Optimizing High-Performance Cooking and Ventilation in Commercial Kitchens

Typical commercial kitchen cooklines consist of 10 to 15 appliances and consume on average 18,500 therms per year. Frontier Energy collaborated with California utilities to replace the equipment in five commercial cooklines with high-efficiency cooking equipment. Frontier Energy sub-metered existing cooking equipment and ventilation systems to identify the most energy-intensive appliances: underfired broilers, steamers, ovens, and fryers. We replaced the equipment with new technologies we already tested in our Food Service Technology Center lab. Gas appliances were easy to replace, but other equipment required additional electrical connections or upgraded water filtration. Many pieces of equipment required multiple training sessions with cookline staff. By replacing appliances with energy efficient models and optimizing ventilation systems, each site saved thousands of dollars in energy and water costs. Beyond the monetary savings, advanced controls allowed cooks to see fryer oil temperatures in real time and set cooking timers. Thermostatic griddles with consistent temperature control improved food quality. Energy-efficient ovens resulted in uniform cooking and replacement combi ovens allowed restaurants to expand their menu with additional dishes. Energy-efficient appliances reduced the heat load and demand-control ventilation reduced fan noise, which made the kitchen more comfortable for staff. This study demonstrated that strategic appliance replacement and ventilation optimization can reduce a cookline’s gas energy use by about 35%.

Frontier Energy:

• Identified foodservice facilities to participate in the evaluation and installed data loggers on their existing cookline to create a baseline energy use by appliance at each facility.
• Replaced each piece of baseline appliance with a new technology, collected energy data again, and worked with restaurants to understand the effect on food quality or cook time.
• Worked with the equipment manufacturers so they could use project findings to promote sales of energy-efficient equipment.
• Conducted a cost-benefit analysis to identify equipment that may need rebates to overcome the increased up-front cost to the operator.
• Provided detailed data to utilities to support their existing energy-efficiency programs and widen emerging technology programs.