Hospitals and care facilities
Strict timing, special diets and clean-dirty separation. Cook-chill, tray assembly and reliable wash-up are the core.
Central and industrial kitchens · SUS304
Industrial Kitchen Solutions in Dubai
An industrial kitchen solution is a kitchen planned around volume: receiving, cold store, preparation, batch cooking, chilling, dispatch and wash-up laid out as one flow. FIAMMA supplies the batch-cooking, cold, wash-up and custom SUS304 stainless equipment for central kitchens, staff catering and institutional catering, planned together with your consultant.
An industrial kitchen is not a bigger restaurant kitchen. A restaurant cooks to order for a few hundred covers a day. A central or industrial kitchen cooks to a schedule for thousands of meals, often for other places to serve, and what decides success is flow: where food enters, how it moves, how long it waits and how quickly it is chilled or dispatched.
This page covers who needs an industrial kitchen, how the process flow works, how to estimate throughput, what automated kitchen equipment realistically means and how custom stainless steel fits in. We supply a defined range of equipment, so where a project needs something outside it, we say so rather than stretch the claim. If you already have a brief or a consultant's drawing, send it through the contact page.
What is an industrial kitchen solution, and who needs one?
An industrial kitchen solution is the complete set of equipment, stainless fabrication and layout needed to produce large volumes of food repeatably. It is bought as a system, not as separate items, because the weakest stage sets the output of the whole kitchen. These are the operations that usually need one:
- Hospitals and care facilities. Fixed meal times, special diets and strict hygiene routines. Cook-chill and tray assembly are common patterns.
- Staff catering and camps. Thousands of meals a day on a narrow menu. Equipment has to be robust and easy for a small team to maintain.
- Airline and institutional catering. Production for service elsewhere, with tight timing and temperature control from cooking to dispatch.
- Cloud and dark kitchen hubs. Several brands sharing preparation, cold storage and wash-up, which is where a shared layout saves the most space.
- Large caterers and central production kitchens. One base supplying many outlets or events. See our page on catering equipment for the smaller-scale version of the same model.
The process flow: from receiving to dispatch
Good industrial kitchens are laid out in a line, or a U, so that food moves forward and never crosses back over cooked or ready-to-eat product. The table follows the flow stage by stage, with the equipment that normally belongs there and the planning point most often missed.
| Stage | Equipment | Planning note |
|---|---|---|
| Receiving | Receiving dock, scales, stainless receiving tables, wash-down area | Keep it away from cooked-food routes. Check vehicle access and the temperature of arriving goods. |
| Cold and dry storage | Cold rooms, upright chillers and freezers, shelving | Size chilled volume for days of stock, not hours. Upright freezer and meat chiller cover reach-in storage; see commercial chillers and freezers. |
| Preparation | Prep tables, food processors, slicers, vegetable cutters | Separate raw meat, vegetables and ready-to-eat zones. The listed food processor is rated up to 150 kg/hour. |
| Cooking | Combi ovens, bratt pans, fryers and ranges under extraction | Match the hood to the heaviest duty on the line and add up the connected load. See kitchen hoods. |
| Blast chilling and portioning | Blast chillers, portioning tables, packing and sealing | Cook-chill depends on fast chilling. Blast chillers are not in our current product list, so ask for a quotation if you need them. |
| Dispatch | Dispatch chillers, loading bay, trolleys, labelling area | Hold at temperature until the vehicle is ready. Plan the bay width for the trolleys you actually use. |
| Wash-up | Pre-rinse, hood-type dishwasher, pot-wash sinks, grease interceptor | Keep the dirty return separate from clean production. See commercial dishwashers. |
How do you plan throughput? A method and a worked example
Throughput planning is arithmetic, and it is worth doing before any equipment is chosen. The method below works for most production kitchens. The numbers in the example are planning assumptions, so replace them with your own menu data.
- Set the daily and peak numbers. Meals per day, and meals per service window or dispatch.
- Convert to portions per hour at each stage. Divide the meals by the hours you have for cooking, chilling and washing.
- Divide by realistic unit output. Take the rated capacity of each machine and discount it for loading, cleaning and downtime.
