Parmesan Graters
Whether you’re using parmesan as a garnish to add that perfect finishing touch or grating it fresh as you serve your pasta, parmesan grater equipment is an essential element for an Italian kitchen. The ultimate and arguably best-known Italian cheese is well-loved and adds that extra flavour that brings your pasta dishes to life. When choosing the best parmesan graters, pick one that’s both easy to use with his hard cheese but also easy to clean at the end of the shift.
Gnocchi Board Equipment
If you’re adding gnocchi to your menu and making it from scratch, gnocchi board equipment will make a world of difference in getting the perfect shape. It adds the ridges on the outside that help the sauce cling to your pasta, making for a better customer experience both taste-wise and aesthetically.
Olive Oil Dispenser
Another iconic addition to any Italian dish is high-quality olive oil. Whether you drizzle over fresh antipasti, as a garnish for pasta or serve it as a dip for freshly baked bread, you’ll want to have an olive oil dispenser at hand. Make sure to choose an option that’s airtight and can be sealed to maintain the flavour and integrity of your oil. You’ll also want to make sure it’s easy to clean and refill when it runs out.
Cheese Maker
Adding homemade cheeses like ricotta and mozzarella to your menu can add a unique flavour and edge to your meals. Both of these are surprisingly easy to make yourself without requiring a lot of specialty equipment. You can create your own cheese in-house with the use of pots, pans and cheese cloths. Explore some recipes online and consider your options for cheese-making equipment in the kitchenware department.
Pizza Peels
When you’re dealing with the incredibly high heat that deck ovens generate, you’ll want a pizza peel to safely insert and remove your pizzas. There are a couple of different shapes when it comes to pizza peels. Ones with rounded corners are usually the best for inserting and rotating your pizza to get evenly distributed heat.
Once they’re done cooking and are ready to remove, you’re best off taking them out with a square pizza peel. You’ll also want to consider heat-protective gear like oven mitts and aprons to make sure your hands are protected while you’re handling fresh pizzas.
Next Steps
If you’re ready to transform the way your Italian restaurant kitchen runs with new appliances but need help choosing, please contact the team at REO for support. We’ll help you narrow down your options and create the perfect setup, with recommendations that match your unique needs. You can reach us via email at sales@restaurantequipment.com.au or give us a call now at 1300 35 25 45!