# tilt skillet, glass washer, food processor: brands you trust



## bbay (Nov 22, 2007)

hi. 
I'm trying to find unbiased opinions on some kitchen equipment; I hope that someone here might have a bit of experience working with more than one brand of these machines.

From the little I could find online, Hobart, Jackson, and Champion are the way to go on under-counter rotary-style glass washers. I haven't worked with one of these in a really long time so I don't remember the brand we used, or if it was any good.

Same goes for the tilt skillet; haven't used one in quite awhile. Groen, Cleveland, and Vulcan-Hart are all supposed to be good. What brand have you used and what was its perks?

I'm also looking into one of those food processors Globe makes. Y'know, it slices, dices, cube, shred, grate, julienne, brunoise, gaufrette, etc. I'm hearing good things...

Any help would be deeply appreciated.


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## blueicus (Mar 16, 2005)

What would be miraculous is a food processor that can turn vegetables.


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## cacook (Jan 18, 2006)

I've used several tilt skillets but I can't remember any of the brands. As far as the globe thing, I would really only use it for large banquets. It does do everything it says, but inaccurately. For anything really nice, it needs to be done by hand.


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## bbay (Nov 22, 2007)

i went to the restaurant tonight that had the glasswasher i was remembering. same machine working the bar. 8 years old and still running smoothly. it has outlasted 3 restaurant owners. :lol: (glasstender)

so, chad, you have used the globe machine and were not immpressed? this isn't a fine dining establishment (precise cuts are not noticed/appreciated). it is in actuallity a 'brew pub'. we are buying pre-diced mirepiox because our prep volume is so high. i would like get back to onsite prep of mirepoix for obvious reasons. the experience of the majority of prep cooks is ...um... what's a nice way of saying 'non-existent'?...
this is what i have to work with. if i can get more prep done with less labor... i'm just going to call a rep and have them come out and do a demonstration. the machine is not THAT expensive. thanks for the input though.

still wondering about the tilt skillet... i don't want to spent $15 grand on something i don't need. maybe a range would suffice. but i do have a green light on the tilt skillet. i'm sure that i'd find more uses for it if it was actually present. right now, i'm estimating we make 60 quarts of soup/stew per day.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Groen makes a good tilt skillet. the main thing is, how is the skillet powered? Gas or electric? Manual or electric tilt? Cast iron or s/s clad? I've done everything in a tilt skillet from deepfrying to poaching salmon to making veal jus, they are one of the best tools for major food production.

If you want to dice or baton vegetables, stay away from food processors. 99% of them demand that the operator uses brute strength to shove/jam the ingredient down the chute, sure the blade slices, but you have to shove the carrot or whatever through the cutting grid first. Hobart makes an attachment called a "power dicer" that fits onto the slicing/shredding attachment on the 30, 40, and 60 qt mixers. This is a long chute that is worm driven. You place the potato or what ever on the chute, engage the handle and the worm quickly forces the potato through the cutting grid and a knife chops the baton into cubes. For major food production, a slicer/shredder on the Hobart is the way to go, no more machines dancing on the countertop or overheating and stalling, especially when shredding cheese...

Hobart has gone down in quality on SOME of the d/washers. Many of the under-counter d/washers are very wimpy and break down quickly, but the bigger ones are still rock-solid. Champion has some excellent glasswashers.


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## cacook (Jan 18, 2006)

The globe works very well for what it is intended to do. I'm just not a fan of what it's used for.


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## bbay (Nov 22, 2007)

thanks for the reply.
as far as tilt skillets go, turn the krank... not automatic.
is cast aluminum an option as opposed to ss? i just figured they would all be aluminum.
the gas/electric IS an option. i would vote for gas; any reason to use electric?
i've used them for anything from fried rice to veal stock. i had to use the corner of one to make a small batch (6 servings) of risotto once.:talk: silly.

the machine i'm talking about for processing food is a globe. i know what you are talking about and i would never buy a hopper attachment for our robot coupe. this machine is specifically designed for its purpose. i am going to do an in store demo just because it sounds too good to be true.
i'll let you know the outcome.

thanks for the info on hobart. they are supposed to be up at the top, good to hear an honest opinion. glastender seems to be okay... i know that most dishwashing machines come with thier own crew of leaches (suppliers), anyone got any good or bad stories?