- Add margin and a standby. Many planners allow roughly 20 percent spare capacity and a duty and standby arrangement for critical items.
- Check the total against utilities. Power, gas, water, drainage, hood airflow and floor space all have to carry the final count.
Automated kitchen equipment: what it realistically means
People searching for automated kitchen equipment usually mean one of three things: robotic cooking units, connected equipment with programs and sensors, or food-processing machines. FIAMMA does not list robotic cooking or fully automated production lines. What the range offers is the practical automation that already exists in good commercial equipment, which is where most production kitchens actually save labour and cut variation.
The table separates what each feature does from what it does not do, so you can judge it against your own labour model.
| Feature | Where you find it | What it does for you | Limits to know |
|---|---|---|---|
| Programmable cooking | Combi oven: touch-screen controls, humidity control, multi-point core probe | Stores programs so each shift gets the same result, and cooks to core temperature | Programs must be set up and staff trained. People still load and unload. |
| Automatic cleaning cycle | Combi oven automated washing cycle | Cuts manual scrubbing time at the end of a shift | Needs water, a drain and the cleaning product the manufacturer specifies. |
| Automatic dosing and timed programs | Hood-type dishwasher: dosing pump, 60, 90 and 120 second programs, booster heater | Consistent detergent and rinse aid use, and a hot final rinse at 80 to 85 °C | Racks are still loaded by hand, and hot water must be available. |
| Independent temperature control | Double-well fryer: thermostat per well, safety thermostats | Two items cooked at their own temperatures at the same time | Not an automated frying line. An operator still lifts and loads baskets. |
| Large-batch cooking | Bratt pan, 80 L, tilting | Cooks and empties a large batch in one go | The listed pan tilts by a manual handwheel and does not stir itself. |
| Digital control and monitoring | Upright freezer digital control panel and similar chiller controls | Shows and controls the set temperature | Data logging and alarms usually come from a separate monitoring system added by your contractor. |
| High-speed cutting | Food processor, up to 150 kg/hour | Handles vegetable preparation volumes that would take a team hours | Operator-fed. It is a machine, not a robot. |
Custom stainless steel for production kitchens
Industrial kitchens are rarely standard rooms, and a lot of the equipment inside them is stainless steel made to fit. FIAMMA supplies custom SUS304 fabrication to your drawing, covering the parts that catalogue equipment cannot.
The main items are work tables and infill tables between appliances, pass counters between hot and cold areas, wall shelving and cabinets, and the extraction hood over the cooking line. Our kitchen extraction hood is SUS304 at 1.2 mm with removable baffle filters, custom lengths from 1.2 m to 6 m or more and airflow up to 4,500 m³/h depending on the model, so long production lines can be covered with one or more hoods sized to the duty. The infill table is SUS304 with a 100 mm backsplash as standard.
- Draw it to the room. Production kitchens have columns, drains and doors that standard sizes ignore. Fabrication to your drawing avoids dead gaps.
- Stainless to the wash zone. Wall cladding, tables and shelving in wash and prep areas should be smooth, non-absorbent and easy to clean.
- One finish throughout. Matching SUS304 on tables, shelves and hoods makes cleaning routines simple and the kitchen easier to inspect.
- Racks, trolleys and hatches. If you need these as custom items, send the dimensions and we will confirm what can be made in your quotation.
Cold chain and wash-up at industrial scale
Two stages decide whether an industrial kitchen runs smoothly at volume: how fast cooked food is chilled, and how fast everything is washed.
- Cook-chill. Many central kitchens cook, chill quickly and reheat close to service. Commonly cited targets are to bring cooked food down to roughly 3 to 5 °C within about 90 minutes to two hours. Shallow GN pans, small portions and a proper blast chiller make that practical. Confirm the figures your plan has to meet with your food-safety consultant.
- Reach-in versus cold room. Upright units suit the line and dispatch. Bulk storage usually moves into a cold room, which is a separate build planned with your MEP team.
- Wash-up as its own line. Pot-wash, plate wash and trolley wash are separate flows at this scale. Separate dirty and clean sides stop cross-contamination.
