To develop a specification for commercial heavy duty ranges, a task group of the Cooking and Warming Equipment Subcommittee F26.02 is collecting information from the food equipment industry. “The range is the most important appliance in the full service kitchen and input is sought from manufacturers, users, culinary schools, kitchen managers, and cruise ship food operations managers,” says Task Group Chairman Gordon Schwallie, agency approval engineer, PMI Food Equipment Group, Troy, Ohio. Interested parties are invited to contact Schwallie at the e-mail address provided.

The subcommittee, which is part of Committee F26 on Food Service Equipment, creates food equipment standard specifications, test methods and performance requirements by voluntary consensus. “The proposed standard will be useful as a purchase specification for architects, consulting engineers, and kitchen planners when specifying the type of range and all possible combinations of surface cook tops and power specifications,” Schwallie explains. “Although not intended for installation for home use, many adaptations of ranges for the home are styled and rated from these commercial designs.”

The U.S. military did the legwork for original specifications of unique or worldwide applications, Schwallie says: “Many of the standards developed by the F26.02 Subcommittee have taken the place of military standards for kitchen equipment. Other users with a wide range of needs will be large and small full service restaurants, large institutional kitchens, commissaries and shipboard kitchens.”

For further technical information, contact Gordon Schwallie, 701 Ridge Ave., Troy, OH 45374 (937/332-2694). Committee F26 meets Oct. 19-20 at ASTM Headquarters, W. Conshohocken, Pa. For meeting or membership details, contact Staff Manager Tom O’Toole, ASTM (610/832-9739). //

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