Stainless Steel Catering Trolleys

Heat, grease and washdown. Stainless takes a hot pan straight off the line, does not soften, does not stain from oil and can be cleaned with the same products as the rest of the kitchen.

The cost is weight and noise. A stainless trolley is heavier to push and louder on a hard floor, which is exactly why many venues keep plastic catering trolleys for the guest-facing areas and stainless for the back of house.

Three where you are moving a quantity of smaller items and want the capacity. Two where the items are tall, awkward or heavy, and where you want to be able to see and reach across the trolley.

Three shelves loaded to the top is also harder to see over while pushing. Keep the heavy items low whichever you choose, and check the shelf clearance against the tallest thing you carry on the product page.

Some models do and some do not, and it is worth deciding early because it changes which trolley you buy rather than being an option you add later. A folding trolley suits a venue that only needs it for functions.

A fixed-frame trolley is more rigid and takes more weight, which suits daily kitchen use. If storage space is the constraint, tell us and we will point you at the models that collapse.

For landing and moving plates and pans, yes, and it is often the fastest way to clear a pass between courses. It is not a work surface, so plating still happens on a bench.

Keep the trolley out of the walkway while it is parked. A stainless steel bench with a heated shelf is where the plating belongs.

Larger diameter ones, because a commercial kitchen floor has drains, floor wastes, door tracks and often a slope to the waste. Small castors catch in a drain grate and stop the trolley dead with a load on it.

Brakes on at least two castors, and swivels so it can be steered one-handed. Replacement castors and handles are in trolley accessories when the originals wear out.

Neutral detergent, wiped along the grain, dried rather than left wet. The shelves get attention daily; the frame, the castors and the underside of the bottom shelf are the parts that get skipped and need a weekly look.

Avoid abrasive pads and chlorine cleaners left sitting on the surface. The usual cleaning supplies are all it needs, and the rest of the stainless steel equipment range is maintained the same way.

Often, yes. Where a standard trolley will not fit a service lift, an alcove or a particular tray size, fabrication is routine work.

See our custom refrigeration and stainless steel appliances page. Send the dimensions and the route the trolley has to travel, and we will check the standard range first before quoting anything made to order.