From the basket of morning croissants to the decadent mousse at the end of dinner, pastries and desserts require their own unique set of tools and equipment in the kitchen. The club or resort pastry chef utilizes a unique variety of ovens, storage equipment, and advanced tools that simplify and streamline creating desserts for every member and guest.
Mixers
A pastry kitchen is not complete without an upright or commercial mixture. These machines combine and develop the endless list of doughs, batters, frosting, and fillings with consistency and speed.
Proofing and Holding Case
Proper storage is one of the most crucial elements of keeping finished desserts and works-in-progress safe, especially if bread or yeasted dessert dough needs time to evenly proof. These specialized cases allow chefs to control the temperatures and air quality of storage during various stages of preparation.
Dough Sheeter and Divider
These innovative tools evenly separate dough into batches to eliminate the heavy guesswork of doing it by hand. The sheeter will also flatten balls of dough into even layers for a variety of bread, tortilla, and intricate pastry work.
Specialized Ovens
Different oven styles produce a range of specialty dessert items. Convection ovens are the most common in pastry kitchens while deck ovens are ideal for making bread in bulk. Large clubs may even have the space for roll-in ovens for more efficient preparation.
Refrigerators
It may go without saying, but ample refrigeration and freezer storage is crucial for the pastry kitchen, not only for safety but also for altering the temperature of dough during the steps of a recipe.
Work Station
At the heart of the pastry kitchen, the wide wooden prep table allows a pastry chef to knead and roll out dough, do intricate detail work and plate up dishes with ample space to bake in large portions.
Pastry Tools
Lastly, the nearly endless list of small pastry tools is the key to chefs manipulating the ingredients. These range but include spatulas, mixing spoons, zesters, pastry knives, icing bags, pastry cutters, and sifters. Cooking sheets and pans round out the collection for all baking needs.
While a comprehensive list of pastry kitchen tools would be much longer, these major items allow a pastry chef to cook with precision and creativity.