Key Takeaways
- 1What is a KOT (kitchen order ticket) and what must be on it
- 2How KOT printing software routes items to different kitchen printers
- 3KOT numbers, ADDITIONAL tickets, CANCELLED tickets and reprints
- 4How to set up kitchen printers with fixed IP addresses
- 5Common KOT printing problems and how to fix them
Quick Answer
A KOT (kitchen order ticket) is the printed slip that tells the kitchen what to cook, in what quantity and for which table. KOT printing software sends each item to the right kitchen printer the moment an order is saved, numbers every ticket, and marks later additions and cancellations clearly. For a restaurant with 2 or 3 cooking counters, plan one ESC/POS thermal printer per counter on LAN or Wi-Fi, each with a fixed IP address.
This guide is for restaurant owners and managers in India who are moving from handwritten kitchen slips to printed tickets, or whose kitchen printers keep missing orders at peak hours. By the end you will know what a ticket has to show, how to map menu items to counters, how to set up the printers so they stay connected, and how to trace a missing ticket in two minutes.
What is a KOT (kitchen order ticket) and what must be on it
A kitchen order ticket is the kitchen's copy of an order. The captain or cashier saves the order, the software prints the ticket at the cooking counter, and the cook prepares exactly what is printed. The bill for the guest is a separate document that comes later.
The ticket removes the shouting and the unreadable handwriting between the floor and the kitchen. It also creates a record: if every dish leaves the kitchen only against a printed ticket, every dish is inside the billing system before it reaches the table.
The fields a cook needs
A KOT carries no prices and no GST. It should be readable from an arm's length away by someone whose hands are occupied. These are the fields that do the work:
- Ticket number: so the kitchen can call out and track tickets, and so a missing number is noticed.
- Date and time: the kitchen works oldest ticket first, and the time settles any argument about delay.
- Table number or parcel label: where the food goes. A parcel needs the customer label or token.
- Order type: dine-in or parcel, because packing changes how the dish is finished.
- Captain or cashier name: who to ask if something is unclear.
- Item, size and add-ons: "Masala Dosa, extra butter" or "Veg Fried Rice, half", not a bare item name.
- Quantity in large print: the number a cook gets wrong most often when it is small.
- Ticket type heading: a new order, an addition to a running table, or a cancellation.
Leave out everything else. In restaurant POS software the ticket and the bill are two separate prints for this reason.
How KOT printing software routes items to different kitchen printers
Most restaurants in Gujarat do not have one kitchen. A South Indian and fast food outlet typically has a dosa counter, a main kitchen for pav bhaji, Chinese and Punjabi dishes, and a beverage counter. A thali dining hall may add a farsan and sweets section. One ticket with every item on it helps none of them.
Routing solves this. Each menu item is mapped once to a kitchen printer. When the order is saved, the software splits it by printer and each counter receives only its own lines. Here is one order from Table 7 and where it goes:
| Item ordered | Quantity | Printer it goes to | Ticket number that day |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masala dosa, extra butter | 2 | Dosa counter | Dosa counter 41 |
| Onion uttapam | 1 | Dosa counter | Dosa counter 41 |
| Pav bhaji | 1 | Main kitchen | Main kitchen 63 |
| Veg fried rice, half | 1 | Main kitchen | Main kitchen 63 |
| Filter coffee | 2 | Beverage counter | Beverage counter 88 |
One order, three tickets, three counters working in parallel. The captain does nothing extra.
How to map the menu
Map by category first, then correct the exceptions. All dosa and uttapam items go to the dosa counter, all hot and cold drinks to the beverage counter, everything else to the main kitchen. Then check the awkward items, such as a dessert that is plated at the beverage counter.
KOT numbers, ADDITIONAL tickets, CANCELLED tickets and reprints
Ticket numbers per printer, restarting each business day
Give each printer its own running number. If the dosa counter holds tickets 39, 40 and 42, the cook knows ticket 41 is missing and asks for it. A single shared sequence across all printers cannot do this, because every counter sees gaps all day.
The sequence should restart every business day, not at midnight. A highway restaurant near Rajkot is still serving at 12:30 AM, and a counter that jumps from ticket 212 back to ticket 1 in the middle of service confuses everyone. A business day that starts at 4:00 AM keeps the whole night's service in one sequence and one day's sales.
Additions to a running table
When Table 7 orders two more coffees twenty minutes later, the kitchen must receive only the two coffees. If the full order prints again, the dosa counter makes two more dosas nobody asked for. A ticket for later items should carry the heading ADDITIONAL and list only the new lines.
Cancellations
A cancelled item must reach the kitchen as paper, not as a message carried by a waiter. A ticket headed CANCELLED, with the table and the item, lets the cook stop before the dish is fired. If the dish is already made, the cancellation is now a wastage decision for the manager, and that is exactly why it should be recorded.
Reprints
Paper jams, tickets fall into the sink, and a roll runs out halfway through a print. The cashier or manager needs to reprint any ticket from the order screen. Tell the kitchen that a second copy of the same ticket number is a duplicate, so the order is not cooked twice.
How to set up kitchen printers with fixed IP addresses
Most "KOT not printing" complaints turn out to be network problems, and the usual one is an address that changed. The billing software reaches a network printer by its IP address. Routers hand out addresses automatically by default, so after a power cut the dosa counter printer can come back with a different address while the software keeps sending tickets to the old one.
