Field Kitchen

[RETREVR]

I am tired of coming up with tricks in order to provide good hot food on location.
Cambros are great for some things. I have a bunch of hot hold electric boxes. Butane burners are surprisingly good. 6' grills are handy.
I always thought I could do dinners for hundreds without a real kitchen on site....and I can. But why?
Rushing across town just in time with food. Finishing food in shams. Having potatoes loose their crisp.
Banquet standard techniques produce banquet food. People know banquet food when they see it.

Ovens and fryers are the real problem.

Why do I jump through these hoops every day?

No more playing around.
I am converting full convection ovens to propane and getting a propane fryer. I am dropping the ovens down on casters and putting propane burners on the tops. No more soggy potatoes. No more transporting salmon. No more excuses. The big plated dinners are going to have a big commercial kitchen out in the alley.

So anyway.
Anybody know what the consumption rate is on a convection oven? The rental houses hook them up to 100# LP tanks.
I need 30-45 minutes warm-up and 2-3 hours run time. So 4 hours total. Is this do-able with a 100# tank?

Is there a good way to transport a fryer? I wonder if there is an ideal container that i could use for the oil? or I might be able to get my stainless steal guy build a lid with a vent.

I have a truck with a liftgate, so I can roll all my gear on and off

[m brown]

I live on a block without gas so it's either electric or propane.
I would contact a propane dealer and get the proper fittings and proper pressure etc... (yellow Pages)
Best way to transport a fryer is empty! Carry your oil, fill and dump into a safe metal container at the end of the gig.
Happy Trails!

[RETREVR]

I have the LP conversion kit coming from Duke for the specific model. I think it is an orifice and a gas valve. After that, I think I can have a propane shop or plumber instal the disconect hose from the back of the oven to the tank.
Natural gas runs at about 3"WC and propane runs at about 10"WC.
I think I could do most of it myself, but I will get it done by a pro, for liability reasons.
I just bought a double stack Vulcan for $350 that will replace the Duke in the kitchen. If the Duke works out, I will buy another double stack and split them so I will have three. My lift van is too short for a double stack. I could even run them behind my HQ kitchen for overflow baking if I needed to.
Anyway, for the price I am paying for ovens, it is a no brainer. If I were paying three grand a peice it might be a different story. If I can get them up and running for five or six hundred, I will set up three or four. I think I can own the ovens for not much more than it would cost to rent them for a night or two.
I realy want burners on top so that they will be more versatile, but I may just buy a few cheap four burner conventional saute units instead.

There are so many benefits.
I am doing an octoberfest. Instead of heating a ton of food and holding it, I can fire what I need. This reduces waste and increases food safety. Food quality improves. More menu items will become practical for me to do properly.

[1dessertdiva]

Hi
I have done several events where a deep fryer was necessary, I have used three different options depending on the size of the event.
I have used the portable propane tank with the wok ring and wok, small household black & decker units and the commercial deep fryer they all have worked fine depending on volume.
The small household units actually have a pretty quick system considering the paces we have put them through, I find two of them generally serve the purpose.
Hope that helps,
1Dessertdiva

[bbally]

I have three field kitchens and am building a fourth.

Fryer should be hauled empty. I have a double converted to propane, this appliance will consume the most propane when you are blowing and going.

For the permanent kitchen trailers I have two 100 pounders on the tongue. But for the portable trailers I carry two 40 pounders in each. Never have run out of propane. But we limit the portables to serving 650 people. Over that and I drag in a portable kitchen.

Ovens won't use a lot of propane once they are up to temp. Of course it depends on the oven, but for the most part they are pretty good on consumption. The flat top is a propane user. Especially for breakfasts. But there again I have never run out using 40 pounders.

I am presently building a new 24 foot portable kitchen.