- Hot water and drains. Both dishwashers and combi ovens put heavy demands on hot water and drainage, and a grease trap belongs under the sinks that carry fat.
- Be honest about scale. At very high volumes, larger floor-standing or conveyor equipment may be the right answer, and some of it is outside our current range. Say so in the brief and we will confirm what we can quote.
Working with your consultant, MEP contractor and the authority
On an industrial kitchen, the kitchen supplier is one member of a team. Knowing who decides what avoids most of the delays.
- The consultant sets the concept. Layout, flow, capacity and the food-safety plan come from the kitchen consultant or designer.
- The MEP contractor sets the services. Electrical load, gas, water, drainage, ventilation and make-up air.
- The authority approves the result. Dubai Municipality food-safety review and Civil Defence fire-safety review commonly apply, and requirements differ by emirate and building type. Confirm the route with your consultant and the authority rather than assume it.
- We supply and fabricate to the schedule. Send us the equipment schedule and drawings so that dimensions, utilities and hood sizes can be checked before anything is made.
- What to send. Meals per day, peak service, menu type, utility availability, the layout and any comments already received from the authority.
Maintenance planning for a kitchen that cannot stop
A central kitchen supplies other people, so downtime is expensive. Planning for maintenance is part of the equipment decision.
- Standby capacity. Keep spare capacity on the equipment whose failure stops production, such as a combi oven or a dishwasher.
- Daily and weekly routines. Hood baffle filters are commonly cleaned weekly or more often on heavy lines, and combi ovens and dishwashers need their cleaning cycles run as the manufacturer states.
- Access for service. Leave space around equipment so a technician can reach it without moving the line.
- Spare parts and service terms. Ask the supplier what spares are held and what service arrangements are available. We will state them in your quotation rather than quote a figure here.
- Simple equipment wins. In camps and staff kitchens, robust equipment that a small team can repair often beats a more complex machine.
Where it is used
Staff catering and labour camps
Thousands of meals on a narrow menu, with robust batch equipment and easy-to-clean stainless.
Airline and institutional catering
Production for service elsewhere, where chilling speed and dispatch timing matter as much as cooking.
Cloud kitchen hubs
Shared preparation, cold storage and wash-up serving several brands from one layout.
Large caterers and central production kitchens
One base supplying outlets and events, planned around throughput and dispatch.
School and corporate meal production
Fixed service windows and large single services that favour programmable ovens and a wash-up line sized to the peak.
Benefits
Planned as a flow, not a shopping list
Stages are sized against each other so no one machine caps the kitchen's output.
Honest about what automation does
Programmable ovens, dosing dishwashers and temperature control, described with their limits, not as robots.
Custom SUS304 to your room
Tables, shelves and hoods are fabricated to your drawing, so there are no dead gaps around columns and drains.
Worked arithmetic you can check
Throughput examples show every assumption, so your consultant can replace them with real data.
Fits the project team
Equipment schedules and dimensions are shared early with your consultant and MEP contractor, when changes are cheap.
Related products
Equipment from the FIAMMA range that goes with this page.
Commercial Combi Oven
High-performance smart combi oven combining convection heating and steam injection for versatile cooking, roasting, baking, and steaming. Features an advanced touch-screen control panel, automated washing cycle, precise humidity control, and multi-point core temperature probe. Ideal for high-end restaurants, hotels, and catering centers demanding consistency and speed.
Cooking EquipmentView details →
Tilting Bratt Pan
Heavy-duty tilting bratt pan designed for braising, shallow frying, boiling, stewing, and simmering large batches of food. Features a manual handwheel tilting mechanism, thick compound steel base for uniform heat distribution, and high-efficiency heating elements. Built with double-skinned insulated lid for thermal efficiency.
Cooking EquipmentView details →
Commercial Food Processor
Heavy-duty commercial food processor and vegetable prep machine. Features a wide hopper for large ingredients, continuous feed chute, and safety micro-switches to prevent operation when open. Comes with interchangeable disc blades for slicing, dicing, grating, shredding, and julienning.
Preparation EquipmentView details →
Commercial Upright Freezer
Single-door commercial upright freezer with forced-air ventilated cooling. Built with thick cyclopenthane insulation, self-closing magnetic door gaskets, digital control panel, and adjustable heavy-duty shelves. Designed to operate efficiently in hot kitchen environments up to 43°C ambient temperature.
