New Restaurant Technologies Rely on Thermocouples You Can Recycle for Cash
Once upon a time, patrons went to restaurants to enjoy meals that were prepared by cooks who used only fresh ingredients and traditional tools like pots, pans and gas ranges.
While that still happens in smaller, independently owned eateries and high-end restaurants presided over by celebrity chefs, it is becoming increasingly rare in the American restaurant industry.
Photo of modern restaurant kitchen filled with equipment that uses platinum thermocouples that can be recycled profitably by Specialty Metals, Credit: Wavebreak Media/Thinkstock.
In the larger restaurants where so many of us eat today – the chains that have the same restaurants that we see whether we are driving near Atlanta, Los Angeles or Boston – most of the food is prepared in an entirely new way. Partially or completely prepared frozen entrees arrive from central production facilities that resemble factories, not kitchens. And when those meals arrive, they are stored in freezers and then prepared quickly, using high-tech restaurant equipment.
What is this equipment, and why are we writing about it today on our blog? Simple explanation. All of this new equipment contains thermocouples, which remotely monitor or control the high temperatures that are used to heat pre-prepared foods.
Sometimes thermocouple-equipped probes are inserted directly into meats to assure that they are heated to the right temperature, all the way through. At other times, the thermocouples monitor the heat in microwaves and high-tech ovens. Those thermocouples contain platinum and in some cases, rhodium.
What Kind of New Restaurant Equipment Contains Thermocouples?
Here’s a checklist for you to review and keep on hand.
- Cheese melters
- Conveyor toasters
- Countertop fryers
- Countertop griddles
- Crepe makers
- Electric and gas braising pans
- Electric and gas floor fryers
- Electric and gas lava rock charbroilers
- Electric charbroilers
- Fryer oil filtration systems
- Gyro machines
- Microwaves
- Induction cookers, griddles and ranges
- Omelet makers
- Outdoor electric and gas smokehouses
- Outdoor ovens
- Outdoor steamers and fryers
- Panini grills
- Pasta cookers and rethermalizers
- Portion steamers and fast steamers
- Pressure fryers
- Rice cookers
- Sonic steamers
- Sous vide immersion cooking equipment
- Tortilla grills
- Upright broilers
- Waffle makers
If you buy a restaurant or come to own a quantity of modern food-preparation equipment, bear in mind that even if equipment has had a lot of use, it still contains platinum thermocouples that can be worth a lot of money. Call us at 800-426-2344, tell us what you have, and we can help you turn your thermocouples into cash.
Related Posts:
Interested in Thermocouples and Thermocouple Wire?
Smarter Recycling: Don’t Overlook the High Value of Noble Metal Thermocouples
Look for Precious Metals where Heat and Metals Meet
What Happens when Platinum Meets Rhodium?