Anyone know any good craftsman?

cjewell

Bronze
Oct 11, 2004
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I need to purchase a Mr. Sub/Subway style sort of buffet case - one side keeping food warm, the other side keeping food cold. A friend who owns a restaurant in Santiago said you cant buy them readily made and that he had his built and hasn't seen the guy who built it in more than a year.

Do any of you know anyone capable of building what I am describing?
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
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i would purchase rather than make. labour is cheap but building to specifications is not necessarily a forte here. on the other hand there are many folks who fail in their business venture and selling the equipment. i would also check with mudanceros. we had some large house equipment brought here this way.
 
May 29, 2006
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Personally, I think a buffet set up in the DR is a recipe for food poisoning, esp if it's going to be out for more than an hour.

But if that's what you want to do, I'd start with an Igloo cooler and make a cut out for a hotel pan. You'd need a supply for ice. If you go with refrigeration, I'd start with the standard beer coolers you see with side doors or ideally, a deli unit. I'd expect to pay about $1000 for the unit, unmodified and used.

Plan on some kind of window or sneeze guard.

In the US, the spec for hot buffet items is they have to be cooked to 150? for most foods(165? for chicken), then held at 135?-140?. Most buffet items will brown with those temps. Anything cold should be held at 33?-40?.

For the hot side, I think you'd do best with rice cookers or crock pots with lids. If you can source an induction cooker, you can put a deep hotel pan onto it as a water bath for smaller hotel pans, like three third pans, if you can find those. You can go really simple with an immersion coil in the bottom in the water, but it will prob burn out quickly, like every other week. You can put it on a dimmer plug to adjust the heat. I think an electric hot plate would be too hard to adjust to the simmer you'd want. An induction cooker would be ideal, but I don't think you could find one down there.


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Criss Colon

Platinum
Jan 2, 2002
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yahoomail.com
Must be available used.
Those business go bust all the time.
Look for a used dealer, or person.
Depending on "Electricity" is both expensive, and risky here, as you must be aware.
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I Do wish you good luck,but please keep us informed of your "Journey" here.
 

cjewell

Bronze
Oct 11, 2004
1,160
0
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Really good points. Trust me I wont poison anyone =) I need to get a refrigerated system - I mean Bon has one (more of a freezer) but something like that. Thank you for all the great information. Also - electricity is a real issue. I have to investigate that more. I had one month where my AC in my apartment skyrocketed over 9000RD!!!!