Catering is traditionally slow in the month of March here on the western slope of Colorado. So it is this time when changes can be made and also this time when I have the time to make a few changes. The old six eye I rescued when we moved into the kitchen is not really a great appliance. Although we made plenty of money on the old unit, I purchased an older Garland 10 eye about five years ago. We never did get it built into the old location so it has sat in my warehouse for a few years and Zane’s old place for a few more. But this Saturday the weather was not so great, parts did not show up for my truck, so I thought might as well swap out that 10 eye. Friday was Zane’s birthday so he was Unavailable to help!!! But I figured with the lift gate diesel Isuzu deliver truck and a pallet jack I could handle most of it and just pest someone to help me for a few minutes on the moving across the kitchen floor.

It worked, managed not to drop the Garland face first into the dirt. Zane happened by the kitchen to pick up some birthday prime rib for his home dinner Saturday night, so he was elected manual labor for an hour.

I had to change the gas plumbing manifold to meet fire code. So the char is moved to the left on the line. So the 4 eye and the fryer can move down where my old six eye was, the six eye got loaded on the truck to possibly get mounted to a trailer should the oil field go nuts. Lots of work, but lots of fun.

This is the 10 eye in a forward position prior to the gas being plumbed into the unit.

This old salamander sat above our chargrill. One thing about most resto equipment, it is generally to small to service catering events. So this salamander will head to the used equipment store or be scrapped out for good.

I had to move the 4 eye and the fryer down the line to the other end. This would allow me to place the 10 eye next to the chargrill. Which is where Chef Al wanted it so they could watch their stuff cooking while prepping on the tables behind the 10 eye. This move is also going to allow me to plumb in the steam kettle, finally, we have only had it for four years waiting to install. But for this appliance I have to run a 100 amp subpanel first. So it will be a few weeks out for now.

One of the things that is a pain is setting these systems up. This unit is in excellent shape, but we are at altitude and that means orifice changes as well as manifold pressure sets. I have the test equipment to plug into the 1/8 inch pipe tap on the manifold and can measure live under full load. This allows me to make sure the guys have full BTUs on the stove even when pumping every burner on it at maximum.

You friendly local bbally installer!

All in all it went well. I love this next picture, it looks like faster, better, and more profit to me!

Really was a lot of work, but I love the business and like making the improvements. A few times while wrestling this 10 eyed two ovened beast I really questioned my sanity, but like most things, when you look back at what you did accomplish, it was well worth it!

Til we speak again, knock out one of those projects you keep putting off, the accomplishment of completing it will give you great satisifaction, and a real good reason to enjoy a cold pint in celebration of the finish!

Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA