These are the best hot holdings for cafes for keeping consumables hot all day long at the safe temperatures for restaurants. They are good for holding foods for hours and keeping them fresh for longer periods of time. They can save money in the long run by greatly reducing food waste. They are also great to use for holding foods for orders that are made online that may take some time before it actually reaches the customer. One of the selections (the espresso machine) can actually bypass hot holding by using other methods that make hot holding less of an issue.
1. Breville Barista Touch Espresso Machine
This is a must have for any cafe that sells coffee, cappuccinos, or lattes. It is great for its simplicity and speed of making these types of drinks. It is easy to use for all employees. It can hot hold the water for making espresso drinks after it is plugged in and turned on after about 10 minutes. After the espresso machine has warmed up, it reaches the temperatures for brewing coffee thereafter, extremely fast.
It has a coffee bean grinder at the top of the machine where coffee beans can be placed in and grinded into the portafilter/portaholder below it. Furthermore, it has a nob on the side and inside the grinder that can be adjusted further to refine the grinding of the coffee beans even further. It can take the coffee beans with the grinder, or coffee bean powder that has been placed directly in the portaholder.
The bottom has a tray similar to a fountain drink machine for catching spillage.
The Beville espresso machine comes with a steam wand that will quickly heat and froth the milk for making cappuccino and latte. It has a self clean feature that can switch from milk frothing and regular water for rinsing after every use. This keeps the steam wand from building gunk in it over time after frequent usage, that will make it more difficult to clean. It does come with a 16 ounce metal cup to use with the steam wand for frothing milk.
One of the best parts about the espresso machine is its ability to store/save previously made drinks on the touch screen, and with a touch of a button, automatically make the drink. Up to 8 different custom coffee drinks can be stored and held on the screen and made quick and easily. This means that drinks from the main menu can possibly be stored unto the machine.
There is a large water tank on it for holding the water, and it comes with Claro Swiss water filter for clean water to reduce mineral build up.
2. Hamilton Beach Commercial Stainless Steel Coffee Urn
The Hamilton Beach steel coffee urn is excellent for hot holding water and coffee alike. This means large amounts of hot drinkable water can be stored or prepared with ease. It is very easy to use, and one of them can hold 3¾ gallons of water or coffee, keeping it nice and hot throughout the cafe working hours.
The coffee urn also brews coffee automatically after it is filled with water and the coffee powder. There is a meter that will always display how much coffee is left in the urn, so it is easy to tell when it is running low.
It has a lock-on lid, and a hands free dispenser that can be pressed with the cup instead of the hands to help further prevent any cross contamination.
Multiple urns can be used to hot hold coffee and can work well in combination with an espresso machine.
3. KoolMore 34″ Countertop Food Warmer
This countertop food warmer is made for cafes, and is perfect for hot holding breakfast foods, sandwiches, and other snacks throughout the day. It is a heated aesthetic display cabinet that uses a filled water pan to keep the hot food in it fresh longer by preventing the food from drying out.
It can sit on a restaurant counter for customers to see the food, but prevents them from touching and grabbing the food with a back entry only for placing and removing the goods.
The temperature can be set from 85 degrees Fahrenheit up to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing the food to stay in and above safe temperatures for passing health inspections. The current temperature it is heated to displayed digitally on the countertop food warmer.
This steam table works great for not only hot holding up to 5 food items, but also as a prep or serving table. It has a storage at the bottom of it, and a cutting table at the top, next to the steam tables. Each of the built-in steam tables also have their own temperature regulators, so each food can be set at the optimum heat.
The steam table can come as a 3 size table, a 4 size table, or a 5 size for both large and small restaurants. It has a see through display that allows the customers to see what they are ordering if the steam table is being used as a serving table. It is also used as a sneeze guard. The very top of the guard can be used a counter to pick up orders that are ready to serve.
It was selected as one of the best hot holdings for restaurants because of its awesome versatility and utility. It can be set up as a buffet table too.
5. KoolMore 48″ Countertop Food Warmer
This is a larger more spacious version of the KoolMore 34″ countertop food warmer. It designed for hot holding larger food items with the same technology as the first. It also has the 85 degrees Fahrenheit to 185 degrees Fahrenheit range with the digital temperature display, but it has a door in the front for placing and grabbing the food as opposed to the back. This larger cabinet is still made for cafes, but better suited for utility in the kitchen instead of the front counter.
It can still be used by customers for storing large amounts of packaged food at one time for a morning, lunch, or dinner rush. It would work well for preparing foods in advanced and keeping them fresh in this heated cabinet right before getting slammed with a ton of hungry customers getting out of or going to school/work.
All of the hot-hold equipment works great for hot holding foods and drinks in restaurants, and are sometimes bought in pairs to fulfill the restaurant needs.
