How To

Most restaurants are short on storage space. It's an age-old problem and comes with only one solution: making a plan and sticking to it.

January 4th is National Trivia Day. The term “trivia” has come to refer to obscure and arcane bits of dry knowledge, as well as nostalgic remembrances of pop culture. The first trivia contests were held on college campuses and known as "quiz bowls," testing knowledge of cultural references and useless information. These types of contest became more mainstream with the introduction of the game Trivial Pursuit, which allowed us to challenge each other in the comfort of our own living rooms. While these boardgame versions of Trivial Pursuit may have peaked in the 1980's, trivia games in general were just getting started. Computers, gaming systems, and tabletop tablets brought trivia games into the 21st century, making trivia contests a fun and popular part of bar and restaurant culture.

One of the questions often put to food blogs during the holidays revolves around how to serve all of your food hot when the turkey takes up most of the oven space. Here are some tricks and tips to help.

When your business has been flooded, damaged in a hurricane, or severely affected by water through some other means, your first concern as you begin cleanup should be the presence of mold. Mold can not only irreparably damage your building and equipment, it can also affect your health. This danger, and the effort it takes to clean up the mold, increases the longer the mold is left to grow. Now, if you find that the mold growth is extreme, your best bet is to call a professional, as they will be able to handle the mold effectively and without endangering others in the building. If the mold growth is still contained, or hasn’t started, there are several steps you can take to eliminate the spores.

Brewing delicious grain beer relies on the pH level in your mash, as this directly impacts the flavor of your beer. pH is the measurement of how acidic or alkaline a solution is. It is measured on a scale from 0-14 with 7 being a neutral reading. A pH Reading below 7 would be considered “acidic”, and a pH reading above 7 would be “basic”.

The solution to mold in cold brew coffee is so simple! It works for a home cold brew machine as well as a commercial Toddy Brew system. Sanitize it! After you brew, immediately dump the grounds into your compost container and then fill your upper cold brew chamber with water almost to the top. Mix in the proper amount of sanitation as directed by your sanitizer. Make certain the filter is still in place between the chambers. That little screen filter is the perfect spot for mold spores to produce and hide.

Popcorn machines are everywhere now, and not just as a money maker for concession stands. Corporate America has started using them as a relationship builder, as well as to help appeal and attract the best employees; many offices have added commercial popcorn machines and keep the popcorn hot, popped, and free as an employee “perk” all day long. Service businesses have incorporated popcorn machines into their lobbies and waiting rooms, providing free popcorn in an effort to build a better relationship with their customers.

As the smothering heat of summer draws to a close and the crisp fall weather begins, people start to crave and anticipate the foods and events they associate with this temperate, colorful time of the year. These activities vary greatly, ranging from hoarsely cheering on your home team at Friday night football games to beautifully decorating (or attempting to) pumpkins at fall festivals. For most of these activities, some kind of monetary transaction is taking place, and that’s where popcorn comes into play. Whether you are manning a booth at a fall festival or running your school’s concession stand, one of your main goals is to attract customers and encourage them to spend. A easy way to do this is by using freshly popped popcorn – the smell is both enticing and pervasive (so for all intents and purposes it markets itself), and it is fairly simple to make and distribute.

If you are reading this article, you probably already know what alarm we are talking about – the Volition reach-in refrigeration units all come with a condenser cleaning alarm that is set to go off every 6 months. While extremely helpful in case cleaning your condenser is something you tend to postpone, it can also be annoying if you don't know how to turn it off. Don’t worry, it's extremely simple to reset.

The holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years can provide considerable extra revenue for restaurants, bars, and caterers. Putting together your marketing plan now will serve to maximize your efforts and profits. Digital marketing efforts to increase holiday bookings include two strategies: paid and organic.