Types of Commercial Toasters

There are three primary types of commercial toasters - the Pop-up Commercial Toaster, the Conveyor Commercial Toaster, and the Bun-Grilling Commercial Toaster.

Whether you are operating a coffee shop, diner, restaurant or catering hall, a great commercial toaster is essential for providing your customers with a consistent dining experience.

The right toaster for you and your commercial establishment will depend upon several factors that include the types of bread products best suited to the toaster, as well as the toaster's speed, toasting capacity, electricity usage and spatial requirements. Let's take a closer look. 

 

Commercial Pop-Up Toasters

Commercial Pop-Up toasters are a stronger, more durable version of the pop-up toaster typically found in a residential kitchen.

This type of commercial toaster is excellent for toasting bread, English muffins, bagel halves and Texas Toast while generally utilizing only slightly more than one square foot of counter space.

Capacities of Commercial Pop-Up toasters can range from fifty to many hundreds of slices per hour with an electricity requirement typically of 120 volts. Most Commercial Pop-up toasters have two or four slots into which the bread is dropped and heated.

A timer controls toasting time, resulting in consistent desired outcomes of crispness. Capacities of pop-up toasters vary, with light duty pop-up toasters capable of producing 75 slices per hour.

However, these toasters are not commercially rated, and are vulnerable to burnout if subjected to heavy use over time. Medium duty commercial pop-up toasters can produce up to 150 slices per hour and are commercially rated for coffee shops, office buildings and hotel breakfast buffets.

Heavy duty commercial pop-up toasters are equipped with heavier frames and more durable heating elements that allow these toasters to produce up to five hundred slices per hour over extended periods of time without becoming subject to burnout.

Elite Restaurant Group offers several different models of heavy-duty Cadco commercial pop-up toasters worthy of your attention that can suit your needs. 

 

Conveyor Commercial Toasters

If your establishment serves a lot of toast within a short period of time, a commercial conveyor toaster offers greater capacity and speed than a commercial pop-up toaster.

Conveyor toasters are larger, taking up as much as two square feet of counter space, but their larger size helps deliver greater speed and efficiency. Conveyor toasters produce 300-1500 slices of toast per hour, and are suited for breads of many sizes, bagels and English muffins.

The bread is loaded into a feed area at the front of the unit, the conveyor draws the bread through heating elements toward the back of the unit, before depositing the toast down a slanted chute where it can be retrieved at the bottom of the unit.

Conveyor toasters do use more electricity than pop-up toasters, with many models requiring 208 or 240 volts, though Elite Restaurant Group does offer models requiring only 120 volts.

Commercial Conveyor toasters are well suited for catering operations, busy restaurants and larger breakfast buffets. Features will vary somewhat, with the size of the opening of the feed area ranging from 1 1/2 to 3 inches, something that should be taken into account when considering which size and types of bread you will be toasting.

Heating elements can often be controlled or turned off to vary the degree of toasting on either side, and the speed of the conveyor belt can be adjusted to control the crispness of the final product, with a slower conveyor belt speed leading to enhanced crispness.

If counter space is an issue, some commercial conveyor toasters can attach to a wall via a compatible wall mount kit.

 

Bun Grilling Toasters

A final type of commercial toaster is the bun grilling toaster, which is well suited for high-volume sandwich shops that toast many buns and hero/sub halves, as well as for toasting bagels, muffins and other larger sized bread products.

Bun grilling toasters utilize a griddle plate (rather than heating elements) that, in addition to traditional toasting, offers the option to butter glaze and caramelize the bread, resulting in a richer flavor that is often suitable for sandwiches and burgers.

This type of commercial toaster is large, often taking up over two square feet of counter space and 30 inches in height, while generally requiring 208 or 240 volts of electricity. Output capacity is high at 800 to 1500 slices of toast per hour, though that amount will fluctuate depending upon the bread size and whether toasting is dry or caramelized.