Depending on the size and nature of your food production operation, you’ll likely arrive at that important question: do I need a single sheet pan rack or a double sheet pan rack? We’re making that decision-making process as simple as possible by comparing the benefits of single and double sheet pan racks for food production. Check it out!
Before you equip your kitchen or food production environment with the products it needs to succeed, it helps to take a step back and ask some key questions first. These questions include:
- How much available space do I have?
- What is the difference between single and double pan racks?
- What kind of mobility will I need from my pan rack?
- How many items will I need to place on my pan rack in one bake?
- What capacity can my oven handle?
- Will I need to navigate any bumps or ramps when I’m moving my pan rack into an oven or a freezer unit?
These questions should be the key considerations you take before making any decisions around your choice of pan rack.
Single vs Double Sheet Pan Racks: Comparing the Benefits
When it comes to comparing the benefits of single and double sheet pan racks, there are a number of pros and cons, including the space they will occupy in your kitchen; the stability of the rack itself and the baking capacity it will allow. Making the right decision based on these pros and cons can draw that fine line between an efficient, production food production operation and one which haemorrhages resources and profits.
Let’s take a look at some of these pros and cons and how they differ between single sheet oven racks and double sheet oven racks…
Single vs Double Sheet Pan Racks: The Importance of Space
Regardless of the size or nature of your kitchen, having a certain amount of free space is essential – both for the free movement of your staff and for the free movement of racks, trolleys and other kitchen equipment. So, when you’re deciding what rack is right for your business, assess your available space as a first priority.
If you have a small bakery, for example, a larger, double sheet pan rack won’t always fit conveniently within your space. In this case, using a single sheet pan rack would be a wiser choice.
- Single Sheet Oven Racks: These products allow you to save space in tighter, more restricted environments. However, these racks will offer approximately half of the output of a double sheet pan rack.
- Double Sheet Oven Racks: Choosing double sheet pan racks will provide a higher level of output, but are more suitable for larger environments where space isn’t an issue.
Depending on the nature of your food production business, you mightn’t even have a rack oven. In that case, you won’t need an oven rack and it will come down to a question of space.
Fundamentally, the deciding factor will often be what size rack your oven will take (for example, a single rack oven will not accept a double rack).
Comparing the Price of Single & Double Sheet Pan Racks
Whilst you’ll want to ensure the right pan rack based on the available space you have, it’s essential that your choice is cost-effective based on the budgetary requirements of your business. This leads us on to one of the most important areas to consider and compare: the price you’ll pay.
- Single Sheet Pan Racks: If going for a lower price is at the top of your agenda, a single sheet pan rack would be the obvious choice. However, this must be balanced against the fact that single sheet pan racks will create reduced end profits when compared to the level of output offered by a double sheet pan rack.
- Double Sheet Pan Racks: When viewed as ‘cost per pan’, double sheet oven racks are slightly cheaper than a single. However, when comparing the price between the two as a whole product, the fact is that double sheet pan racks are more expensive than their single counterpart. Again, this consideration should be balanced with the benefits a double sheet rack will offer in terms of overall productivity.
Single & Double Sheet Pan Racks: Think About Stability
Here at Schaumburg Specialties, we pride ourselves on the unparalleled level of stability offered by our single sheet pan racks and double sheet pan racks. However, it is true that some pan racks are more stable than others – and that’s not down to their materials or their construction. In fact, it’s largely down to the width of their footprint on your food production floor.
So – what separates single and double sheet pan racks in terms of the stability they offer?
Single Sheet Pan Racks: Single sheet pan racks have the same height as a double, however the weight of the rack (and all of the food you place on it) is only spread out over 26 x 20.5 inches. Indeed, whilst single sheet pan racks are lighter and more compact, their more narrow footprint makes them less stable when compared to a double.
- Single Sheet Pan Racks: The narrow footprint of a single sheet pan rack makes it comparably less stable than a double. However, this doesn’t mean that single pan racks are unstable – in fact, SHOPCraft racks are a renowned and reliable means of transporting pans in a bakery.
- Double Sheet Pan Racks: Double Sheet Pan Racks have a wider footprint than a single, giving them more overall stability than their single counterparts. SHOPCraft Double racks feature an additional vertical tube on each side panel enhancing the structural integrity. This is a feature many other manufacturers omit to save costs. Meanwhile, our choice of slide or runners provide flexibility for pan support.
Comparing the Mobility of Single & Double Sheet Pan Racks
The productivity of your kitchen doesn’t only depend on how much food you can bake in one section. It also depends on the flow and flexibility at the heart of your kitchen, which has multiple impacts, including:
- How freely your staff can move products around the kitchen
- How easy it is to move food around the kitchen
- The overall levels of efficiency and safety in your kitchen
To improve the flow and flexibility in your kitchen, it helps to choose a pan rack that offers the right level of mobility. So – how do single sheet pan racks and double sheet pan racks compare on mobility?
- Single Sheet Pan Racks: A single pan rack is approximately half the weight of a double. In terms of the mobility of these products, side load single pan racks win the prize. For instance, if you are entering a cooler or a freezer, that cooler or freezer may have a ramp or raised floor leading up to it. If you have a side load rack, the door opening is narrower in width, and sometimes an end load rack will not fit in sideways. If your kitchen has ramps, a side load single sheet pan rack may be the better choice.
- Double Sheet Pan Racks: You guessed it – double sheet pan racks are approximately double the weight of single sheet pan racks, meaning they will be more challenging to move around your kitchen space. However, don’t panic: as mentioned, our double sheet pan racks include an additional vertical tube which assists with stability & mobility.
Single vs Double Sheet Pan Racks: Ask the Experts at Schaumburg Specialties
Here at Schaumburg Specialties, decades spent working within the food production sector has placed us in an expert position to advise you on your choice between single and double sheet pan racks. To learn more, view our full selection of pan racks or contact us for a FREE consultation!