Cafeteria equipment

[fan-of-fans]

What kind of equipment does/did your school cafeteria have? I was always fascinated by the cafeteria stuff.

I remember my high school had:
Alto-Shaam warming ovens
Blodgett convection oven and also a Blodgett-Combi oven
Keating deep fryers, also had auto basket raising and lowering (loved watching those things go up and down)
I think there was a tilting skillet also and a kettle
Captive Air exhaust hood
And I'm not sure what kind of stove

The junior high also had the Alto-Shaams, Blodgett Combi oven, and one Keating fryer, and also a kettle and a two burner solid element range, n&#92maybe a Cleveland steamer.

The serving lines all had mobile units that said Shellyglas on them. There were steam tables, regular counters and counters with recessed bottoms that would get cold for serving milk

 

[firedome]

good heavens!

that was 50 to 60 years ago... I'm lucky to remember my name! Only thing I recall from then was where the cafeteria line started LOL.

 

[norgeway]

Our School

Lower Creek Elementary in Lenoir NC, had all Hotpoint equipment ,except for a convection oven that I don't remember what it was, but they also had a Hobart buffalo chopper and mixer and dish machine, as far as I know most of this was original to the building, 1951.Everything was electric, No gas.

 

[tolivac]

Like another on here-school was 60 yrs ago-can't remember.Never got to see most of their equipment.In college,however,remember the place where you rinsed off your dishes and then put them in one of those pass thru racks-the rinse sink had a Red Goat Disposer-sometimes someone would "rinse" a utensil down it-the clattering would wake the dead-but that disposer ate the utensil-It had like a 10Hp motor!!Was overkill for that place!!

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Don't forget he mile-long Hobart dishwashing machine...! I remember the rinser with WASTE KING written at the base... (Suggesting a Waste King disposal underneath?)

-- Dave

 

[tolivac]

WK rinse station-yes,bet there is a commercial-industrial WK disposer underneath.Also ISE and Hobart made heavy duty disposers for large food establishments.Unlike home disposer these had replaceable cutters and the height of the rotating shredder could be adjusted to compensate for shredder wear.When the shredders were worn out of adjustment range-then they were replaced.Ad many of these giant disposers were made with offset hoppers-so a bone,utensil could not be thrown into the operators face!

 

[fan-of-fans]

Oh yes, I remember the yellow and green plastic-like trays that we had to return when finished, and the ladies spraying them down before they went in the dishwasher.

Never went in the college kitchen, but most of our college food was pretty bad (greasy) - and overpriced. The school stuff was much better.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

School Kitchens:

In elementary school they had Vulcan convection ovens and stove. There was a Groen tilt braiser, Hobart Mixer, Hobart VCM, and Vulcan dishwasher.
Wk78

 

[circlew]

I remember seeing Hobart dishwashers and disposers, and GE or Hotpoint commercial ranges. I don't know who made the serving line equipment, other that the pans were Vollrath.

 

[lordkenmore]

All I really remember is the stench...

The jr. high boys' locker room, shut up for the summer, was past odoriferous, but was probably more pleasant some days than the cafeteria.

My one concrete memory is high school, watching the dishwasher. Food--more accurately, what they alleged was food--was served on trays. Those trays would get put into racks, and then the racks shoved into the dishwasher. Assembly line. I think the DW was Hobart.

I also have a vague memory of Hobart mixers someplace.

And my elementary school had in a back hall, near the kitchen, a large walk-in refrigerator.

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Red Goat disposals and mile long Hobart dishwashers:

I do remember those. We had one @ the Airport hotel I worked in. It was a 5hp unit and could grind up anything that included dishes and utinsels that went down it. It had it's own water feed system and auto shut down timer.   We also had the mile long Hobart flight dishwasher. You had to get quite aggressive with loading it to keep up. I usually did that job.
WK78

 

[retromania]

Big Commercial Mixer

A big Hobart commercial mixer in a institutional green color. I was in love!

 

[whirlykenmore78]

Green mixer and my College classroom:

Big GREEN? HB mixer, AFAIK they all came from the factory grey. This machine was either repainted or a custom order.

We had a very well equipped classroom in Culinary School. We were equipped as follows:
4 Hobart and 1 KA mixers, 1 double Blodgett and 1 GE convection ovens, 1 Hobart meat saw, 1 4 deck Blodgett bake oven, 1 GE flattop grill with oven, 1 Garland range with 4 burners, hottop and salamander, 1 double Garland infrared broiler, 1 Hobart dishwasher, 2 ISE disposals, 3 Vulcan 6 burner stoves with STD oven, Several Hobart and Traulsen coolers/freezers, 1 Oliver bread slicer, 1 Rondo dough divider/rounder, 1 Hobart vacuum marianater, 1 Robot Coupe processor, Hobart slicer and buffalo chopper.
WK78

 

[abcomatic]

stoves

At the elementary school that I taught, they have South Bend gas stoves and a Hobart dishwasher. They also had a potato washer/peeler and still have a huge mixer, both made by Hobart. The refrigeration equipment is of the walk-in variety with compressors on the top.

At the high school, they had Vulcan stoves, a Hobart dishwasher and three huge Whirlpool chest freezers.

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

I've gone from elementary schools using ordinary home appliances (vintage '50's Frigidaires, to '60's Westinghouse & even Whirlpool, the latter viewed in one kitchen at one elementary school I must have visited, not attended) to Junior & Senior High, using commercial kitchens w/ commercial equipment of mainly the Hobart variety, which even made it into my daughter's elementary schools (the one she now primarily as a Kindergarten student attends, as well as one she'd briefly gone to, in some weekly program, before beginning Grade School) and I believe, most likely the latter here, mentioned, housed a stacked front load washer/dryer combo in the maintenance office/work shop (for washing & drying cleaning rags, or an occasional student's excessively dirty clothes?)...

 

 

-- Dave