dilema #1:
in the course of getting all my equipment together for 2 trucks, i found a vulcan 30 gallon gas tilt skillet for 500.00. skillet is 36″ wide and 2 ft deep with a lid. it is thermostatically controlled.
i already have a 2 ft flat grill and a 3′ flat grill (both thermostatically controlled). Im thinking why not use the skillet in place of a flat grill? it will certainly do more things. bottom is 1″ thick stainless and cooks evenly (or atleast my last one did). the sides keep grease in the pan. it can also hold 2″ of oil for a big funnel cake cooker. it will cook damn near anything plus we used ours for a bain marie during peak times filled with water. cleanup is easy, maybe easier in the skillet over a flat grill or about the same?
opinions: any one feel the flat grills would be better than skillet? and why?
the one thing is weight difference at 250lb more for skillet,…thats alot but most of the weight would fall directly on the trucks frame rails.
 
okay, dilema # 2:
both of my trucks came with step in freezer/coolers with a coldplate and a 120v compressor. this is fairly rare and expensive option when build new. the cooler is about 4′ deep and runs the entire width of the truck directly behind the drivers seat. The heavy duty narrow walkin cooler door is located directly behind the passenger seat area so that the driver can jump through passenger door, open cooler, grab product and back out in a hurry. they serviced a vending machine route with frozen sandwiches, ect. there is no access door from rear. the dilema is weather to use the coolers or remove them? the realestate in a 24′ truck is valuable and with the cooler, ill have less than 13′ 6″ of actual kitchen space.
the pro’s are:
cold plates plugged in at night keep these cold all day. volume selling is easier because i can stock cases of product in both trucks. both trucks at bigger shows in same space insures few trips to purveyors. (almost 8 x 8′ in 2 trucks and 27′ of kitchen line to turn and burn gets me excited).
the down side:
space lost, no access to front cabin area from rear, cant get into cooler from kitchen area without getting out of truck and go around truck. I do have a upright coke cooler pass thru and a 5 ft sandwhich prep cooler in ea truck’s kitchen too. Ill post pics tomorrow or as soon as i can, next week maybe?
this is the first of the mechical struggles. let me know your thoughts, especially you guys really in the know when it comes to volume cooking and big boy kitchen toys. pls help me figure this out,…?