Modern Advance to Traditional Japanese Cooking

June 24, 2002

Kanki recently opened a new restaurant in Durham that will continue the Kanki tradition of delivering delicious Japanese cuisine to their customers. But their clientele will enjoy a more comfortable setting, thanks to the new, electric griddles that Kanki has chosen in lieu of the traditional, gas-heated griddles.

Advanced Energy of Raleigh was approached by Kanki and Duke Power to provide independent testing and comparison of gas-heated griddles versus electric tabletops. Kanki was hoping to increase the comfort of both their customers and their chefs by removing waste heat and fumes associated with gas-heated griddles. But to maintain Kanki's quality standards, the new griddles would have to prove that they could cook fast, heat uniformly, and regain surface temperature quickly.

While a Kanki chef cooked meals on both gas and electric griddles, Advanced Energy staff collected temperature readings and recorded thermographic images of the griddle tops using an infrared camera. These tests allowed Advanced Energy to create an accurate temperature profile of the two griddle surfaces. They also provided an opportunity for the chefs to test the effectiveness of the griddles, particularly in terms of temperature recovery.

The testing results showed that the electric griddles perform just as well as the gas griddles, with even heating characteristics and quick recovery times. In addition, the exhaust fumes are much lower with the electric griddles because they do not produce combustion fumes. This allows for much smaller air conditioning systems, and provides greater energy efficiency and better comfort for all. Even more importantly, the quality of the food remained as high as ever.

With such positive results in hand, Kanki decided to purchase all electric griddles for its new location on Mt. Moriah Road in Durham, which opened March 31, 2002. Both the chefs and the customers at this new restaurant will be able to enjoy themselves even more, without the excessive heat and combustion fumes that can sometimes dilute the experience.

Foodservice equipment testing is only one of several technical support services Advanced Energy can provide to utilities and their customers. To find out more about what Advanced Energy's team of industrial specialists can do for you, please contact Kitt Butler at kbutler@advancedenergy.org or (919) 857-9017 .