The fix is a fixed IP address for every printer. Set it up in this order:
- Buy the right printer. An ESC/POS thermal printer, 58 mm or 80 mm, with a LAN port or Wi-Fi. For a hot, greasy kitchen an 80 mm unit with an auto-cutter is easier to live with.
- Print the self-test page. On most models you hold the feed button while switching the printer on. The page shows the current IP address and network settings.
- Choose an address plan. Keep printers in a range the router does not give out automatically, for example counter printer at 192.168.1.201, dosa counter at .202, main kitchen at .203, beverage counter at .204.
- Set the address. Either set a static IP on the printer with the maker's setup tool, or reserve the address for that printer in the router. Do one or the other for every printer.
- Label the printer. Write the counter name and IP address on a sticker on the printer body. The person who fixes it next year will thank you.
- Add the printer in the software, map the menu items to it, and print a test ticket from a real order.
- Test the failure. Switch off the router and the printers, switch them back on, and place an order. Every counter should print without anyone touching a setting.
Use a LAN cable for kitchen printers wherever you can. Kitchens have steel surfaces, exhaust hoods and thick walls, all of which weaken Wi-Fi. If cabling is not possible, put an access point close to the kitchen pass. The full equipment list is in our restaurant POS hardware setup guide.
Common KOT printing problems and how to fix them
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| One counter prints nothing, others are fine | Printer IP address changed, cable loose, or printer off | Print the self-test page, compare the address with the software, then fix the address permanently |
| Item prints at the wrong counter | Menu item mapped to the wrong printer | Correct the mapping for the item or its category |
| Item does not print anywhere | New item added to the menu with no printer mapping | Make printer mapping part of adding any new item |
| Tickets arrive late or in bursts | Weak Wi-Fi in the kitchen | Move to a LAN cable or add an access point near the kitchen |
| Random symbols or cut-off lines | Paper width set wrongly, or the printer is not in ESC/POS mode | Match the 58 mm or 80 mm setting in the software to the printer |
| Faded or blank tickets | Poor thermal paper, roll loaded upside down, or a dirty print head | Change the roll, clean the head, keep rolls away from heat |
| Kitchen cooks a dish twice | Reprint treated as a new order, or the full order printed for an addition | Train on ticket numbers and use ADDITIONAL tickets for later items |
| Red light, no print | Paper out or cover open | Keep two spare rolls at every counter |
How Dhandhaan handles this
Dhandhaan is the restaurant POS software built by JK Tech Hub in Rajkot. Its kitchen ticket design follows the rules above:
- Each menu item is mapped to a kitchen printer, so one order prints separate tickets at the dosa counter, the main kitchen and the beverage counter.
- Each printer has its own ticket number sequence, and it restarts every business day. The business day starts at 4:00 AM.
- Tickets for items added to a running table are marked ADDITIONAL. Cancelled items print a CANCELLED ticket. Any ticket can be reprinted.
- It prints to ESC/POS thermal printers, 58 mm or 80 mm, on Wi-Fi or LAN with a fixed IP address.
- Orders come from the Windows counter app or from the Android captain app, and both print to the same kitchen printers.
- Each branch runs on a local server, so tickets keep printing when the internet is down. The data syncs to the cloud when the connection returns.
Two limits to know before you buy. Dhandhaan does not have a kitchen display screen: the kitchen works from printed tickets. It also does not include inventory or recipe management at present, so a ticket does not deduct stock.
The price is ₹12,999 a year for a single branch and ₹23,999 a year for multi-branch, with no charge per bill. Printers, the PC and phones are bought separately.
What we learned building KOT printing for a multi-branch restaurant in Gujarat
JK Tech Hub built Dhandhaan for a multi-branch South Indian and fast food restaurant business in Gujarat that was moving off a hosted POS. The kitchens there have separate counters with their own printers, and the main complaint was outages at peak hours: when the internet dropped, tickets stopped.
Three lessons from that build and from testing shaped the product. First, a printer without a fixed IP address can lose its mapping and miss tickets, so the fixed address is now part of installation, not an optional extra.
Second, the midnight reset was wrong for the business. Service runs past midnight, so ticket numbers and the day's sales now roll over at 4:00 AM, when the kitchen is closed.
Third, the ticket path had to stay inside the building. Phone to local server to printer, all on the restaurant's own network, means a broadband fault outside does not stop the dosa counter. Our post on offline restaurant billing covers that design in detail.
How to decide
Count your cooking counters. One counter with a short menu can run on a single kitchen printer, and a very small cafe can even print the KOT at the cash counter and hand it over. Two or more counters need item routing, or the tickets will create more confusion than the paper pad did.
Then check five things in any KOT printing software before you pay: item-to-printer mapping, a separate number sequence per printer, clear ADDITIONAL and CANCELLED tickets, reprint from the order screen, and printing that works without internet. If a vendor cannot show all five on a live demo with two printers, keep looking.
Related reading and next step
- Dhandhaan restaurant POS software: features and price
- Restaurant POS hardware setup and cost in India
- Captain ordering app for restaurants
- Offline restaurant billing when the internet is down
- Restaurant POS software in Rajkot
To see kitchen routing on your own menu, ask for a demo or a quote through the contact page or on WhatsApp at +91 7265004040.
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