Cooling and Display EquipmentView details →
Industrial Hood Type Dishwasher
Heavy-duty commercial pass-through hood type dishwasher designed for inline installations with entry and exit tables. Features a high-pressure wash pump, automated dosing pump for rinse aid and detergent, 3 wash programs (60, 90, 120 seconds), and built-in booster heater for 85°C sanitizing final rinse.
Washing Equipment and Sink UnitView details →
Stainless Steel Kitchen Extraction Hood with Water Mist Suppression
Heavy-duty SUS304 stainless steel extraction canopy engineered for high-heat commercial cooking lines. Integrated baffle grease filters, welded drip channels, and an optional built-in water mist fire suppression manifold contain grease-laden vapor and suppress flare-ups at the source, keeping kitchens compliant with UAE Civil Defence fire-safety codes.
Custom Fabricated EquipmentView details →
Stainless Steel Infill Work Table
Custom manufactured stainless steel infill work table. Ideal for filling gaps between heavy cooking appliances or creating dedicated prep stations. Constructed from premium heavy-gauge SUS304 stainless steel with sound-deadening under-panel reinforcement, adjustable bullet feet, and a rear backsplash to keep walls clean.
Custom Fabricated EquipmentView details →
Frequently asked questions
What is an industrial kitchen solution?
It is the full set of equipment, stainless fabrication and layout needed to produce large volumes of food repeatably, planned as one flow from receiving through cold storage, preparation, cooking, chilling, dispatch and wash-up.
How is an industrial kitchen different from a restaurant kitchen?
A restaurant cooks to order for diners on site. An industrial or central kitchen cooks in batches to a schedule, often for other places to serve, so chilling, dispatch and throughput matter more than speed per order.
What equipment does a central kitchen need?
Cold storage, preparation tables and machines, batch cooking equipment such as combi ovens and bratt pans, a blast chiller for cook-chill, dispatch cooling and a dedicated wash-up line, plus custom stainless tables and a hood over the cooking line.
What does automated kitchen equipment actually mean?
In most commercial kitchens it means programmable combi ovens with core probes, dishwashers with automatic dosing and timed programs, thermostat-controlled fryers, digital temperature control and high-speed processing machines. It reduces variation and labour, but people still load, unload and supervise.
Do you supply robotic or fully automated cooking systems?
No. Our range does not include robotic cooking units or automated production lines. If your project needs them, your consultant will specify them, and we can discuss custom stainless work around them.
How do I work out how much equipment I need for my meals per day?
Convert daily meals to portions per hour for each stage, divide by the realistic output of each machine, add roughly 20 percent margin and a standby unit, then check utilities. The worked example on this page shows the method for 3,000 meals a day.
What is cook-chill and why do central kitchens use it?
Cook-chill means cooking food, chilling it quickly, storing it cold and reheating close to service. It separates production from service so a kitchen can cook in a steady rhythm. Commonly cited targets are about 3 to 5 °C within roughly 90 minutes to two hours, to be confirmed with your food-safety consultant.
Can you fabricate custom stainless steel for a production kitchen?
Yes. We supply custom SUS304 work tables, infill tables, pass counters, wall shelves, cabinets and extraction hoods made to your drawing. Send dimensions and we will confirm other items such as racks or trolleys in the quotation.
Do you work with consultants and MEP contractors?
Yes. Most industrial kitchens are designed by a consultant. Send us the equipment schedule and drawings so that dimensions, utilities and hood sizes can be checked with your MEP contractor before anything is made.
Do you supply industrial kitchen equipment outside Dubai?
Yes. We supply across the UAE, including Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain.
What do I need to send to get a quotation?
Meals per day and at peak, menu type, the equipment schedule or consultant drawing, available power, gas and water, and any authority comments. Send them through the contact page or on WhatsApp.
Related guides and solutions
Planning an industrial or central kitchen?
Send your meals per day, your layout and any consultant drawings. We will confirm the equipment and custom stainless we can supply and come back with a quotation.
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