Asset Owner Criteria
Asset owners and end-users have distinct requirements that should be considered when selecting a communal barbecue. Asset owners are mainly concerned with ongoing cleaning, maintenance, and usage costs. Considerations should include:
- Concentrating the barbecue facilities in a cabinet with multiple hotplates rather than numerous single plate units. Utilities will be brought to a single point, reducing installation costs and the number of cleaning locations.
- Ensuring the cooktop is light enough to be removed and serviced by one person to reduce service and repair costs
- Barbecues must be able to quickly a full plate of food in a single cooking cycle to allow quick user turnover. Low-powered barbecues can take twice as long while consuming the same power.
- A barbecue with remote monitoring and diagnostic capabilities will reduce downtime, complaints, and maintenance costs.
End-user Criteria
Barbecue users have very different requirements and are concerned more with food hygiene and cooking performance.
- Gas cooking is considered the “gold standard” due to its fast heating and responsiveness. Ensure that electric alternatives are powerful enough to replicate this performance and meet barbecue user expectations
- The amount of energy required to cook food is a constant figure. This energy can be delivered slowly by stewing food or quickly by grilling. Ensure that the barbecue can perform adequately under real-world conditions
- Outdoor barbecues are exposed to wind that can remove heat from the cooking surface. Use a hood wherever possible, and ensure the barbecue is powerful enough to compensate for any wind.
- Uneven heating can burn food in hot spots and harbour bacteria in cold ones. Stainless steel is generally a poor heat conductor requiring an additional copper or a similar layer. The recycled 4622 stainless steel used in Christie cooktops offer exceptional heat dispersal.