Food trucks are a hot trend these days and they already come stocked with loads of personality before you even start branding your business. The smaller space appears easier to manage than a brick and mortar restaurant but you have to be savvy and innovative with the space to keep it functional and navigable. Unless you offer cold sandwiches or anything else you can prepare beforehand, you will need all the cooking equipment necessary to keep up with your menu and customer demand. Since most trucks cannot often handle standard commercial kitchen gear, you will need to prioritize the most essential food truck equipment to get the most out of your mobile restaurant.

Food Preparation Equipment

The most commonly used pieces of food truck equipment regardless of cuisine are for food preparation. Nearly every food truck that makes their food on-site needs standard surfaces, small appliances and utensils.

• Prep tables: These can vary in size but a prep table is essential for assembling sandwiches and wraps, preparing pizzas and performing all the tasks your recipes demand.
• Food processor: The most versatile small appliance can take the place of manually dicing, cutting, slicing and mixing ingredients, saving you considerable time and counter space.
• Cutting boards and knife racks: Cutting boards are easily storable and handy for manual tasks while knife racks provide safe storage and some can also sharpen your knives, keeping them in optimal condition.

Consider the array of knives, pans, skillets and pots you will need to prep all the recipes on your menu. Specialty items, like french fry cutters, are great for expediting food prep in certain food truck concepts.

Cooking Equipment

Depending on your food truck cuisine, you may have particular needs for specialized small appliances like sandwich presses and toasters. All concepts require unique features but there are core appliances that perform most of the cooking tasks for any menu.

• Flat top grill or griddle: A flat-top grill or griddle is ideal for most food truck concepts, able to handle burgers, chicken, vegetables, grilled sandwiches and breakfast foods. Available in a number of sizes, you can select the right piece based on your quantity demands and truck capacity.
• Range: Perfect for preparing sides and sauces, ranges can be full size or just a countertop hot plate, depending on your needs.
• Hood: For safety and comfort, a well-vented environment is critical for most food trucks that serve up hot prepared food.
• Microwave: Essential to any kitchen, microwaves will never replace cooking appliances but instantaneous heating for leftovers and speeding up recipe times is critical to productivity.

You may also consider larger appliances such as deep fryers and ovens for popular food truck menu items. Warming equipment can also be used to have onhand batches of food such as fries, casseroles and soups. These free up the microwave and keep food stored at a safe temperature until it is ready for serving.

Refrigeration Equipment

Keeping ingredients fresh and cold items handy is crucial for any foodservice business. The convenience of specialized designs allows you to integrate sizable equipment without stealing space.

• Undercounter refrigerators: Many under-counter refrigerators come with an attached work surface for dual functionality or can be stored under your prep tables. Special designs for sandwiches or pizza storage and countertop assembly are also available.
• Glassdoor refrigerator: Most food trucks offer cold beverages on the menu and these smaller refrigerators make drinks easy to merchandise without taking up significant space.

Service Window

How you serve your customers is a key part of the experience and the items you have at the window are essential food truck equipment. All food trucks should be stocked with an outside counter for serving orders and storing utensils and napkin dispensers. An awning is an excellent investment to keep out the sun and manage bad weather.

Our vast array of new and used food truck equipment can fill the needs for any concept at value pricing. If you are looking for the best deals on food truck equipment in Texas, contact our team to learn more today.