Refurbished Commercial Cooking Equipment

You'll get a machine that works and shows its age. There may be scratches and dents, from transit, from the kitchen or showroom it came out of, or from being moved around a warehouse. Light marks on stainless are normal and they aren't a fault, and that's part of why the price is cheaper than brand new.

Every unit is checked for corrosion, dents, warping and failed welds, then for the moving parts — castors, hinges, doors and handles. Damage is repaired where the repair leaves the unit safe and lasting, wear and tear components are replaced, and the machine is cleaned, tested and verified in working condition before it is relisted for sale. The condition of a particular machine is described on its own product page, along with the warranty terms for it.

Three different histories, and the product title usually says which one you're looking at. Refurbished units have worked in a kitchen and been through inspection, repair and testing before they are relisted for sale. Ex-showroom and ex-display units were built and put on show but never ran a service, so their wear is normally cosmetic. Clearance stock is surplus or run-out product being cleared out, and it hasn't done any work.

All three are sold at REO and all three can have scratches and dents. If two similar machines are priced oddly far apart, history is usually the reason.

There's no fixed percentage. It depends on the original specification, the age and hours on it, how much work the unit needed and how sought after that model still is. A high-end combi oven can save you a great deal against list price, while a simple benchtop griddle saves less, because it was never expensive to start with. REO prices on refurbished cooking equipment are sharp.

Renting is the other route. With Silverchef Rent-Try-Buy you rent the machine instead of paying for it upfront, so the cash stays in the rest of the fit-out and the payments are an operating expense. When the business is ready you can buy the unit out or move up to a bigger model.

Warranty terms are shown on each machine's own product page, because they depend on how old it is, where it came from and what condition it's in. It isn't the same warranty that new stock carries, and that's part of what you're trading for the price.

A warranty period isn't a guess at how long the machine will last. A well built commercial machine that's been properly refurbished and looked after will run for years past any warranty term. What tells you more is whether parts are still made for that model, whether the wear and tear components were replaced or only checked, and whether the brand has service agents in Australia. Ask us if the product page doesn't say.

Yes. Every product is inspected, tested and verified in working condition before it is relisted for sale, and what the test involves depends on the machine. An oven is run up and its controls worked through their range. A griddle or chargrill is fired to check the plate heats right across. A bain marie is filled and brought up to holding temperature.

Gas appliances have a second stage and it happens at your site. A licensed gasfitter connects the unit, leak tests the connection and checks the burners once it's in position, so build that visit into your timeline, because the machine isn't ready to cook the day it lands.

Look at the parts that wear and the parts that cost. Door seals and hinges first, because a seal is cheap but a warped door or a dropped hinge isn't. Then the fan and its motor, the temperature probe, and the controls through their full range. If it's a boiler model, scale is what eventually kills it, so ask about the water where it last worked and plan on a filter wherever you put it.

Then check the model is still supported. Unox, Convotherm, Fagor and Rational all have service agents in Australia, which makes them a safer buy than an unfamiliar import at the same money. A fault is only an inconvenience if you can get the part for it.

Confirm the gas type first, because none of this is easy to change on a second-hand machine. The appliance is built and jetted for either natural gas or LPG, and swapping it over is a licensed gasfitter's job, if the conversion kit even exists for an older model. Then power: check whether it's single or three phase, and on plug-in units check the plug itself, because a 15 amp plug won't go into a 10 amp socket.

Then measure the gap and the path to it. Used machines often arrive on a stand or castors, but the unit still has to come through the door, around the corner and under the canopy. Leave yourself room for airflow and for cleaning behind it.

Yes. The ventilation rules follow the appliance, not its price or its history. Commercial cooking appliances need mechanical exhaust above them once the total input gets to 8 kW or more, and that total takes in equipment you might not expect, a commercial dishwasher among them. A second-hand six burner range puts out as much heat and moisture as a new one.

If you're adding a used machine to an existing line, check the canopy actually covers it, then check the total under that hood hasn't grown past what the system was built to shift. The filters need pulling and washing on a schedule too, because a clogged filter is the most common reason a canopy stops working properly.

Wear and tear components, mostly, and they're at the cheap end — thermostats and thermocouples, door seals, elements, knobs, castors and pilot assemblies. On anything that makes steam, scale does the damage, and that comes from your water more than from the machine. On griddles and chargrills it's the plate and the radiants that take the punishment.

A discontinued model with no parts behind it is what costs real money, which is why brand and model matter more on a used machine than on a new one. Ask what was replaced during the refurbishment, not just what was checked. Scratches and dents are disclosed and priced in, but a burner that won't stay alight isn't, so raise anything like that with us before delivery.

Installation first. Gas needs a licensed gasfitter, plus a bayonet and a commercial hose if the unit rolls out for cleaning, and three phase electric needs a licensed electrician. Neither is in the price of the machine and neither can be skipped.

Then the parts and consumables that don't come with it — gastronorm pans and trays, a water filter for anything that steams, oven and grill cleaner, a griddle scraper and stones, and a spare set of canopy filters to rotate. Buy the gastronorm pans from the same supplier as the oven or bain marie they go into, because slight differences between brands mean the fit isn't guaranteed. If you're building a whole section, match the bench heights and widths across the cooktops, chargrills and griddles first, because refurbished units only come in the sizes they were built in.

You will see used commercial cooking equipment used for the same kind of equipment. The name changes with the supplier and the region, not the job it does. Compare models on capacity, construction and the specification on each product page, and check the full refurbished commercial cooking equipment range to see every option side by side.