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

I'd never go with aluminum on a tilt skillet, s/s is pretty good, and gas is the best.

Googled the Globe and it just looks like a robot coupe at a 45 angle in drag. Yeah, yeah, the blade spins at whatever rpm, but how does the vegetable go down the chute? If you have to force it down the chute it ain't gonna be easy. And according to the accompaning blurb, "brunoise" is diamond shaped.... For 3 grand you'd be better off getting a wall mounted hand powered french fry cutter and cutting the resulting sticks into a large brunoise. The power dicer attachment for the Hobart is the only dicer I've seen that can actually makes brunoise, or f/fries, or veg. sticks as fast as you can put them down the chute--with all the power of the a 2 hp Hobart mixer behind it; no shoving vegables down a chute via the "armstrong" method, or vegetables getting stuck in the chute or plate.


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## bbay (Nov 22, 2007)

thanks guys.

at this point i'm still going to ask for an in-store demo for the globe.

the krank shaft thing on our hobart mixer died about a year ago, at which time we just started buying pre-grated cheese. also speed 2 isn't functioning. i will look into buying a new mixer while the money is still flowing, and the attachments that can go with it. and btw, good point about the HP. thanks for making me think about it.

also, i'm taking a field trip to a restaurant that i used to work at to check out their tilt skillet. i'll definately keep your preferences in mind.

again, thanks.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Hobart mixers are usually worth fixing, many of them lasting 30 and even 50 years of daily abuse and use. A new Hobart 30 qt will run you about 6 grand, Asian imports about half that, but they won't ever last that long.

When you start to add things up, it'll be cheaper in the long run to get the Hobart fixed AND get the power dicer attachment rather than buying a new separate machine just to cut veggies. Just look at the price of pre-shredded cheese and compare that to blocks of part-skim mozz.. The numbers don't lie AND you know what's in your cheese, no mystery "house blends" from the suppliers...

Don't know what your kitchen is like, but if it's fairly large the power dicer will pay for itself fast: Fresh hashbrowns vs processed ones (guess which is cheaper, even with the labour and wastage?) "home cut" fries, carrot sticks, etc, diced vegetables for soup INCLUDING onions, as well as sliced pots for gratin.

There is nothing more frustrating than fighting with a lightweight countertop appliance that keeps dancing and skidding all over the table when you're trying to jam a raw potato down it's chute or shred a 5 lb block of cheese. The Hobart mixer just sits there and doesn't move, the 2 hp motor providing tremendous torque, it'll never wimp out..


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

Don't know if they still do it, but Hobart used to take old mixers in and totally refurbish them while loaning one to the restaurant while this is being done. You would need to cantact Hobart, but if they still do it it's worth it because you get a virtually new machine for less than the cost of a new one. I worked in a place from the late 70s to early 90s that had a 40 qt Hobart that went through a fire in the place in the early 60s. The whole ceiling had fallen on it and the fire melted the cord off of it, but they replaced the cord and it was still running fine when I left the place. There was another fire a coulple years ago and the place has been closed since then but I often wonder if the Hobart survived that fire and if it would still run. I think it just might. I used to use a tilt skillet at a boarding school where I worked. I think it was a Groen. We used to have some problems with the gas not igniting, but nothing beyond that. I really liked that thing because you can do anything in it. It was s/s so it had some hot and cold spots in it, but nothing major. It only matters when you're cooking 300 grilled cheese sandwiches.:lol:


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## bbay (Nov 22, 2007)

not trying to needlessly bump this topic, but i thought an update was in order, and that responders to this thread might be interested.

the food processor that globe is selling is made in switzerland. it has its own name, globe is selling it using globe's name. it is all metal. that is to say, the julienne blades, the slicer blades, even the feeder plate is all metal. no plastics. 
i cannot remember what the name of the company who makes the machine is. i'll come back and tell you when the machine arrives on my doorstep.
i got to say, i was very impressed with its cuts. low rpm's and sharp blades give 3/8 inch cuts of carrot, celery, potato, and (under ripe)tomato. i didn't think it would be able to slice tomatoes, but it succeded.
its julienne cut worked well, too.
anyway, i'll just post a new topic when i get it in, and when i decide which tilt-skillet to order... thanks for your imput. maybe i can help with imput in the future.


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