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Can I Connect a Commercial Griddle to a Gas Bottle With Orange Hose?

by Janey Cando
(UK)

Forest green box van burger van serving a lunchtime queue at a busy UK market square

Forest green box van burger van serving a lunchtime queue at a busy UK market square

Any reason a commercial griddle (parry800) can't be connected via orange hose to regulator screwed directly to bottle? Same as a camping stove. Short hose retains pressure, adapter from 1/2inch bsp to 9mm ensures hose fits. I dont want to take apart burger can to install new copper piping. Thanks

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Oct 30, 2026
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by: MobCater

Janey, I understand why you'd want to avoid ripping the copper out, but I'd steer you away from the orange hose idea for a griddle inside a burger van. A camping stove and a commercial appliance in a vehicle are treated very differently, and the setup you describe is unlikely to get a gas safety certificate.

The first issue is where the hose would run. Orange hose is fine on a barbecue in the garden, but in a van it sits close to a hot griddle, gets kicked, trapped and splashed with fat, and it perishes over time. The UKLPG Code of Practice 24 for mobile catering expects fixed pipework, usually copper, from the cylinder supply to the appliance, with only a short flexible connection where one is needed, and that hose has to be the right grade and protected from heat and damage. Most engineers I've dealt with want an armoured or stainless braided hose to the appliance in a catering unit.

The second issue is the bottle. A regulator screwed straight onto a cylinder means the cylinder sits near the griddle, and inside a van that's a real risk. Cylinders need to be upright, secured, and kept outside the cooking area or in a compartment vented to the outside. Propane is heavier than air, so a small leak in a closed van collects at floor level, and that's how fires start.

Third, check the data plate on the griddle. Parry appliances are set up for a specific propane pressure, normally 37mbar, and the regulator has to match it. An adapter from half inch BSP down to a 9mm hose tail is exactly the kind of improvised joint an engineer will fail on sight.

The good news is it may not mean starting again. If the existing copper is in good condition, a Gas Safe registered engineer with LPG and mobile catering on their registration can often reuse it, add an isolation valve and fit a proper flexible connection to the griddle, which costs far less than a full repipe. Without their certificate, most councils, event organisers and insurers won't let you trade anyway, so that visit is unavoidable whichever way you go. Ask them to pressure test the whole system while they're there.

I keep a directory of LPG engineers who work on catering units in the Premium tier of the app, which makes finding the right person a lot quicker.

Keep going

David

Disclaimer: Gas installation and maintenance must be carried out by a Gas Safe registered engineer. Never attempt gas work yourself. Check gassaferegister.co.uk for qualified engineers in your area.

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