Serious question, did the $40 sheet pan rack from the restaurant supply store on 3rd actually save my Tuesday prep?
Last Tuesday we got slammed with a 90 cover lunch rush and I was still prepping chickens at 10:45 because my old wire rack was bent all to heck. I grabbed a 6 slot aluminum sheet pan rack from the supply place on 3rd for $40 and it cut my setup time down to about 15 minutes flat. My line cook Marcus looked at me like I was nuts but then he used it for the dinner shift too. Now I want to know if I should buy a second one for the walk in or if the cheap ones just fall apart after a year. What racks are you all running that actually hold up to daily abuse?
Man, I gotta disagree with the idea that the rack is what saved your Tuesday. Fifteen minutes of setup time sounds great but a bent wire rack does not add 45 minutes to your prep, something else was going on there. You said yourself you were still breaking down chickens at 10:45, that is a scheduling or par level problem, not a rack problem. A sheet pan rack just holds pans, it does not chop, season, or cook anything faster. I would figure out why your prep list is running that late before dropping another $40 on a second rack for the walk in. The cheap ones do bend and rust at the welds after a year of daily use, so if you buy another, get one with welded corners instead of rivets. But fix the real issue first.