Hi guys is running a hotel selling a few specified meals viable with the modes mentioned above? Ama kuni and charcoal save? Coz I read somewhere that the initial setup for running a hotel using electricity/gas is what guys usually tend to avoid but in the long run lpg/electricity setup saves, what’s your two cents guys
Ukiona wasee wa chapo mtaani sikuhizi wanatumia gas, that should tell you wood fuel is out of reach nowadays.
How big is theset up?
Whats the location
Are you taking about a hotel or an eating house or kibandaski?
Ok it’s a bar I’ve been running for three years ,outskirts of nrb, was thinking of merging the two, consumer demands,
If someone can afford to build a hotel, a few solar panels, hidden on the roof could help cut running cost in the long-term.
Go for briquettes. They are cheap and cook faster. Alafu nunua Jikokoa. Alternatively install the energy saving firewood stove. Gas is still expensive and is only suitable for cooking things like fried eggs.
If you want to swim, you must prepare to get wet.
Usiogope kutumia gas/elec just because you heard it was expensive. They do burn cleaner.
Do you really know what solar panels are capable of? They cannot cook or replace gas and makaa. The only thing they do well is low wattage backup lighting. If you want to operate commercial kitchens with solar, the battery pack and inverters might take up the entire space.
it depends what type of panels and setup. Some of the panels from China are low grade.
A convert takes solar energy into DC power. A solar inverter then converts the DC power into AC power which can be used to run appliances, irrigate farms, or supply power to factory.
Depending on the type of system setup, excess solar energy can also be fed into the electricity grid or stored in battery system.
People in countries with less sunshine sell surplus solar power to national grid after satisfying all energy needs.
Electricity and gas is too expensive. Did this and was an instant regret.
Remember you will be charged a commercial tariff hence your electricity bill will be very high.
A simple elec gas setup will be more than 600k minimum if you fabricate your equipment. This is very depended on what you cook. But remember hotel burners consume ALOT more gas than your traditional home cooker.
Here is a breakdown of the costs
Gas Installation. 140k. Excluding VAT.
Extractor hood, ducting, filters etc. Around 400k min
Stoves. Around 100k minimum. And these stoves consume like no one’s business.
The gas cylinders will cost you an additional 9k per cylinder depending on the number you have. Note that they have to be built for a separate secure storage outside the premise which is additional cost. The cost is dependent on the number of cylinders you purchase
So it’s not only the setup’s that expensive but also running too? Too bad I’ve already started investing in the gas setup
Unfortunately so. Unfortunately for the commercial gas burners which is what you are going to use the minimum consumption of those burners is very high so you will not be saving costs unless you are preparing food in hundreds of plates. Kama ni chakula ya watu 50 that is an automatic increased expense that you probably didn’t need.
Note that the stoves you buy also determine the consumption. So this is something to be careful about. Talk to your equipment person on the options available
Kama unapika chapo just get the small traditional home meko ya 5000(total initial cost) for usage only on those chapo making days. Commercial hapa utaumia sana
Noted.Thanks man,
Took a break from my usual line of profession and worked in a restaurant for like a month some time in 2017. The restaurant-attached to a bar that was being leased by another guy had an interesting setup but lets go with the kitchen especially.
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The kitchen had those juakali fabricated burners (fitting about 6-8 burners). A good number will be idle at certain times of the day but having a little more capacity is better for those high traffic days like public holidays or just when someone chooses to host a graduation feast or something of the sort. Mabati chimney right above it.
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Twin-compartment electric fryer (mainly for chips, mandazi, sausages n stuff) of which they were not running fulltime because you would typically make sausages and stuff first thing, then fries at a certain hour in the morning 11ish so theyd be ready for lunch hour. Often we would go days without having to power both at the same time. Theyd just make a bucket at once and do another round when they are almost over etc.
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A charcoal run smoker/grill for the nyamachoma. This would be fired up around 11am and would run till late night. Past midnight on fridays but hey its not like you can zima makaa wakati hakuna watu. Plus with a slightly larger grill…we could always smoke the meet on half the grill at first.
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A microwave.
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Different 2 burner
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Warmer - for fries, sausages, mandazi, samosa. This is also timed…switched on and off.
Now the equipment timing and shift organization is where you can cut down on costs of gas/electricity or just lose a lot. Since it was next to the bar and most people actually came to just have their cars washed, have a quick lunch and drink before the next evening traffic…the schedule was predictable. BBQ meat would be spiced, slow BBQd and left in foil at the upper trays. Like packs of 1/2s and fulls wrapped and let to wait foiled on low heat. The meat was HOWEVER served on special super-thick iron platters that could sit idle on the charcoal and store a lot of heat while still empty. Only when a customer orders choma is when these platters were then transferred to a wooden board and would keep the meat hot even while its on the customers table so never would we get complaints of cold, fatty or dried out meat The dry fried or wet fried meats would be prepared scratch since with the multiple burners, you could have smaller sized sufurias which would prepare a 1/2 kg really quick. No food used to stay overnight and no gas/elec used to go into food that is not sold.